Novel Encounters

Make a fresh start and turn a new page with the first crop of 2026’s notable reads

Besides this month’s scintillating literary debuts, the November lineup of new books can best be described as prodigal, with big, buzzy returns to fiction for eminent writers like Salman Rushdie, Olivia Laing and George Packer – as well as John Irving, who, after 40 years, revisits the Maine orphanage setting of his The Cider House […]

“The reader became the book,” as poet Wallace Stevens wrote, “and summer night was like the conscious being of the book.”

Clear space on the bedside table: the fall literary season is coming in strong right out of the gate with long-awaited new novels from Nathan Harris, Angela Flournoy and book club favourite Kiran Desai – back with her first novel in nearly 20 years – as well as noteworthy espionage capers and historical novels. Already, […]

There’s something for everyone as engrossing family dramas, cozy mysteries and thoughtful literary novels jostle for attention in our July fiction highlights.

Major commercial fiction, buzzy mysteries and thrillers often arrive with the warmer weather – perhaps because the true test of a page-turner is to be more alluring than a dip in the pool. (Or that they go together like a spritz and sunshine.) It may only be June but, if these suspense tales and literary […]

Lyrical novels of ideas, engrossing historical novels probing moral compromises and uplifting examinations of community and friendship round out this month’s fiction highlights. Obsessive Book Buyers: Zoomer editors have carefully curated our book coverage to ensure you find the perfect read. We may earn a commission on books you buy by clicking on a cover […]

This month, tuck into Jazz Age capers and a perilous hiking trip, along with the latest from returning bestsellers like Nita Prose (The Maid’s Secret, Apr. 8) and Emily Henry (Great Big Beautiful Life, Apr. 22). Here are our picks for April’s fiction highlights. Obsessive Book Buyers: Zoomer editors have carefully curated our book coverage […]

The best fiction of March include favourite authors Ariel Dorfman, Karen Russell and Emma Donoghue, who enthrall with historical novels about Mozart, the Depression-era Dust Bowl and a dramatic Paris train crash, while global sensation Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is back with her first new novel in 10 years. Obsessive Book Buyers: Zoomer editors have carefully […]

Our fiction picks for the last full (mercifully short!) month of winter contains multitudes: lyrical dystopias, tense suspense and historical fiction about the Jazz Age, as well as much-needed uplifting reads about community. Obsessive Book Buyers: Zoomer editors have carefully curated our book coverage to ensure you find the perfect read. We may earn a […]