It’s always a lot of fun to look ahead at my most anticipated releases for the rest of the year! I’d already done a post about my most anticipated releases for the second half of the year right at the end of June (here), but I knew it wouldn’t be too hard to find more! A few of these are books that came up in my honourable mentions on that previous list, but most are books that I have not mentioned much before. I was also very surprised to see how few new releases I have on my list from November and December! I have a ton of new books coming out this month, and quite a few from October, but it fades out pretty quickly after that. I don’t know enough about publishing to know whether that is normal for this time of year, but I definitely feel like I’ve had more November/December releases on my list in previous years
7 on Sunday is a new weekly project that was started by Grace of G-Swizzel Books, with a weekly topic for videos and/or blog posts! The official Goodreads group with topics can be found here.
1) Recommended For You by Laura Silverman (September 1)
I haven’t even read Laura Silverman’s other YA book, You Asked For Perfect, yet but I have a copy that I’m hoping to get to very soon! This book just came out in the past week, and it seems like exactly the kind of YA book that I would love. It is about a teenage girl named Shoshanna who works at her favourite local bookstore, which provides her with a welcome escape from the other problems in her life. When the boss announces a holiday bonus for the person who sells the most books, Shoshanna is excited for the opportunity to get some money to fix her car. The only thing standing in her way is Jake, a new hire whose sales quickly rival hers, and the two end up in an intense competition that brings them closer, and they may even have more in common with each other than they thought. I love books that are set in libraries or bookstores, and I also tend to love hate-to-love romances. This book is very high on my list to read in my next set of reading challenges!
2) Each of Us is a Desert by Mark Oshiro (September 15)
I read and enjoyed Anger is a Gift by this author late last year, so I was excited to see a new book coming soon. It is about a girl named Xochital who is destined to wander the desert alone. Her only companions are the stars and the lines of poetry strewn across the sands. One night, her wish to share her heart with someone is granted when she meets Emilia, the daughter of the town’s murderous mayor, and they set out together on a journey across the desert, soon realizing that their hearts might fit together if they are able to survive the terrors that happen at night. To be honest, I always find the synopsis for this one a little confusing, but it also sounds very intriguing. I really liked Mark Oshiro’s writing style in his previous book, and I’m very interested to try this one too. I’m especially intrigued because this book is fantasy, and there were some unrealistic elements in Anger is a Gift that seemed to veer more in a fantasy/sci-fi direction, so I’m interested to see how the author handles a book in the genre.
3) Well Played by Jen DeLuca (September 22)
This book has jumped straight to the top of my most anticipated list after reading and loving Well Met last month. This one is the second in the series, which follows Stacey, a side character from the first book, who has decided she wants more out of her life than just the local Renaissance Faires, and vows to have her life in order, and maybe even meet “the One.” She never imagined her summer fling, Dex, may be the one, but when she receives a heartfelt e-mail that seems to be from him, she’s not sure what to think. By the time the next Faire starts, Stacey has exchanged hundreds of online messages with him, and is shocked to find out that the man that she’s been falling for wasn’t Dex, but someone she barely knows. Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of disappointing reviews for this book so far, most of which had to do with the set-up for the main relationship in this book. I really enjoyed Jen DeLuca’s writing style in this one, and I love books that center on social media and online friendships/relationships, so I’m hoping that I will love this one more than everyone else has so far.
4) Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh (September 22)
I have been waiting for this book for such a long time! Hyperbole and a Half is one of my favourite books, and it’s already been 3 years since I read it! I’ve actually been strongly considering rereading it lately. Allie Brosh is known for her webcomics, especially “The Alot,” although her Menace post is a personal favourite. Hyperbole and a Half began as a blog, where Allie Brosh shared stories from her personal life with a combination of text and illustrations. The book was so much fun to read that I immediately wanted to reread it as soon as I had finished, and I was very excited to see that there was a sequel on its way, originally due out in 2016. Unfortunately, the book got postponed several times to the point where I wasn’t sure it would really happen, so I was very excited to see it come up recently with a new release date. I’m really looking forward to reading this one!
5) A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik (September 29)
To be honest, I was a little hesitant to add this one to my TBR at first, because while I loved Uprooted, I couldn’t get into Spinning Silver so easily. The more I learned about this one though, the more exciting it seemed! It is about a girl named El, who is a student at Scholomance, a school for the magically gifted where failure means death and the only way out is to graduate or die. The school also has monsters lurking everywhere, and El is uniquely prepared to fight them because she possess a power strong enough to wipe them out, but at the cost of potentially wiping out the other students in the process. Although I haven’t read very many, I love a magical school setting and I’ve even seen this one pitched as a darker version of Harry Potter. I’m especially intrigued by the idea of the school being full of monsters, so it is literally a struggle to survive in order to graduate. This book is the first in a series, so I’m really hoping to love it as much as I expect I might.
6) Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer (November 3)
Marissa Meyer has quickly become one of my favourite YA authors, so I was very excited to see a new book from her this fall, especially because it is a contemporary romance! This book is about an overachiever named Prudence, who wakes up one day with the ability to cast instant karma on the people around her. She is excited to be able to make use of her powers, but soon realizes that they do not work on Quint, her slacker lab partner whom she sees as an enemy. Over the course of the summer, Prudence begins to uncover things about Quint, herself and her peers that start to show her how to start seeing things from other people’s perspectives. This is quite a lengthy book for a contemporary romance (500 pages!), and several early reviews so far have mentioned that the main character is insufferable, but I’m still very interested in giving this one a try. I love Marissa Meyer’s writing and I’m very interested to see what she will do with a different genre.
7) The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White (November 10)
I’m kind of preemptively anticipating this one, since I haven’t even read the first book in the series yet! I originally had the third book in Mackenzi Lee’s Montague Siblings series down as my last choice since I thought it was coming out this December, but it looks like it’s been pushed back. Instead, I decided to switch it to this book since I’m expecting to love it. Kiersten White is another author who has fairly recently become a favourite, and I’m very excited to see her take on the Arthurian legend. Since I haven’t read The Guinevere Deception yet, I’ve intentionally tried to avoid looking into the synopsis for this one in too much detail because I don’t want any spoilers. I likely won’t get to read this one until sometime next year, but I’m really looking forward to trying this series. I’ve read Kiersten White’s Conqueror’s Saga, Slayer duology, and The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, and I’ve loved them all, so I’m hoping (and expecting) to love this series just as much.
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