5 Best Literary Fiction Books From the Booker Prize 2026 Longlist, According to Goodreads
These five Booker Prize novels have earned praise from judges and avid readers
Key Takeaways
- These five literary fiction picks are all part of this year’s longlist.
- See what readers are saying about five Booker Prize-nominated novels.
- Explore books by Elizabeth Strout, Douglas Stuart, Marlon James and more.
It’s almost time for the prestigious 2026 Booker Prize awards, which honor books written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland by authors of any nationality. This year’s longlist, the initial list of potential winners, is filled with incredible books that are popular not only with the judging committee but also with readers everywhere—including on the Goodreads app. Below we share our top five picks from the 2026 Booker Prize longlist and reveal what Goodreads users are saying about them.
‘The Things We Never Say’ by Elizabeth Strout
The Things We Never Say introduces us to Artie Dam, a man living two realities. There’s the one everyone sees, the one where he’s a devoted history teacher, a husband of 30 years and the weekend sailor on Massachusetts bay. And then there’s the truth: Artie is lonely and mad at the world. When a shocking revelation surfaces, it threatens to destroy the life he’s maintained for so long. A moving tale that will leave readers looking at their own lives in a new way.
What Goodreads users are saying: “For me, reading a book by Elizabeth Strout feels like coming home. The moment I begin to read, I get that warm, comfy–cozy feeling, like curling up in a favourite chair. If you’ve read Strout before, you know her novels are filled to the brim with interesting little details—the small stories of a life. And this newest novel has those stories in abundance. This might be her best one yet.”
‘John of John’ by Douglas Stuart
Set in 1990s Scotland, this instant New York Times bestseller follows John-Calum “Cal” Macleod’s reluctant return to the Isle of Harris. His hometown hasn’t changed, but he has—and his father is horrified by Cal’s transformation from his long hair to his close . While sweeping streets and keeping quiet, Cal hides dark secrets. So does everyone else. Soon, they all start to surface, threatening the entire Isle of Harris community’s way of life.
What Goodreads users are saying: “Douglas Stuart, author of the Booker Prize-winning Shuggie Bain, is becoming a problem. With the publication of his third novel, John of John, we’re running out of superlatives. It doesn’t seem possible now, but this Scottish-American writer who once struggled to find a publisher on either side of the Atlantic has managed in just six years to build a body of work that’s dazzling readers around the world. He is, if anything, only getting more astonishing.”
‘The Vivisectors’ by Missouri Williams
If you’re a fan of dark academia, you want to miss this suspenseful novel. Agathe spends her days helping her fraudulent professor boss. Then, controversy hits campus and two professors are each claiming that the other discriminated against them, and Agathe is forced by her boss to befriend one of them to find out what happened. It’s a potent mystery that feels incredibly relevant to the times we’re living in.
What Goodreads users are saying: “I think Vivisectors is brilliant. It’s being marketed as a satire and campus novel and it’s not. It’s more of a gothic fable that portrays the social ills and loss of meaning in western society. It’s also concerned with existential meaning, particularly how the recognition of humanity in others is essential for individual meaning.”
‘Black Bag’ by Luke Kennard
When an out-of-work unnamed actor accepts a job working for university professor Dr. Blend, the last thing he expects is to be trapped in an oversized bag. But that’s exactly what happens. He spends his days walking around campus concealed inside the bag, and he’s shocked to discover that some people treat you very differently when they can’t see your face.
What Goodreads users are saying: “Oh what fun this was! But more than that; it contained lots of quotable insights and wisdom tackling our modern age. I was afraid that close to 400 pages about a black bag would be way too much. But the book kept on getting better. Rarely have I seen a wit that was maintained and held constant for such a long stretch.”
‘The Disappearers’ by Marlon James
In 1988 Kingston, Jamaica, eight gay men get together to rehearse a play. It seems like a dream at first, but when all of the men are beaten and one ends up dead, they are forced to realize that they are living in a time and place that doesn’t accept them. To move past the brutal event, some of the men ignore it, some focus on getting justice, and some disappear completely. What follows is a gripping tale that will leave you flipping pages long into the night.
What Goodreads users are saying: “Marlon James has written a masterpiece. There is dark humor within the story and the referencing of music during the 80s and 90s adds a strong period dynamic as well as another level of connection with some of the characters as the lyrics enter their thoughts and words as a comfort and power.”
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