The 2026 Libby Book Awards arrive at a moment when reading has never felt more vibrant or more essential. Celebrating the year’s most beloved ebooks, audiobooks, and digital titles, the Libbys spotlight the stories that kept listeners hooked on their commutes, readers turning pages late into the night, and library users discovering new favorites with a single tap. From breakout debuts to powerhouse bestsellers, this year’s nominees reflect the wide range of voices, genres, and perspectives shaping today’s literary landscape—proving that libraries remain the heartbeat of how communities connect with books.
Several nominees are strong science fiction works.
- Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor is a “book-within-a-book” featuring a far-future narrative about androids and AI in the remnants of human civilization.
- What We Can Know by Ian McEwan is set in the year 2119 in a UK partially submerged by rising tides. McEwan describes it as “science fiction without the science.”
Several other books on the list belong to the Sci-Fi genre or its subgenres (like Dystopia and Africanfuturism):
- Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Young Adult Fiction) is a prequel to The Hunger Games. This is a classic dystopian sci-fi novel focusing on the 50th Hunger Games.
- Katabasis by R.F. Kuang (Audiobook of the Year) leans heavily into “dark academia” and fantasy. It’s often cross-listed in speculative fiction circles due to its complex, “magical-logic” systems.
- Alchemised by SenLinYu (Debut Author / Best Fantasy): Though nominated in Fantasy, this book is a reimagining of the fanfiction Manacled, which was famously a crossover between Harry Potter and the sci-fi dystopian world of The Handmaid’s Tale.
A DC graphic novel made the cut
- Absolute Wonder Woman: Volume 1 by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, Mattia De Iulis, which is a reimagining of the Amazonian princess
Here’s the full list of Nominees from People:
Book of the Year — Adult Fiction
- Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
Book of the Year — Adult Nonfiction
- A Flower Traveled in My Blood by Haley Cohen Gilliland
- A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst
Book of the Year — Young Adult Fiction
- Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley
- Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins [Read our review here]
Audiobook of the Year
- Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
- My Friends by Fredrik Backman
Debut Author of the Year
- Alchemised by SenLinYu
- The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Best Book Club Book
- Bog Queen by Anna North
- Wreck by Catherine Newman
Best Comic/Graphic Novel
- Absolute Wonder Woman: Volume 1 by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, Mattia De Iulis
- Spent by Alison Bechdel
Best Cookbook
- Baking Across America by B. Dylan Hollis
- 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
Best Historical Fiction
- The Antidote by Karen Russell
- Isola by Allegra Goodman
Best Horror
- The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
Best Memoir & Autobiography
- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
- Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton
Best Middle Grade Book
- All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson
- Scarlet Morning: Book 1 by ND Stevenson
Best Mystery
- The Librarians by Sherry Thomas
- Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman
Best Personal Growth
- 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
Best Picture Book
- Cranky Crabby, Crow (Saves the World) by Corey R. Tabor
- Don’t Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson, illustrated by Dan Santat
Best Romance
- It Had to Be Him by Adib Khorram
- These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean
Best Romantasy
- The Knight and The Moth by Rachel Gillig
- Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
Best Science Fiction
- Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
- What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
Best Thriller
- The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark
- Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang
How to Promote the Libby Book Award Nominees at your library
- Create a curated collection of the nominated titles.
- Promote the Readers’ Choice Award: While the general nominees were selected by and voted on by librarians, we’re introducing a new category that allows everyone to get a vote! The Readers’ Choice Award lets Libby users pick their favorite from the most borrowed books in Libby in 2025. Submit your vote or use our marketing kit to encourage patrons to vote. One vote per day per user until January 30.
As the winners take their bows, the true triumph of the Libby Book Awards lies in the readers and libraries that make these stories matter. Every checkout, hold, and recommendation fuels the next great read, turning digital shelves into shared cultural spaces. Whether you’re diving into a gripping thriller, a sweeping romance, or a thought-provoking memoir, the 2026 Libbys remind us that great books don’t just entertain—they bring us together. So explore the list, place a hold, and discover your next favorite story.
The winners of the Libby Book Awards will be announced on March 3, 2026.
Learn more at the official announcement page at OverDrive.
Which books have you read? Which do you think deserve the awards?
