Must Read February 2026 Book Releases

Wondering what to read now? Here are all the hot new February 2026 book releases for you. I’ll let you know what I’ve read, what I can’t wait to read, and what’s getting all the attention this month.

In case you’re new to Booklist Queen, every month I cover all the hottest new book releases. I try to read as many new book releases as I can to give you an honest perspective on what to read and what to skip. 

However, I realize that my to-read list might not exactly match yours. That’s why I’ve also included some of the most popular February 2026 book releases from your favorite authors. 

Enough from me, let’s get on to the February 2026 book releases so you can fill up your to-read list.

Growing up unloved in the foster care system, Alix has always found refuge in books. While reading in the Boston Public Library, Alix stumbles upon a hidden door that leads her to a hidden library. In the Astral Library, you can find a new life inside your favorite book. As Alix befriends the Librarian and prepares for her new life, an enemy emerges who threatens the very foundations of the library.

Publication Date: 17 February 2026
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From the author of An American Marriage comes a tale of two lifelong friends who reconnect after a tragedy. Vernice and Annie both grew up as motherless children in Louisiana but life has taken them in vastly different directions. After her mother’s death, Vernice was raised by her aunt and eventually attends Spelman College where she joins a group of powerful Black women in a world of affluence and inequality. Meanwhile, Annie sets off to find the mother who abandoned her in a journey of love and adventure that eventually threatens her life.

Publication Date: 24 February 2026
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In 1796, Jamaican orphan Cora has never experienced cold as she does in Nova Scotia. In the woods, Cora meets Agnes, a young girl and her dog living in the wilderness. When Cora is forced to run from her adopted family, she and Agnes set up together in the woods. When Agnes’s past closes in, the two must fight for the freedom and their love.

Publication Date: 10 February 2026
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In a new memoir, Governor of California and potential presidential candidate Gavin Newsom shared the defining moments in his life that led him into politics. After his parents divorced when he was very young, Newsom grew up watching the disparity between his mom work three jobs to support herself while his dad walked among San Francisco’s high society. Newsom shares his family history while also detailing his time as San Francisco’s mayor and California’s governor.

Publication Date: 24 February 2026
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When their cherished sister dies, Sylvia and Helen Rubenstein are left unanchored and a fight over an apple cake turns into a multi-decade estrangement. Busy with their own lives, Sylvia and Helen’s children avoid being dragged into the family feud until it ensnares their own children. This Is Not About Us is a multigenerational tale of a Jewish family handling grief and connection.

Publication Date: 10 February 2026
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Although they have been drifting apart since high school, Tess finally agrees to go caving with her self-made travel influencer friend Allie. In the depths, Tess and Allie run into a strange man who starts harassing them. When Allie insults him, he retaliates and Tess finds herself trapped underground in a desperate fight for survival. As she recounts the events to a detective, Tess learns that Allie has been lying and the encounter wasn’t as random as she thought.

Publication Date: 17 February 2026
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As a teen, David Archuleta rose to fame as a finalist on the seventh season of American Idol. A devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Archuleta was the Mormon poster boy turned international pop star. However, the whole time Archuleta was struggling with a truth that was against his faith: he was attracted to men. In a coming-out memoir, Archuleta shares his struggle between faith, fame and identity and his eventual decision to leave his church and live a life as an openly queer man.

Publication Date: 17 February 2026
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Agnes Aubert leads a meticulously organized life running a cat rescue shelter in Montreal. When she needs a new home for the cat shelter, Agnes can only find space renting by Havelock, a cantankerous wizard running a magic shop who is rumored to have almost caused the apocalypse with his dark magic. When a magician threatens the building, Agnes must team up with the chaotic mischeiveous Havelock in this cozy fantasy story.

Publication Date: 17 February 2026
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For years, Gisèle Pelicot’s husband would secretly drug and then rape her, inviting more than fifty men to also rape her on camera. In 2024, Pelicot waived her right to anonymity during their trial, becoming a global symbol of victims of sexual abuse. Pelicot recounts her time not as a victim but as a witness, from the very first police phone call that would upend her entire life to finally understanding the puzzle pieces of her life. Pelicot’s memoir showcases a woman who reclaimed her voice and forced a reckoning in an unforgettable act of courage.

Publication Date: 17 February 2026
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Trapped in the dark running low on food and water, Stranger decides to attempt one last escape from her prison. Meanwhile, Audrey is a search and rescue expert who has never giving up searching for her best friend who disappeared as a teenager. When she finds evidence that a teenage runaway might have been held on land owned by one of the town’s most prominent families, Audrey begins to search through decades of girls who have disappeared before.

Publication Date: 24 February 2026
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After her parents’ bitter divorce, seventeen-year-old Emma Nakamura-Thatcher doesn’t believe in love. When she makes a wish for evidence true love exists, Emma starts receiving notes from someone claiming to be her greatest love writing from the future. As Emma seeks to uncover the identity of the letter writer, who seems to know all Emma’s secrets, she discovers the power of love in her life.

Publication Date: 3 February 2026
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Living in Occupied Germany in the 1950s, Ethel Gathers sets out to find homes for abandoned mixed-race orphans, children of German women and Black American soldiers. In 1948, Ozzie Phillips is stationed in Germany where he meets a local woman who changes his life forever. In 1965, Sophia Clark attends an all-white school in Maryland and learns a secret that will upend everything she knew about herself. Weaving three timelines together, Keeper of Lost Children shows the difference one woman can make and the transcendent power of love.

Publication Date: 10 February 2026
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In 1911, Lisan Liu is becomes the secretary to wealthy American Caroline Stanton at her new estate on the outskirts of Shanghai. The newlywed Caroline is excited to start her life in China away from her past tragedy until an unwelcome guest arrives, extorting her if she wants to keep her past secret. Meanwhile, Lisan feels drawn to the estate’s gardener and becomes haunted by visions of a woman in red who makes her doubt her sanity.

Publication Date: 10 February 2026
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In a standalone Cosmere novel, Sixth of the Dusk has spent his life trapping supernatural birds that his people bond with. When he discovers invaders from the stars want to exploit the birds, he leads his people in a race to modernize to fight off the invaders. Meanwhile, Starling and her ragtag crew are trapped in the emberdark until she finds a map into the physical realm. Thus, an unlikely alliance is sprung in a thrilling expansion of Sanderson’s novella “Sixth of the Dusk.”

Publication Date: 3 February 2026
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Would humans ever make good pets? A hundred twenty years after humankind fell to the grays, John knows he is lucky to be bonded to Martok. Even though Martok is broke and homeless, he at least has always treated John like an actual person. When Martok uses their bond as collateral, John has sixty days to figure out how humans turned into pets and turn Martok’s half-baked schemes into money while avoid feral humans and murderous grays. 

Publication Date: 24 February 2026
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What February 2026 Book Releases are You Most Excited to Read?

What books can you not wait to get your hands on this month? Did I miss any February 2026 book releases that you are anticipating? As always, let me know in the comments!

More New Book Releases:

• January 2026 Book Releases
• March 2026 Book Releases
• The List of 2025 Book Releases
• Most-Anticipated Upcoming Releases
• Booklist Queen’s 2026 Reading Challenge

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