Every summer, Carol over at Reading Ladies Book Club puts together a fun collab wherein established book bloggers from around the world contribute their one best book recommendation of the year. What results is a great list of newer must-read titles in a variety of genres, perfect for summer (or anytime) reading. It's also a wonderful chance to discover new book bloggers to follow and to support those with whom you might already be familiar. I've been participating in this fun event for years, and I'm always honored to be a part of it. Curious to see which title I recommended? Check out this year's One Great Summer Read post. Your TBR list will thank you! Bonus: At the bottom of this year's post, you'll find links to past years' lists for even more excellent reading recommendations.

It doesn't seem to matter how many hundreds of unread books are loading down my bookshelves, my head still swivels when I see a shiny, new release! I haunt NetGalley and Edelweiss, always on the lookout for my next great read. If you are like me, then today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is one you've been looking forward to as well: Top Ten Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2026. (As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.) Thanks to the websites mentioned above and generous publicists sending me physical ARCs, I've actually already read a lot of my most anticipated new releases for July-December, including:

Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox (July 7) - ***1/2

Our Marriage is Murder by Carol Goodman (July 21) - ****

How to Kill a Crime Writer by Sarah Lotz (July 21) - ****

The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen (August 4) - ***

Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty (August 4) - ***1/2

The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society by Lindsay Currie (September 15) - ***1/2

A Map to Murder by Michelle Chouinard (September 22) - ****

The Velvet Knife by Maureen Johnson (September 29) - *** 1/2

Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong (October 6) - ****

The ones I have not been able to get my hot little hands on yet are on my list today. And because I really can't resist them, I have thirteen new releases instead of ten. #TheStruggleIsReal

1. Everything She Didn't Say by Jane Casey (July 16)—In this standalone mystery/thriller, two friends are enjoying a month-long holiday on the Irish coast. One morning, Ruth wakes up, covered in someone else's blood. Maura is nowhere to be seen. Ruth becomes the number one suspect in her friend's murder, but she's also the only witness. What happened to Maura? Does Ruth know more than she's telling?

2. The Unknown by Riley Sager (August 4)—Actress Marin Keane is stunned when she secures a role in what promises to be a blockbuster movie. The gig requires a month of research on location at New Avalon, Vermont, where five women mysteriously disappeared 100 years ago. As Marin and her castmates settle in on the island, they notice weird noises and strange symbols that seem to confirm rumors that something supernatural took the missing women. When the island's occupants are stranded there, things get even more sinister. What is happening on New Avalon? Is someone trying to sabotage the movie or is something even more nefarious at work?

3. A Thousand Little Goodbyes by Lucy Gilmore (August 11)—Gilmore's newest is receiving mixed reviews, but I'll still give it a go. It's about two lifelong friends who decide to finally take the road trip they've been planning for forever. As the journey goes on, it becomes apparent that it's about more than having fun—it's about saying goodbye.

4. My Killer Family Reunion by Dinesh Thiru (August 11)—Jayshree Devi's family reunions are never without drama. She's still shocked, though, when her wealthy Grand Mom has an accident that looks suspiciously like something much more sinister. With the help of her irritating cousins and their hot friend, Jay launches an investigation, one that will unearth long-buried family secrets on the way to finding out who was behind her grandmother's "accident."

5. My Sister is Going to Kill Me by Nina Simon (August 18)—For this year's sisters trip, Liv and Mandy Chisolm have booked a rafting excursion through the Grand Canyon. Although they will be traveling with a group of strangers, they're looking forward to bonding with each other while enjoying an incredible adventure. The two get more than they bargained for when one of their number is found dead and another body is discovered in the water. Trapped on a raging river with a killer and a bunch of people they don't know, all of whom seem to be hiding dangerous secrets, Liv and Mandy have to unmask a murderer before it's too late for all of them.

6. Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty (August 25)—The much-anticipated sequel to Moriarty's well-loved Big Little Lies, this novel is set ten years after the events of the previous book. The moms are back and all of them are dealing with their own challenges and troubles. When the principal of the high school their children attend receives a severed human finger in the mail and a strange man is spotted lurking around campus, the parents are up-in-arms. Confronting this new problem will mean facing secrets from the past, secrets they hoped their children would never have to know. But now? The stakes are too high to keep hiding...  

7. Find Me by Holly Craig (August 25)—Two years ago, Pete went missing in the Tasmanian wilderness after visiting a mysterious commune whose members enact rituals to appease a malevolent presence they say dwells in the mountains. From her deathbed, Pete's mother begged his estranged sisters to work together to find their brother. This is easier said than done as they navigate the mountain, the issues between them, and another perplexing disappearance.

8. The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon (September 8)—Inspired by a real Irish sea captain, this historical novel tells the story of Grace O'Malley, the proper daughter of an Irish clan chief who defied all the odds and became a famous pirate.

9. Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult (September 15)—After her mother died in the 9/11 tragedy, Molly Fitzgerald developed a fear of disasters. Now the director of the Rhode Island Department for Emergency Preparedness, she channels her anxiety into saving others in crisis situations. When an unexpected crisis descends on Molly and her husband, their lives turn upside down. Can she save herself from disintegrating under the pressure of her own disaster?

10. We Chase Shadows by Richard Osman (September 15)—This book is actually #1 in terms of 2026 releases I've been looking forward to. I adored We Solve Murders, so I'm stoked for this sequel. This time, Amy, Rose, and Steve team up to solve the case of a suspicious death at a private villa in the Italian hills. Everybody is hiding something. Whodunit?

11. The Undercover Bookshop by Katherine Reay (October 6)—Book lover Gemma Brown has just moved to a sleepy village in the Cotswolds, where she runs the town's first-ever bookstore. Finding it difficult to fit in, Gemma is thrilled to make friends with the enigmatic local baker. It's not long, though, before she begins to suspect that her new pal is a spy. It's 1950; anything is possible. Or is Gemma's fiction-fueled imagination running amok? Soon, she finds herself embroiled in an international intrigue the likes of which she's never seen outside of a book.

12. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder by Ally Carter (October 13)—The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year was a super fun read. This companion novel (as far as I can tell, it's not a sequel) sounds equally as entertaining. The story revolves around a billionaire's son and the housekeeper's daughter, who have been rivals since childhood. When the former goes missing, leaving only a pool of blood behind, it's up to the latter to prove he's alive—and find the person who desperately wants him dead. Sounds confusing, but entertaining.

13. A Reunion to Die For by K.J. Whittle (October 26)—When a group of classmates gather for a reunion, talk turns to the school bully who tortured all of them with his cruel taunting. As the drinks flow, the victims joke about ways they could get revenge on the guy who made them all so miserable. The next day, the bully is found dead, killed in a way that is suspiciously similar to the hypothetical plans made by the classmates. When a recording of that conversation is given to the police, the group members become suspects. Desperate to clear their names, they scramble to solve the murder they unknowingly planned.

There you go, thirteen books releasing in the second half of 2026 that I want to read. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Which up-and-comers are you most excited about? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Even though I rarely stick to them, I love making seasonal TBR lists. I also enjoy hopping around to all of your blogs and seeing what you're planning to read next. So, I'm excited for today's prompt: Top Ten Books On My Summer 2026 To-Read List. I actually started doing this topic last week; if you missed Part One of my list, it's here. Today, we'll be moving onto Part Two, which consists mainly of mysteries, many of which are the first installments in a series because, you know, I'm not stuck in the middle of enough series right now! Ha ha.

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.

1. A New Lease on Death by Olivia Blacke—The good folks at St. Martin's Press have kindly sent me ARCs of all the books in the Ruby and Cordelia paranormal mystery series. Since the third installment will be published in October, I figure it's high time I finally start this series. I began reading A New Lease On Death today and I'm enjoying it so far.

The novel is about a recently-deceased woman who is unable, for some reason, to move on to the afterlife. With nothing else to do, she's been hanging out in her old apartment, even though it is now inhabited by a 20-year-old chatterbox who's too perky for her own good. When their congenial across-the-hall neighbor is murdered, the two form an unlikely partnership in order to solve what the police are dismissing as a mugging gone wrong. 

2. Under a Gilded Moon by Joy Jordan-Lake—This historical novel centers around Kerry MacGregor, a young woman who's called home from college in New York City to attend to family matters in her Appalachian hometown. Nearby, the Vanderbilts are constructing a palatial mansion called Biltmore House. The acquisition of the MacGregors' land is required to complete the building project. Caught in a collision between wealth and poverty, progress and stagnation, pride and desperation, Kerry must decide whether to sell out or hold tight to what she has in spite of the consequences.

3. Beach Thriller by Jamie Day—Day's books are hit-and-miss for me, but I'm up for reading their newest effort. It's about a novelist beset by writer's block who returns to her family home on a Massachusetts beach on strict instructions from her agent to write a best-selling novel. Haunted by her sister's death, which occurred years ago at the seaside cottage, the writer feels increasingly like she is being watched. Because she is. As the author starts to write about what really happened to her sister, it becomes crystal clear that someone will do anything to stop her from revealing the truth.

4. Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty (available August 4, 2026)—Although I've read a bunch of books by Liane Moriarty, I've never explored those by her novelist sisters. Time Travel for Beginners, Jaclyn's newest, seems like a good place to start. It's about a time travel agency in Sydney, Australia, that seems to attract customers among those who need it most. The lives of three very different people are about to converge as they come together at the mysterious Agency...

5. A Deadly Inheritance by Kelley Armstrong—In Armstrong's newest YA novel, a teenager is mourning the recent loss of her mother. After the death, Lilianna is "rescued" by the wealthy, estranged grandparents she has never met. They pack her off to an exclusive boarding school which hides some sinister secrets behind its glittering facade.  

6. You Had Me at Bigfoot by Nancy Campbell Allen (available July 7, 2026)—This cozy mystery series opener sounds super fun. It stars a green investigative journalist and a award-winning war photographer who are both covering an important wedding in the Pacific Northwest. When a maid goes missing, the unlikely duo find themselves teaming up to investigate a tantalizing mystery involving a lost treasure, a web of lies, and...Sasquatch?

7. The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee—I've been re-reading Lee's engaging YA Victorian mystery series starring 17-year-old secret agent Mary Quinn. In this second installment, Mary disguises herself as a boy in order to go undercover to investigate a mysterious death at the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. 

8. Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman—The first book in the Mrs. Blossom mystery series, this installment introduces the main character, a retired assistant to a private investigator. Having won the lottery, Mrs. Blossom has embarked on a cruise through France. On the flight to France, she meets Allan, the first man to interest her since the passing of her husband. Twenty-four hours later, Allan is dead in Paris, a city he is not supposed to be in. Mrs. Blossom's detecting skills are clearly needed to find out what happened to the unfortunate man.

9. The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society by Lindsay Currie (available September 15, 2026)—Although I've been tempted in the past, I've yet to read anything by Currie, who usually writes children's horror novels. I received an e-ARC of her forthcoming book, the first installment in a new middle grade series. It revolves around four besties who become stranded in a book-themed inn during an ice storm. When a guest is murdered on the premises, they must combine their sleuthing skills to figure out whodunit.

10. A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie—As soon as I finish this post, I need to start tidying up my messy kitchen. Good thing I've got a new audiobook to start! This book, published in 1993, is the first installment in the long-running Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series. In their first outing, the duo investigate a death at a country house party gone wrong. 

There you go, ten more books I'm hoping to read this summer. Have you read any of them? Which titles are you planning to enjoy in the next few months? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

I am the WORST challenge hosts, you guys! So sorry. I had planned to write monthly posts about what books I'm reading for the challenge, post a monthly link-up for reviews, and hop around to give some love to those that were posted. I'm failing miserably. Instead of stressing myself out trying to keep up with these monthly posts, I'm going to give myself a break and just let it go. Instead, I'll post the remaining monthly review link-ups here. I still want to visit all of your reviews, so I'll keep working on that. Thanks for being patient with your humble host!

How is the challenge going for you, by the way? I've read 18 bookish books so far this year. I've got quite a few still in my queue, so we'll so how many I get to in the second half of the year. Which bookish book has been your favorite so far? I think mine has been How to Kill a Crime Writer by Sarah Lotz (available July 21, 2026. It's about a woman who is paralyzed by grief after her mother (the titular mystery author) dies by falling from a ladder. Niamh doesn't believe her mom's death is an accident and she sets about proving it with some help from a very unexpected source. Although it's a poignant novel about grief, it's also funny, engaging, and life-affirming.