Lariat List of Fiction for Adults

Here are recommended fiction titles for adults from the 2026 Lariat List! The Lariat List features outstanding fiction titles for adults, published within the current and previous year, that are simply a pleasure to read! That's it. That's the criteria. The Lariat List is selected by a committee of Texas librarians and is one of 10 reading lists from the Texas Library Association. Visit txla.org/reading-lists for the full list and lists from previous years.


Updated April 3, 2026
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Wild Dark Shore A Novel
McConaghy, Charlotte.
Paper Book
REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * BOOK OF THE MONTH CLUB'S BOOK OF THE YEAR * LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (NPR, TIME, USA Today, The Economist, Scientific...
The Favorites A Novel
Fargo, Layne.
Paper Book
To the world, they were a scandal. To each other, an obsession. NATIONAL BESTSELLER * An epic love story set in the sparkling, savage sphere of elite figure skating, starring a woman determined to carve her own path on and off the ice "Part...
Broken country : a novel
Hall, Clare Leslie
Paper Book
Over 1 Million Copies Sold A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK | A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall is an unforgettable story of love, loss, and the choices that shape our lives...but it's also a masterfully crafted mystery that...
Atmosphere A Love Story
Jenkins Reid, Taylor.
Paper Book
*AN INSTANT #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER* From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six comes an epic new novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program, about the extraordinary...
Back After This A Novel
Holmes, Linda.
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of Evvie Drake Starts Over and Flying Solo, a podcast producer agrees to host a new series about modern dating--but will the show jeopardize her chance at finding real love? "Romantic, smart, and exactly the book...
The Book of Lost Hours A Novel
Gelfuso, Hayley.
Paper Book
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK! For fans of The Ministry of Time and The Midnight Library, a sweeping, "astounding debut" (Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author) novel following two remarkable women moving between postwar and Cold War...
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
Schwab, V. E.
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestseller * #1 USA Today bestseller * #1 National Indie bestseller * #1 IndieNext List, June 2025 * 2025 Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Best Fantasy A genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger from V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York...
The Correspondent A Novel
Evans, Virginia.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Discover the word-of-mouth hit hailed by Ann Patchett as "A cause for celebration"--an intimate novel about the transformative power of the written word and the beauty of slowing down to reconnect with the people we love. "The...
The Dream Hotel A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel
Lalami, Laila.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER ● READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY ● From Laila Lalami--the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a "maestra of literary fiction" (NPR)--comes a riveting and utterly original novel about one woman's fight for freedom, set in...
Harlem Rhapsody
Murray, Victoria Christopher.
Paper Book
In 1919, as civil unrest grips the county, in a flourishing part of New York City called Harlem, something special is stirring. Here, the New Negro is rising and Black pride is evident everywhere... in music, theatre, fashion and the arts. And there on stage in the center of this renaissance is...
The human scale
Wright, Lawrence
Paper Book
In this sweeping, timely thriller, a Palestinian American FBI agent teams up with a hardline Israeli cop to solve the murder of the Israeli police chief in Gaza--from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower and The End of October. "A layered tale of...
Julie Chan Is Dead A Novel
Zhang, Liann.
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR CANADA READS 2026 INSTANT INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER One of NPR's Books We Love for 2025 2026 Libby Book Awards Best Thriller For fans of Bunny and Yellowface, this razor-sharp debut thriller blends...
The Names A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel
Knapp, Florence.
Paper Book
READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY | AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! 2025 BOOK OF THE YEAR AS FEATURED IN THE INDEPENDENT, THE TIMES, THE SUNDAY TIMES, THE GUARDIAN, COSMOPOLITAN (UK), WOMEN'S HEALTH (UK), AND IRISH...
The Road to Tender Hearts A Novel
Hartnett, Annie.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A darkly comic and warm-hearted novel about an old man on a cross-country mission to reunite with his high school crush--bringing together his adult daughter, two orphaned kids, and a cat who can predict death--by the beloved author of Rabbit Cake and Unlikely...
The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau A Novel
Harmel, Kristin.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Kristin Harmel, the New York Times bestselling author who "is the best there is at sweeping historical drama" (Kelly Harms, author of The Seven Day Switch), returns with an electrifying new novel about two jewel thieves, a...
What Kind of Paradise A Novel
Brown, Janelle.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * A teenage girl breaks free from her father's world of isolation to discover that her whole life is a lie in this "absorbing and well-crafted" (The Washington Post) novel from the New York Times bestselling author...
When the Moon Hits Your Eye
Scalzi, John.
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author John Scalzi flies you to the moon with his most fantastic tale to date: When the Moon Hits Your Eye The moon has turned into cheese. Now humanity has to deal with it. For some it's an opportunity. For...
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
Hendrix, Grady.
Paper Book
"Superb ... a perfect horror for our imperfect age." - The New York Times AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER They were never girls, they were witches . . . . They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who...

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