This is always a fun topic, albeit a little frustrating to realize how long it’s been since some of my authors have released anything new! To be fair, my concept of time hasn’t been great over the past couple of years, largely due to the lockdowns in 2020. While I was searching through my list, there were several authors that I thought I’d read recently, only to realize that I’d read them 3 or more years ago already! Luckily for me, the majority of my favourite authors tend to put out books every year or two. I also had a good chunk of authors that would have been on this list had I made it about a year ago, but they’ve actually recently released something new! For example, AJ Finn would have been near the top of my list because of how much I’d loved The Woman in the Window but his new thriller very recently came out. I was also a little surprised to realize that I hadn’t written a post on this topic in about 5 years. The last one I could find was from all the way back in 2019, and most of the authors on this list still apply! On the one hand, it’s hard to wait for new books by some of these authors because I really want to read more, but on the other, at least it gives me a chance to catch up on some other authors and discover some that are new-to-me! To choose authors for this list, I browsed through my Goodreads shelves to find books that I had given 5 stars as a starting point to find some authors who need to release something new already!
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
1) Audrey Niffenegger – Already this one is a repeat from my list in 2019, but unfortunately she still has not released another full-length novel! She has contributed to some anthologies and has also has some graphic novels that I didn’t know about, but she has not released a novel since Her Fearful Symmetry and that was all the way back in 2009!! I might check out some of her graphic novels in the meantime, but I’d love for her to publish something new! I was actually very surprised to realize it had been more than 10 years since her novels were both released, probably because I read them quite a bit later.
2) Diane Setterfield – This one may be a little petty since I haven’t even read her most recent release yet! I’ve been so intimidated for some reason to actually read my copy of Once Upon a River, and she also has Bellman & Black which I know very little about. However, I chose this author mostly because I want her to release something new along the lines of The Thirteenth Tale, the only book of hers that I’ve read so far and which became an immediate favourite! It seems this author always takes quite long breaks between books, so maybe she’s due for something new soon!
3) Sharon Guskin – This is another author that is a repeat from my 2019 list, and unfortunately, even 5 years later I am still waiting! I read her first and so far only book The Forgetting Time in 2017 and it reminded me strongly of Jodi Picoult! I’ve been waiting ever since for her to release something new, but there has been no news whatsoever since then. I I tried to do a little digging online to see if there was any recent information, but everything that I found was relating to her debut, and generally more than 5 years old already. I did see one interview where she mentioned working on a new novel, but I couldn’t figure out when that was published. At this point, I would assume that this author is no longer writing, unfortunately, but I hope that I’m proven wrong!
4) Lisa Genova – Technically, this author has released something new recently since she had a nonfiction book that came out a couple of years ago, but I’m specifically looking for more fiction. I still have a couple of backlist books of hers to read, but I have read Still Alice as well as this author’s two most recent novels, although the last of those was published in 2018! I really enjoy this author’s writing style and the way she weaves in neuroscience and various related topics. I’ve loved everything I’ve read of hers so far and I’m looking forward to getting something new. She seems to release something every 3 or so years, and with her nonfiction book coming out in 2021, it seems like we are due for something new soon if that pattern continues!
5) Gillian Flynn – While most of the thriller authors I like tend to put out a new book ever year or two, I have been waiting a long time for something new by Gillian Flynn! I still have one of her thrillers left to read and potentially her short story The Grownup (and even that has already been out for a decade). It seems that she has switched over to being a publisher now. As per an interview with the Chicago Tribune in 2023, she had mentioned that she had written a first draft of a new novel, but it was nowhere near ready for publication yet because it’s still not exactly what she wants. I’m hoping this is a sign that there will be something in the near(ish) future though!
6) Erin Morgenstern – I am not so surprised that this author takes quite a while between books given that hers tend to be fairly complex, but I would love to read another one. It was 8 years between her first two books so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a similar wait again. I was quite late to picking up The Night Circus originally, reading it 5 years after it first came out. I read The Starless Sea all the way back in 2020 around the start of the lockdowns since it gave me the time to actually devote to it. To be honest, I always feel a little intimidated to pick up her books but so far I’ve always ended up loving them. I’d imagine we still have a few more years to wait, but I’m excited to see what she comes out with next.
7) Laini Taylor – I chose this author for a very similar reason to Erin Morgenstern. I am always so intimidated to pick up her books, but always end up loving them when I finally try them. I finished the Daughter of Smoke & Bone series in late 2018, and read the entire Strange the Dreamer duology in early 2020 (pre-pandemic), although again I was late to getting to them! Laini Taylor’s last book was published in 2018, except for a middle grade graphic novel that I’m not sure I’m interested in. I was actually surprised to realize that it had already been so long since her last book was out, and I’m very interested to find out what she’s going to write next. To be honest, if it’s another series I’d likely wait until all or most of the books are out and binge-read them since they can be complex, but I’m looking forward to it already!
8) N.D. Stevenson – It has been 4 years since this author put out their graphic memoir, and much longer since Lumberjanes (which eventually was taken over by other authors) and Nimona. I love this author’s humour and style, and I would especially love more books involving Nimona! I am not sure if there are any plans to keep going with this character at all, but I’d be interested anyway even if the next book is something completely new and different. I don’t actually read a ton of graphic novels in general but this is an author that I would definitely be looking out for. I was very surprised to see that it had been 8+ years since their last fiction books, and even 4 years since the memoir!
9) Angie Thomas – Of all the authors on this list, this is the one who has been published most recently. Apparently Angie Thomas had a middle grade book out last year which I was not aware of at all, but that actually makes sense since she tends to put out one book every 2 years. Unfortunately for me, middle grade is not usually so appealing to me, although there’s a slim chance I’ll give this one a try. I have loved all three of Angie Thomas’s YA books so far, so I’m fairly confident I will love whatever she puts out next too! Following her usual pattern, I would assume a new book will be out in 2025 but right now that still seems like a long way off!
10) Matthew J. Sullivan – To be honest, I had completely forgotten about this book until I saw it again on my Goodreads list! I read Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore in 2019 and I remember loving it so much more than I expected. There was an entire plotline in this book that I did not expect at all that ended up completely hooking me, and I devoured the entire book in just two days. In fact, according to Goodreads, I read about 75% of it in one day, which is almost unheard of for me! There is supposed to be another book due out in 2025 which is confusingly labelled as both a standalone and part of a series on Goodreads. That means it’s been 8 years between the two books, so I think it is definitely about time this author releases something new!
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