It is hard to believe, but 2024 is almost upon us. A new year means new book releases! And there are plenty to get excited about.
This list is composed of titles being published in January through July of 2024 which I am most anticipating. Essentially, this is a personal list of sorts. I acknowledge that my tastes are just that – mine. Consequently, you are unlikely to find fantasy or young adults books on this list. Instead, you will find plenty of contemporary and literary fiction, historical fiction, romance, and mystery/thrillers. I will be creating a separate list for nonfiction titles.
I would love to hear what books you are most anticipating in the comments!
January
The Storm We Made
Vanessa Chan
A spellbinding, sweeping novel about a Malayan mother who becomes an unlikely spy for the invading Japanese forces during WWII—and the shocking consequences that rain upon her community and family.
Publication date: January 2
Amazon | Bookshop.org
River East, River West
Aube Rey Lescure
Set against the backdrop of developing modern China, this mesmerizing literary debut is part coming-of-age tale, part family and social drama, as it follows two generations searching for belonging and opportunity in a rapidly changing world—perfect for readers of Behold the Dreamers, White Ivy, and The Leavers.
Publication date: January 9
Amazon | Bookshop.org
Ilium
Lea Carpenter
Set in the dark world of international espionage, from London to Mallorca, Croatia, Paris, and Cap Ferret: the gripping and suspenseful story of a young woman who unwittingly becomes a perfect asset in the long overdue finale of a covert special op.
Publication date: January 16
Amazon | Bookshop.org
The Curse of Pietro Houdini
Derek B. Miller
From the Dagger Award–winning author of Norwegian by Night comes a vivid, thrilling, and moving World War II art-heist-adventure tale where enemies become heroes, allies become villains, and a child learns what it means to become an adult. The Curse of Pietro Houdini is a work of storytelling bravado: a thrilling action-packed adventure heist, an imaginative chronicle of forgotten history, and a philosophical coming-of-age epic where a child navigates one of the most enigmatic and morally complex fronts of World War II and lives to tell the tale.
Publication date: January 16
Amazon | Bookshop.org
Prima Facie
Suzie Miller
Tessa Ensler loves her job. She’s worked her way up to being a top criminal defense barrister against all the odds, and fights to defend those pleading not guilty. Tessa believes in the law, believes in the system. But when Tessa is raped by a coworker, she struggles to find the strength to bring him to justice in the face of the barriers and opposition within that same system. Determined to have her day in court, Tessa is forced to confront the stark reality that the law was not written for victims, and that she is the one on trial.
Publication date: January 30
Amazon | Bookshop.org
February
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
Tia Williams
In this enchanting love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Seven Days in June, a free-spirited florist and an enigmatic musician are irreversibly linked through the history, art, and magic of Harlem. Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a swoon-worthy love story of two passionate artists drawn to the magic, romance, and opportunity of New York, and whose lives are uniquely and irreversibly linked.
Publication date: February 6
Amazon | Bookshop.org
The Fox Wife
Yangsze Choo
Some people think foxes are similar to ghosts because we go around collecting qi, but nothing could be further than the truth. We are living creatures, just like you, only usually better looking . . . Epic in scope and full of singular, unforgettable characters, The Fox Wife is a stunning novel about old loves and second chances, the depths of maternal love, and ancient folktales that may very well be true.
Publication date: February 13
Amazon | Bookshop.org
March
The Great Divide
Cristina Henriquez
A powerful novel about the construction of the Panama Canal, casting light on the unsung people who lived, loved, and labored there. Searing and empathetic, The Great Divide explores the intersecting lives of activists, fishmongers, laborers, journalists, neighbors, doctors, and soothsayers–those rarely acknowledged by history even as they carved out its course.
Publication date: March 5
Amazon | Bookshop.org
Murder Road
Simone St. James
A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases.
Publication date: March 5
Amazon | Bookshop.org
James
Percival Everett
A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view. From the “literary icon” (Oprah Daily), Pulitzer Prize Finalist, and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime.
Publication date: March 19
Amazon | Bookshop.org
Kill for Me, Kill for You
Steven Cavanagh
For fans of The Silent Patient and Gone Girl, a razor-sharp and Hitchcock-inspired psychological thriller about two ordinary women who make a dangerous pact to take revenge for each other after being pushed to the brink.
Publication date: March 19
Amazon | Bookshop.org
The Morningside
Téa Obreht
From the critically beloved, New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger’s Wife and Inland, a magical novel of mothers and daughters, displacement and belonging, and myths both old and new. Startling, inventive, and profoundly moving, The Morningside is a novel about the stories we tell–and the stories we refuse to tell–to make sense of where we came from and who we hope we might become.
Publication date: March 19
Amazon | Bookshop.org
April
The Husbands
Holly Gramazio
When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late one night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael. There’s only one problem—she’s not married. She’s never seen this man before in her life. As Lauren tries to puzzle out how she could be married to someone she can’t remember meeting, Michael goes to the attic to change a lightbulb and abruptly disappears. In his place, a new man emerges, and a new, slightly altered life re-forms around her. Realizing that her attic is creating an infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the question: If swapping lives is as easy as changing a lightbulb, how do you know you’ve taken the right path? When do you stop trying to do better and start actually living?
Publication date: April 2
Amazon | Bookshop.org
The Gathering
C.J. Tudor
In a small Alaska town, a boy is found with his throat ripped out and all the blood drained from his body. The inhabitants of Deadhart haven’t seen a killing like this in twenty-five years. But they know who’s responsible: a member of the Colony, an ostracized community of vampyrs living in an old mine settlement deep in the woods. A detective investigating a grisly crime in rural Alaska finds herself caught up in the dark secrets and superstitions of a small town in this riveting novel from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man.
Publication date: April 9
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Here We Go Again
Alison Cochrun
The author of the “sexy, insightful, and utterly charming” (BuzzFeed) Kiss Her Once for Me returns with a new queer rom-com following once childhood best friends forced together to drive their former teacher across the country.
Publication date: April 2
Amazon | Bookshop.org
Real Americans
Rachel Khong
From the award-winning author of Goodbye, Vitamin: How far would you go to shape your own destiny? An exhilarating novel of American identity that spans three generations in one family and asks: What makes us who we are? And how inevitable are our futures?
Publication date: April 30
Amazon | Bookshop.org
May
The Ministry of Time
Kaliane Bradley
A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all: Welcome to The Ministry of Time, the exhilarating debut novel by Kaliane Bradley. An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks the universal question: What happens if you put a disaffected millennial and a Victorian polar explorer in a house together?
Publication date: May 7
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This Strange Eventful History
Claire Messud
An immersive, masterful story of a family born on the wrong side of history, from one of our finest contemporary novelists. Over seven decades, from 1940 to 2010, the pieds-noirs Cassars live in an itinerant state―separated in the chaos of World War II, running from a complicated colonial homeland, and, after Algerian independence, without a homeland at all. Inspired by stories of her own family’s history, Claire Messud animates her characters’ rich interior lives amidst the social and political upheaval of a recently vanished world.
Publication date: May 14
Amazon | Bookshop.org
June
The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye
Briony Cameron
This epic, dazzling tale based on true events illuminates a woman of color’s rise to power as one of the few purported female pirate captains to sail the Caribbean, and the forbidden love story that will shape the course of history.
Publication date: June 4
Amazon | Bookshop.org
Middletide
Sarah Crouch
In this gripping and intensely atmospheric debut, disquiet descends on a small town after the suspicious death of a beautiful young doctor, with all clues pointing to the reclusive young man who abandoned the community in chase of big city dreams but returned for the first love he left behind. Perfect for fans of All Good People Here and Where the Crawdads Sing.
Publication date: June 11
Amazon | Bookshop.org
Little Rot
Akwaeke Emezi
One weekend. The elite underbelly of a Nigerian city. A breakup that starts a spiral. A party that goes awry. A tangled web of sex and lies and corruption that leaves no one unscathed. Little Rot is a whirling journey through the city’s dark side, told through the eyes of five people, each determined to run from the twisted powers out to destroy them.
Publication date: June 18
Amazon | Bookshop.org
Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books
Kristen Miller
The provocative and hilarious summer read that will have book lovers cheering and everyone talking! Kirsten Miller, author of The Change, brings us a bracing, wildly entertaining satire about a small Southern town, a pitched battle over banned books, and a little lending library that changes everything.
Publication date: June 18
Amazon | Bookshop.org
All the Colors of the Dark
Chris Whitaker
From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that spans decades. 1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing. When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy with one eye, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Publication date: June 25
Amazon | Bookshop.org
July
This Great Hemisphere
Mateo Askaripour
From the award-winning and bestselling author of Black Buck: A speculative novel about a young woman—invisible by birth and relegated to second-class citizenship—who sets off on a mission to find her older brother, whom she had presumed dead but who is now the primary suspect in a high-profile political murder.
Publication date: July 9
Amazon | Bookshop.org
