Announcing the Nominees of the 2026 Libby Book Awards

We’re thrilled to publicly announce the 2026 Libby Book Awards Nominees! The Libby Book Awards celebrates stories that captivated readers, sparked conversations, and kept us turning pages late into the night. From heartwarming fiction to steamy romantasy to pulse-pounding thrillers and more, these titles represent the best books of 2025.

See last year’s winners

Thousands of librarians and library staff took the time to explore our full list of nominated titles and cast their votes. Based on those ballots, two titles will be selected per category as finalists, which will be announced in early February. Winners of the Libby Book Awards will be announced March 3, 2026. We’ll follow up with another blog post with a deeper dive into the finalists, how to promote, and other fun ideas for getting patrons excited about our winner announcement.

Announcing the Nominees of the 2026 Libby Book Awards

The 2026 Libby Book Award Nominees

Reader’s Choice

Brimstone by Callie Hart

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

The Crash by Freida McFadden

The Perfect Divorce by Jeneva Rose

Book of the Year – Adult Fiction

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy

Book of the Year – Adult Nonfiction

A Flower Traveled in My Blood by Haley Cohen Gilliland

A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst

Black in Blues by Imani Perry

Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane

The Zorg by Siddharth Kara

Book of the Year – YA Fiction

A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe by Mahogany Browne

And The River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun

Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson

Audiobook of the Year

Katabasis by R. F. Kuang

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

The Devil Reached Toward the Sky by Garrett M. Graff

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

Debut Author of the Year

Alchemised by SenLinYu

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

The Names by Florence Knapp

To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage

Best Book Club Book

Bog Queen by Anna North

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

Heart the Lover by Lily King

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

Wreck by Catherine Newman

Best Comic/Graphic Novel

Absolute Wonder Woman: Volume 1 by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, Mattia De Iulis

Black Arms to Hold You Up by Ben Passmore

Cannon by Lee Lai

Spent by Alison Bechdel

The Once and Future Riot by Joe Sacco

Best Cookbook

Baking Across America by B. Dylan Hollis

Salsa Daddy by Rick Martinez

Six Seasons of Pasta by Joshua McFadden

Something from Nothing by Alison Roman

Turtle Island by Sean Sherman with Kate Nelson and Kristin Donnelly

Best Fantasy

Alchemised by SenLinYu

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

The Strength of the Few by James Islington

Water Moon by Samantha by Sotto Yambao

Best Historical Fiction

Amity by Nathan Harris

Isola by Allegra Goodman

The Antidote by Karen Russell

The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis

The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller

Best Memoir & Autobiography

Memorial Days: A Memoir by Geraldine Brooks

Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad

Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton

Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li

Best Personal Growth

Add a Zero: A Step-by-Step Guide to Financial Freedom and Getting to Your First Million by Rose Han

Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life by Maggie Smith

Shift: Managing Your Emotions—So They Don’t Manage You by Ethan Kross

We Can Do Hard Things: Answers to Life’s 20 Questions by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle

Who Better Than You?: The Art of Healthy Arrogance & Dreaming Big by Will Packer