Amazon and Barnes & Noble Name 2026's Best Books, and They Can't Agree
Amazon and Barnes & Noble have named their best books of 2026, and the two retail giants picked different winners. Amazon crowned "American Hagwon" by Min Jin Lee as its best book of the year, while Barnes & Noble chose "Whale Harbor" by Mary Beth Keane as its fiction book of the year.
Both lists were announced on Thursday, Nov. 12, just in time for holiday shopping season, according to the Deseret News.
Amazon's Pick: "American Hagwon" by Min Jin Lee
Amazon named its top 20 books of 2026 across fiction and nonfiction, with Lee's "American Hagwon" taking the No. 1 spot.
The novel follows the Koh family, who leave Korea after a personal betrayal and the 1997 Asian financial crisis and settle in Southern California. It is the third book in Lee's planned series about the Korean diaspora, following her bestseller "Pachinko," but it can be read on its own.
Amazon editor Al Woodworth called it "an extraordinary Trojan horse of a novel that will make your heart sing." He added that the book "will change the way you think about family, sacrifice, and education."
Here's how the rest of Amazon's top 10 shakes out:
No. 2 is "Exit Party" by Emily St. John Mandel, followed by "The Vanishing Family: Love, Fate, and the Quest to End Dementia" by Robert Kolker at No. 3 and "Kin" by Tayari Jones at No. 4.
"Fruit Fly" by Josh Silver came in at No. 5, with "Land" by Maggie O'Farrell at No. 6 and "London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth" by Patrick Radden Keefe at No. 7.
Rounding out the top 10 are "Big Little Truths" by Liane Moriarty at No. 8, "This Cursed Beautiful Land: A Russian-American Story" by Evan Gershkovich at No. 9, and "Cool Machine" by Colson Whitehead at No. 10.
Barnes & Noble's top fiction pick, "Whale Harbor," landed just outside Amazon's top 10 at No. 11.
Barnes & Noble's Pick: "Whale Harbor" by Mary Beth Keane
Over at Barnes & Noble, which recently surpassed 720 stores nationwide, booksellers picked Keane's "Whale Harbor" as their fiction book of the year.
The novel begins in 1960s Ireland and follows 11 brothers after their father's death. One brother, Macdara, leaves for a cattle ranch in Montana, and when his younger brother Rian goes missing, the disappearance haunts the family for decades. Keane has said the story is based on her own family's history, including her father's life.
A Barnes & Noble bookseller wrote that Keane "has crafted a family saga that somehow feels both vast and intimate."
Barnes & Noble also named winners in other categories:
The nonfiction book of the year went to "This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark" by Craig Fehrman. "The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan" by Jasmine Warga won children's book of the year, and "Is This a Plum?" by Dan and Finn Ojari was named children's gift book of the year.
Other Barnes & Noble Finalists
Several books made Barnes & Noble's shortlist of finalists, including a few that also appeared on Amazon's list, such as "London Falling," "Land" and "Cool Machine."
Other finalists include "Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage" by Belle Burden, "Yesteryear" by Caro Claire Burke, "Partita" by Barbara Kingsolver, and "The Calamity Club" by Kathryn Stockett.
Nonfiction finalists include "Sleeping Beauties: Why Good Ideas Go Dormant and How They Wake Up" by David Byrne, "Redwood: The Untold Story of the Cold War's Most Extraordinary Spy" by Ben Macintyre, and "The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss" by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris.
Rounding out the list are "This Is a Door" by Daniel Nayeri and "Ottolenghi Simple Too: A Cookbook" by Yotam Ottolenghi.
How the Winners Were Chosen
Amazon's picks were selected by a group of its editors at a gathering in Charleston, South Carolina, according to USA Today. Amazon says its editors "play favorites" and land on their top picks after "much discussion and debate."
At Barnes & Noble, booksellers nominate titles throughout the year, vote to create a shortlist of finalists and then vote on the winners.
Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt has been upfront that the process isn't scientific. In an October press release, he said "there is not much science involved," and that booksellers vote "any which way they care."
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