Nineteen Anticipated Releases for 2019

Hello!

Happy Tuesday! How is your week going? Restful and well, I hope.

I’m popping in today to share a post I look forward to yearly: my most anticipated book releases! Drafting the list always feels a bit like Christmas, so giddy am I over the many terrific titles hitting shelves (I’m an easy bookworm to please).

A long post awaits, so I’ll make only a few brief notes. I’ve added to my draft of this post in spurts, so I apologize in advance if any of the release dates below have since shifted -the publishing world moves fast! True to the Top Ten Tuesday prompt, I’ve listed only books that come out in the first half of the year, so there’s nothing here released after June (I’m looking at you, The Map From Here to There). And finally, if you have a list of your own you’d like to link up, you can read about Top Ten Tuesday and do so here.

Here’s to a year of good books and much reading. What 2019 releases can’t you wait to read?

To start, I’m counting down the days until Famous in a Small Town, the latest from Emma Mills, arrives in my mailbox (thankfully, there’s only a week to go!). I’ll take cute small-town contemporaries any day, and this one – with promises of tight-knit friendships and humorous revenge plots – sounds like an utter delight. I can’t wait. [Release Date: January 15]

Author Jennifer Donnelly is known more for her gripping historical fiction than her fantasy retellings, but that just makes me even more excited to read Stepsister, her newest novel, once it hits shelves. Pitched as a “startling, fiercely feminist re-imagining of Cinderella,” the story is told through the eyes of one of Ella’s stepsisters. I’m already hooked. [Release Date: May 28]

That I haven’t yet read anything by A.S. King is a fact I hope to remedy in 2019, an easy task with the release of her novel Dig in March. The summary is vague, but complicated family histories, surrealist narratives, and themes of legacy and power sound right up my alley – and, frankly, all more relevant than ever. [Release Date: March 26]

My Top Nine Books of 2018

Hi friends!

Happy 2019! A new year – how exciting. Are you soaking in vacation still, or are you back at school/work? After a lovely last few days with my family (our winter break adventures included all good things: a viewing of the whimsical Mary Poppins Returns, a matinee of the brilliant Barber Shop Chronicles, and a stop to my favorite place on the Cape), I’m taking my day at home to tend to my to-do list – and, hopefully, to wrap up a novel or two!

In the meantime, I’m a bit late to the party, but I wanted to share my favorite books of 2018. It was a slow reading year for me – school and theatre took first priority – but I’m grateful that I was able to find so many favorites in what I did read. From adventurous series finales to quieter contemporary novels, find my top nine listed in alphabetical order below. What did you enjoy reading in 2018? (My TBR list is ready for your suggestions!).

And though, it’s Wednesday, I’m linking up with Top Ten Tuesday hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Read more about the weekly series and add your own list HERE :-)

First on my list is Ruth Lehrer’s excellent, heartfelt debut, Being Fishkill, a YA novel that follows the friendship between thirteen-year-old Fishkill, her classmate Duck-Duck, and Duck-Duck’s mom, Molly. I’ve read it twice now – once when I grabbed it from my library and again for my Adolescent Literature class – and both times was I left moved by the resilience in Lehrer’s characters and the emotional punch of her poetic writing. One to read this year, for sure – especially if you’re looking for younger protagonists or representation of lower-class families.

Few series have gripped and kept my interest like the Ruby Redfort books from Lauren Child; six books in, and I’ve learned to set aside an entire afternoon for reading each new installment. The last book had its US release in May, and it was certainly worth the wait. Ruby’s action-packed, puzzle-filled escapades end with the perfect blend of suspense, humor, and sass, and Child demonstrates an acute sense of pacing over the book’s 500+ pages. Fan I am, I’m biased, but I don’t think there’s a better set of mysteries for the middle-grade audience.

I’ve already raved about Kate Messner’s Breakout, but it’s for good reason: the epistolary novel is all at once tender, pressing, and thought-provoking in its discussions of race, class, and privilege. With such broad topics, it’d be easy to lose sight of the book’s young audience, but Messner doesn’t speak over her middle-grade readers; she instead crafts a narrative that is accessible as it is engaging. I wrote over the summer that it that blew me away, and the sentiment stands. Be prepared for me to recommend it time and time again over the months to come.

If you haven’t yet read Everything Must Go, you’re missing out on one of the very best novels in feminist YA. Through its witty coming-of-age narrative, debut author Jenny Fran Davis establishes a distinctive voice (main character Flora is a memorable one!) and successfully tackles an ambitious plot that is as funny as it is thoughtful. Fans of Rookie, Lady Bird, and Jennifer Mathieu’s Moxie will find it an utter delight, but I also plan to hand it to everyone I know in the coming year – and needless to say, I’m excited to see what Davis writes next.

Sadie seemed to be everywhere this fall, but it’s hype that’s well-deserved. Courtney Summers has established herself as a staple of contemporary YA, and Sadie follows in her tradition of harrowing yet empowering narratives (leave it to Summers to strike that delicate balance). I finished it both on the edge of my seat from the quiet suspense and full of heartbroken anger that Sadie’s story mirrors the reality of so many. If you too choose to grab it, opt for the audiobook or listen to the podcast for a fully immersive reading experience. It’s worth it.

It’s not often that I cry while reading, but The Science of Breakable Things, the middle-grade debut of author Tae Keller, had me pulling out tissues left and right. Main character Natalie’s mission to help her mom is a heartwarming one, and Keller approaches mental illness with a care and nuance I wish were universal across children’s literature. One reviewer writes that it’s a novel that feels “so very human,” and I couldn’t agree more: characters aren’t perfect, but they aren’t called to be. All I can ask now is: next Tae Keller book soon, please?

School has kept me so out-of-the-loop of all things bookish that I’m not sure if The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik, David Arnold’s newest novel, flew under the radar or not. Nevertheless, I’ll say it here: it’s one of the best, if quirkiest, books I’ve read in a long time. Arnold’s storytelling risks (hypnosis! altered realities!) pay off, and Noah’s wry observations make him a narrator to remember. I’m encouraging anyone and everyone to check it out, if not for the numerous nods to pop culture, then for writing that sings and characters that stick.

I wasn’t surprised that I fell in love with Summer of Salt, as I’ve yet to find a book of Katrina Leno’s that I haven’t adored. Nevertheless, so much stands out about her latest novel, a spell-binding tale about sisters on a small island: its beautiful atmospheric quality, its fierce storyline of lineage, sisterhood, and power, and its ability to be timely and timeless. It is, to take a cue from the notes I made just after reading, “everything I wanted and more.” Catch me recommending it endlessly now and reading it again in the summertime.

Finally, Wild Blue Wonder was one of my last reads of the summer. It’s also one of the few books this year that I devoured in a single day, hooked on the narration and growth of protagonist Quinn. Author Carlie Sorosiak has a knack for writing realistic characters and relatable family dynamics, and her immersive setting had me dreaming of the magic in summer afternoons and winter mornings. Fans of contemporary fiction would do well to grab a copy – I myself already plan to purchase it for my own bookshelf.

Have a wonderful Wednesday! xx

Eighteen Anticipated Releases for 2018

Hi friends!

Happy Tuesday. For those who celebrate, did you have a nice Christmas? For all others, is your week going well? I myself feel fortunate to have had a peaceful holiday with my family, and I’m looking forward to even more celebrations with friends later in the week.

All that said, I don’t want to linger long on introductions, for today’s post is a favorite of mine: my list of the releases I’m most excited about for 2018! I love to put together this post each year, and this round-up was no different – I hope you’ll excuse that my list goes beyond the typical ten. A few notes before the fun: I’ve provided Goodreads link for ease of adding to your own TBR; I’ve chosen not to include debuts on my list (I like to write a separate post for those!); and the books are listed in rainbow order, naturally. What novels are you looking forward to reading this year?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted, as always, by the lovely bunch at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature will soon be switched over to That Artsy Reader Girl; more information – and the chance to link up a list of your own! – can be found HERE.

To start, I can’t wait to get a copy of Monday’s Not Coming. I read Tiffany D. Jackson’s debut, Allegedly, earlier in the year, and her sophomore novel looks just as good, if not better. The pitch puts it best: it’s about “the complex mystery of one teenage girl’s disappearance and the traumatic effects of the truth.” I’m in. [Release Date: June 5]

There are few authors who can consistently write at the level of Morgan Matson – I have yet to read a book of hers that I haven’t adored! I imagine the trend will continue with her 2018 release, Save the Date, a novel about a wedding weekend gone wrong. I have June 5th blocked off for an afternoon of reading. [Release Date: June 5]

Pass me the tissues: my favorite series is coming to a close with the release of The Penderwicks at Last in May. Jeanne Birdsall’s beloved books have been a staple of my childhood, and while I’m sad to see (and certainly not ready for!) the series to end, I’m glad we get one last story with the Penderwick family. I’m thinking of it as my post-finals reward. [Release Date: May 15]