Barnes and Noble’s Best Book of the Year Finalists

The 16 books that made it onto the list of finalists for Barnes & Noble’s Best Book of the Year include six novels, seven nonfiction books, and three books for young readers. Viral sensations, award-winning authors, and debuts are represented among the finalists, which historically tend toward commercially successful, buzzy, book club-friendly reads. BIPOC authors are far less represented on this list, touted as the books beloved by B&N booksellers. The 2026 Barnes and Noble’s Best Book of the Year Finalists Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke Whale Harbor: A Novel by Mary Beth Keane Partita: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver Land: A Novel by Maggie O’Farrell The Calamity Club: A Novel by Kathryn Stockett Cool Machine: A Novel by Colson Whitehead Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up by David Byrne This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark by Craig Fehrman The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss by Robert Macfarlane, Jackie Morris Redwood: The Untold Story of the Cold War’s Most Extraordinary Spy by Ben Macintyre Ottolenghi Simple Too: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi London Falling...