27 Jewish Books We’re Looking Forward to in 2026

With the looming extinction of Judeo-Iraqi Arabic, author Samantha Ellis turns to words to meditate on her mother tongue. "Always Carry Salt" recounts Ellis' journey exploring how she can pass down this heritage to her son. It takes her from Noah's Ark to the British Museum to the Oxford School of Rare Jewish Languages to the river Tigris. Out Jan. 6, 2026.

Best friends Naomi Nachman's and Jason Greenblatt's personal lives just went up in smoke. Naomi's boss's unexpected retirement from the wedding planning biz causes a cascade of canceled contracts. Meanwhile, one unsavory paparazzi photo has jeopardized professional chef Jason's future working at his family's knish business. So what are Naomi and Jason to do? Set up a fake dating scheme, of course. Out Jan. 14, 2026.

In Florence, 1944, Robert Einstein, cousin of the famous physicist Albert Einstein, experiences unimaginable tragedy. Twelve hours after a German unit arrives at his home, his wife and two daughters are murdered. Robert Harding's "The Einstein Vendetta" is both a history and detective story of the events. It recounts Italy's wartime fascism and antisemitism, as well as Einstein family's pursuit of justice. Out Jan. 20, 2026.

For author Michael Lowenthal, being a queer Jew, especially the grandson of Holocaust survivors, comes with an inherent sense of placeless-ness. In this collection of essays, this author attempts to find his queer Jewish lineage and a sense of location and belonging. Out Feb. 9, 2026.

A dispute over apple cake leads to a generations-long split between sisters Sylvia and Helen Rubinstein in master storyteller Allegra Goodman's latest work. Out Feb. 10, 2026.

When Jacob, son of Holocaust survivors, meets Baer, an impoverished survivor desperate to steal back a piece of art stolen from him by the Nazis, Jacob jumps at the chance. What results is a surreal trip to a sanitarium in Maine for an art auction, where the lines between what is real and fake blur, and the past demands to be reckoned with. Out Feb. 10, 2026.

What does it mean to be a "bad mom"? This is exactly what The Cut's Ej Dickson sets out to discover through a pop culture and historical lens. Each chapter is dedicated to a different trope about mothers like the Stage Mom, the Tiger Mom, the MILF, the MLM hun, etc., and examines manifestations of "bad moms" in our world like, for example, in "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." Out Feb. 10, 2026.

From teddy bears to Barbies, Jewish toymakers have left their mark on the American toy industry. Michael Kimmel's "Playmakers" lays out this history. It examines how poor Jews from tenements, the children of immigrants, created a playful, wonderful world they never had. Out Feb. 17, 2026.

In Zeeva Bukai's latest book, a Yiddish theater actress who's star is waning finds herself at a sanitorium in Jaffa. The only problem is she was meant to visit the apartment she once shared with her now-ex Max in Tel Aviv, and she cannot recall how she arrived at the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Apparition Hospice. Out Feb. 24, 2026.

Growing up in a secular Jewish household, musician Alicia Jo Rabins often felt drawn to more spiritual and ritual aspects of Judaism. "When We're Born We Forget Everything," Rabins' memoir, recounts her search for the sacred in everyday life. It follows her to Jerusalem to study rabbinic texts and across America as she performs in her klezmer-punk band. It interweaves her narrative of queer, feminist and spiritual self-realization with the stories of powerful biblical women. Out March 3, 2026.

Writer and daughter of Larry David, Cazzie David's latest collection of essays examines the delusions that marked her twenties and may break through as she turns 30, touching on topics like love, social media and body dysmorphia. The result is a book which is as vulnerable as it is bitingly funny. Out March 3, 2026.

Barbara Rosenberg is dying. So she does what any old-world, transphobic yenta high on opioids, secluded in her rent-controlled Manhattan apartment, would do: She writes the story of her life. "Night Night Fawn" is a powerful and funny exploration of intergenerational Jewish conflict. Out March 3, 2026.

Judy Blume is a preeminent author of children's and young adult literature. Now, journalist and historian Mark Oppenheimer has created a loving, nuanced portrait of Blume through interviews with the author herself, access to her archive and thought-provoking examinations of her work. Out March 10, 2026.

When Stephen Sondheim died in 2021, the world lost a titan of an artist and theater-maker. Daniel Okrent's new, intimate biography of Sondheim sheds new light on the Broadway composer and lyricist's complex emotional inner world. Out March 17, 2026.

Daniela Gerson and her wife, Talia Inlender, share what seem to be an uncommon refugee heritage. Their families fled Poland for the Soviet Union, where they had parallel experiences being sent to gulags, living precariously in Central Asia and then on the run, until they could build new lives. But as the author, an immigration journalist, discovers, a group of Polish Holocaust refugees sometimes called The Wanderers, also share this history. What results in this part-memoir, part-history and part-detective story about survival. Out March 31, 2026.

A compelling history of a largely overlooked Jewish political movement, "Here Where We Live Is Our Country" interweaves the narratives of the Jewish Labor Bund's major players and author Molly Crabapple's Bundist grandfather, Sam. Out April 7, 2026.

New York Times bestselling author Judy Batalion's debut novel pairs unlikely allies Fanny Zelshinsky and Zosia Dror. Set in 1938, Fanny, a daughter of the Warsaw Jewish elite, and Zosia, a child of the shtetl, team up to find their missing mentor. Out April 7, 2026.

Writer, actress and director Lena Dunham's first memoir "Not That Kind of Girl" took readers up to the point of Dunham achieving fame via "Girls." Now, her upcoming memoir "Famesick" details all the illness and mess that occurred afterwards. In it, Dunham investigates what the cost of her fame has been and whether it's ultimately been worth it. Out April 14, 2026.

When Holocaust survivor Mary Beck requests medical assistance in dying, it divides her family. "Ten Clear Days" follows Mary and her family over the course of the mandatory and very tense 10-day waiting period before Mary can get her wish. Out April 14, 2026.

Arriving at her Uncle Levi's isolated, seaside farm after being kicked out of another prep school, Lindsay Weinberg is thrust into a mysterious, frightening world she never expected. Alongside her newfound neighbor friends and a group of teens in a reform program on the farm, Lindsay must fight to survive before they all disappear into the cove. Out May 5, 2026.

In "Offseason," our narrator, a self-deluded woman, is teaching at an all-girls boarding school on the East Coast and desperately trying to figure out where her life went wrong. When she returns home for the holidays, she finds herself in a bar on the seventh night of Chanukah, where she runs into a figure from her adolescence and, perhaps, her answer. Out May 5, 2026.

“Soon By You” is like “27 Dresses” meets “The Intimacy Experiment.” It’s a is a fresh take on Jewish romance, blending humor, heart, and cultural specificity through the lens of Modern Orthodox Jewish dates, weddings and family expectations. Out May 19, 2026.

From comedian and podcaster Brooke Averick, "Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It" follows the anxiety-ridden titular character as she sets out to lose her virginity before her 30th birthday. Out May 26, 2026.

On a heritage, hiking trip in São Miguel with a group of fellow American teens, Sydney Azulay disappears after the campers discover a clue for long-lost treasure. 10 years later, a memorial service and documentary about Sydney's disappearance bring the campers back to São Miguel. New evidence and revealed truths cause the group to collapse in on itself until someone turns up dead. Out June 16, 2026.

Set in the indie music world of the mid-2000s, "Long Island Girls" is a poignant and joyfully queer coming-of-age tale. It follows Susan and Eliza as their lives and the sparks of potential romance intermingle over the course of a decade. This novel is for anyone who has ever struggled to stop getting caught up in "what-ifs" and start appreciating what is. Out June 23, 2026.

Photographer Joy Stern's world is carefully constructed to be everything she wants. But when her mother dies and her husband Andre receives devastating news, Joy is left wonder whether she can do it all. Hopeful and heartbreaking, "Shaken to the Core" evinces themes of motherhood, chosen family and the power of love. Out June 23, 2026.

Jewish comedian Alison Leiby refuses to pick just one version of herself. She's a Housewives stan. Discount shopaholic. Former jock. Happily single. Childless by choice and a cat mom. In fourteen essays full of deadpan humor, Alison recounts how having a near-death experience at 19 has given her the wisdom to celebrate all the labels and identities that make up Alison Leiby. Out July 7, 2026.