13 books to add to your reading list from the Booker Prize 2026 longlist

If your reading list needed an update, the Booker Prize 2026 longlist has arrived with 13 novels. From intimate family dramas to sweeping historical fiction and dystopian worlds, this year's Booker Prize longlist offers a little of everything.

Among the most recognisable names on this year's list are Elizabeth Strout, Douglas Stuart and Marlon James, while emerging writers such as Rebecca Perry and Kenan Orhan have also earned places on the prestigious list.

Announcing the longlist, judging panel chair Mary Beard described this year's selection as "dynamite", saying the books demonstrate how fiction can expand readers' understanding of the world by introducing them to lives and experiences far removed from their own.

The 13 selected titles will now compete for a place on the six-book shortlist, which will be announced on September 22.

Also read: Loved ‘The Little Prince’? Here are 10 books to read next 

The overall winner will be revealed on November 9. The winning author will receive £50,000, while each shortlisted writer will be awarded £2,500 along with a specially bound edition of their novel.

Booker Prize 2026 longlist

The Shadow of the Object – Chloe Aridjis

Switzy – Emma Cline

Helen of Nowhere – Makenna Goodman

The End of Everything – M. John Harrison

The Disappearers – Marlon James

Black Bag – Luke Kennard

The Renovation – Kenan Orhan

May We Feed the King – Rebecca Perry

The Palm House – Gwendoline Riley

The Things We Never Say – Elizabeth Strout

John of John – Douglas Stuart

All Them Dogs – Djamel White

The Vivisectors – Missouri Williams

A mix of returning favourites and fresh voices

Three writers with previous Booker success have returned to the longlist this year.

Elizabeth Strout has been recognised for The Things We Never Say, a novel centred on a history teacher in Massachusetts dealing with loneliness, life after the pandemic and the growing political tension surrounding the 2024 US presidential election.

Douglas Stuart, who won the Booker Prize for Shuggie Bain, is back with John of John. The novel follows a young gay man who returns to his conservative, deeply religious family living on a remote Scottish island.

Marlon James, another former Booker winner, has made the list with The Disappearers. At around 600 pages, it is the longest novel on this year's longlist. The story follows eight gay men in Kingston, Jamaica, whose theatre rehearsal is violently interrupted by a hostile mob.

Stories spanning continents and generations

This year's longlist covers an unusually wide range of subjects and settings.

The shortest book selected is Makenna Goodman's Helen of Nowhere, a 140-page novel about a disgraced academic whose visit to a country house uncovers the extraordinary life of the woman who once lived there.

Rebecca Perry, who recently won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, has been recognised for May We Feed the King, which follows a museum curator piecing together the forgotten story of a medieval king.

Kenan Orhan's The Renovation explores family responsibility through the story of a psychologist caring for her father, who is living with dementia, while renovation work unexpectedly turns her life upside down in Italy.

At just 28, Djamel White is the youngest author on this year's longlist. His novel, All Them Dogs, tells the story of a man returning to west Dublin after spending five years in hiding following a gang-related killing.

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The oldest writer on the list is M John Harrison, aged 81. His novel, The End of Everything, is set in a post-apocalyptic coastal community in Kent.

The remaining titles are equally varied. Emma Cline's Switzy follows a wealthy man travelling to Switzerland for assisted suicide.

Chloe Aridjis's The Shadow of the Object explores an unlikely friendship that develops inside a hospital in Mexico City.

Gwendoline Riley's The Palm House focuses on the long relationship between a freelance writer and a magazine editor in London, while Luke Kennard's Black Bag centres on an unemployed actor who signs up for an unusual psychological experiment.

Speaking about the judging process, Mary Beard said the panel read 163 submitted novels before arriving at the final 13.

She described the experience as demanding but rewarding, saying the chosen books demonstrate the unique ability of fiction to challenge assumptions, encourage empathy and transport readers into unfamiliar worlds.

According to Beard, the strongest novels do more than mirror reality. They invite readers to see life from perspectives they may never otherwise encounter.

Last year's Booker Prize was awarded to David Szalay for his novel Flesh, setting the stage for another closely watched competition in 2026.

With agency inputs