Hello Kittens! Today I bring you…not a review. Sorry my darlings, but I don’t have anything ready that is up to my standards today, but on Monday we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled reviews. Between Summer Reading and a family medical emergency, I have a small deficit between what I have read and what I have reviewed. No worries though! All and everyone is well now!
In lieu of a review, just this once, I’ll leave you with a list of some of my most anxiously awaited titles that will be publishing later this year (and next year). I love the anticipation of an upcoming release and knowing about the best books before they come out so that I can better advise my patrons and get them on holds lists sooner. I’ll break them down by genre for you, so sit back and enjoy!
General Fiction
September 4- Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen by Sarah Bird. This is the story of a young slave women who serves the Union Army in the Civil War. After the war, she cannot return to her former bondage and chooses to disguise her gender and join the Buffalo Soldiers.
September 18- Boomer1 by Daniel Torday. The major plot point of this story seems to revolve around a spurned man ranting about Baby Boomers on the Internet…and I do love a good rant.
October 23- Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adje-Brenyah. This is a collection of short stories that adds to the increasingly emerging literature of African American voices describing the experience of black men and women in America.
October 2- When the Men Were Gone by Marjorie Herrera Lewis. Based on the true story of a high school teacher who becomes the first female high school football coach in Texas when World War II robs her small town of most of its men. Facing opposition at every turn, she battles through.
October 30- Family Trust by Kathy Wang. This one sounds like The Nest in a different setting with different cultural influences. Nonetheless, I think this debut is looking promising.
September 18- A Willing Murder by Jude Deveraux. I’m mainly interested in this one because Deveraux, known for her romances, is stepping into a new genre: mystery. I love when authors stretch their talents. Sometimes it works, sometimes it bombs, but I applaud the effort.
Romance
September 11- Intercepted by Alexa Martin. Tells the story of an NFL girlfriend scorned who begins to fall for an old flame who just happens to be on the team of her cheating ex-boyfriend. Diverse and set in a world most of us can only imagine.
October 30- The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory. Public proposal goes wrong, written by the author of The Wedding Date. Say no more.
November 6- On Magnolia Lane by Denise Hunter. The third book in the Blue Ridge Romance series
This one’s summary reads like a modern re-telling of You’ve Got Mail, told with a flower shop owner and a pastor in the virtual world of online dating. With the passing of Nora Ephron a few years back, I love when people bring stories like this one back into the mainstream consciousness. It’s just nice.
January 29, 2019- 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne. Darcy is in love with her twin brother’s best friend and has been since she was a child. Now an adult, the two are thrown together during a house flip and the sparks start flying.
January 1, 2019- The One You Fight For by Roni Loren. This is the third in a series about the adults who are dealing with the after effects of surviving a school shooting 14 years ago. The premise is intriguing because the subject matter is so sensitive, but I’m going to give this series a try.
Science Fiction
August 18- The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden (the end of a trilogy that started with The Bear and the Nightingale). A fairytale retelling set in Russia and featuring a flawed female main character discovering an inner power.
September 4- Poor Relations by Jo Walton. This one takes an interesting look at gender roles in a world only a few hundred years in a future where humans have colonized outer space. Not having read it yet, I am still going to assume that things are more similar than they are different.
August 2- Early Riser by Jasper Fforde. It doesn’t matter what the plot is. If Fforde writes it, it will be excellent and I will read it. He’s had me since Thursday Next.
Fantasy
November 8- The Kingdom of Copper (the second book in the Daevabad trilogy) by S.A. Chakraborty. This book follows The City of Brass and involves djinns and a Middle Eastern setting. That was really all I had to know to be sold on this one.
May 14, 2019- We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal. This one sounds pretty epic and follows two young people, Zafira and Nasir, as they fight their separate battles to save their land from an encroaching evil. Tthey are sent on similar quests to find an artifact that is supposed to help them stop this evil and their stories collide.
Young Adult
August 28- That’s Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger. This is from the same author who brought us The Duff, but this is an entirely different direction. It follows the survivor of a school shooting as she struggles with whether to reveal the truth about what happened that day, especially in regards to her friend, a victim who has been seen as a martyr for her faith.
September 4- Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan. This is a sci-fi retelling of the Mahabrahata. It will be interesting to see this ancient Sanskrit text transformed into a YA Sci-Fi novel.
October 9- Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak. The Book Thief was one of those life-changing books that you read when you’re too young to really understand it’s beauty but that you love anyway. Based on that alone, I am going to be picking up this next title from Zusak. It’s been several years since we saw anything from him, and I’m sure there is going to be a lot of buzz around this release.
August 28- Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. This is the story of a nerdy kid from a Persian family who is struggling with his various identities. When his family travels to Iran to see an ailing family member, Darius must confront a new world while still figuring out his own place in American society. I’ve got an ARC of this one, and the first few chapters do not disappoint.
This list barely even scratches the surface. The Fall is going to be loaded with fabulous books. What are you most excited for? Drop a comment below and let me know about the books you are stalking for your TBR list.
Books Dani Likes 