TTT: Top 10 Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2016

 

I can't believe that we are already halfway through 2016! The year is just flying by. There are so many great books coming out in the next six months that it's hard to narrow it down to ten...Hello new books, goodbye paycheck!

By order of release date:

1)The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone

Release Date: July 5

An apocalyptic horror novel that features a mutant race of spiders. This book sounds like it is right up my alley and early reviews have been glowing. Can't wait to devour this one!

2) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany

Release Date: July 31

I am of two minds with this one: yes, I am eagerly anticipating a new Harry Potter story but I am also somewhat disappointed that Rowling decided to write it as a play instead of a novel. Reading the script won't give readers the full impact of the story because it is meant to be seen on stage. Rowling has stated that Cursed Child will go on tour...eventually. Until then, I'll have to settle for reading the script.

3) Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Release Date: August 2

Spiders seem to be having a moment in speculative fiction. This fantasy novel features giant spiders as...heroes? Anti-heroes? I can't really remember but I know that they have starring roles. 

4) Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) by Jay Kristoff

Release Date: August 9

I'm anticipating this book for the cover alone. The only book I've ever read by Jay Kristoff was Illuminae which he co-authored with Amie Kaufman. It was one of my favorite books of 2015 and his other fantasy novels always intrigued me. He's definitely an author I'd like to get to know better.

5) The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer

Release Date: August 16

Amy Schumer is one of my favorite comedians and I have been wanting to see a book from her for years. Looks like my dream will finally come true in a couple of months!

6) Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas

Release Date: September 16

I still haven't started on the Throne of Glass series yet but Maas' other series, A Court of Thorns and Roses is one of my all-time favorites so I've been collecting the ToG books as they come out. Hopefully I'll get around to reading them soon...

7) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Illustrated Edition by J.K. Rowling, illustrated by Jim Kay

Release Date: October 4

The illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is beautiful so I'm excited to see Jim Kay work his magic on Chamber of Secrets. 

8) Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Release Date: October 18

Illuminae blew me away last year with its unique format and compelling plot so of course I'm eagerly anticipating the sequel.

9) The Making of Star Wars: The Force Awakens by J.W. Rinzler, Mark Cotta Vaz, J.J. Abrams, and Kathleen Kennedy

(Cover not final)

Release Date: October 25

Considering The Force Awakens took me from a casual Star Wars viewer to a dedicated Star Wars nerd, I could not be more excited for this behind-the-scenes book.

10) Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Release Date: November 8

I am a huge Lunar Chronicles fan so Marissa Meyer has become one of my auto-buy authors. This is a standalone retelling starring the Queen of Hearts, the infamous villain from Alice in Wonderland. 

Top Ten Tuesday is an original bookish meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

New Releases: March 2016

 March 1

Burning Glass (Burning Glass #1) by Kathryn Purdie

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
A girl with the ability to detect the feelings of others around her is recruited to protect the emperor from assassins. 

A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1) by Brittany Cavallaro

Genre: Young Adult Mystery
Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson - the descendants of the famous mystery-solving duo - team up to solve a murder of one of their fellow students.

Into the Dim (Into the Dim #1) by Janet B. Taylor

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Pitched as Outlander for teens, this time-travel story follows a teen girl traveling back to the twelfth century to save her mother.

The Lifeboat Clique by Kathy Parks 

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
When a tsunami hits the coast of California, teenage Denver is swept out to sea with a handful of other survivors - including her ex-BFF, Abigail.

Star Wars: Original Trilogy Graphic Novel

Genre: Science Fiction/Graphic Novel
The original Star Wars trilogy retold in graphic novel form. After seeing The Force Awakens, I've become obsessed with Star Wars so this will be a must-buy.

Black Apple by Joan Crate

Genre: Historical Fiction
A coming-of-age novel about a young Blackfoot girl who grows up in the residential school system on the Canadian prairies. 

Quantum Night by Robert J. Sawyer

Genre: Science Fiction
A psychologist and a quantum physicist race against time to stop a pandemic of hatred and violence that is sweeping the globe.

United States of Japan by Peter Tieryas

Genre: Science Fiction - Alternate History

Japan has won World War II and now the United States is patrolled by giant robots. You had me at 'giant robots.' (How awesome is that cover?)

The Last Days of Magic by Mark Tompkins

Genre: Fantasy
From Goodreads: 'An epic novel of magic and mysticism, Celts and faeries, mad kings and druids, and the goddess struggling to reign over magic's last outpost on the Earth.'

The Devil You Know by K.J. Parker

Genre: Fantasy
The greatest philosopher of all time offers to sell his soul to the devil in exchange for twenty more years to complete his life's work - but things aren't as simple as they seem.

Arkwright by Allen Steele

Genre: Science Fiction
Nathan Arkwright, a brilliant author, is convinced that humankind cannot survive on Earth for much longer. He establishes the Arkwright Foundation to search for habitable planets and save humanity. This book is being compared to classic science-fiction books like 2001: A Space Odyssey and modern space operas like Interstellar. 

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz

Genre: Thriller
A woman flees after her husband's death, taking on a new identity - all the while claiming that she didn't kill him.

The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home (Fairyland #5) by Catherynne M. Valente

Genre: Fantasy
The fifth and final book in Valente's Fairyland series.

All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation by Rebecca Traister


Genre: Non Fiction
A nuanced investigation into the sexual, economic, and emotional lives of modern women in America.

Beyond the Red by Ava Jae


Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
An alien queen and a half-human/half-alien soldier must team up to prevent a violent genocide. This book sounds amazing!

March 8

Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
The first book in a brand-spanking new Shadowhunters series. 

Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1) by Alwyn Hamilton

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
A young girl growing up in a mystical desert world wants to escape from her dead-end town. When she meets Jin, a handsome and mysterious foreigner, she believes he will be her ticket out.

The Great Hunt (The Great Hunt #1) by Wendy Higgins

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
A beast is terrorizing the kingdom of Lochlanach so the king offers his daughter's hand in marriage to whoever slays the beast. 

A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls edited by Jessica Spotswood

Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction
A collection of short stories by YA authors featuring badass heroines and daring damsels. I'm definitely excited to read Marissa Meyer's story!

The Spider's War (The Dagger and the Coin #5) by Daniel Abraham

Genre: Fantasy
The fifth and final book in the epic Dagger and the Coin saga.

Endgame by Ahmet Altan

Genre: Crime Fiction
From Goodreads: 'A man retires to a sun-baked Turkish town for a quiet life. But he finds a world of suspicion, paranoia, and violence. The town has made a murderer of him. The question is, who did he kill?'

The Tiger and the Wolf (Echoes of the Fall #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Genre: Fantasy
A fantasy about two rival clans of shapeshifters and the girl caught in between them.

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

Genre: Fantasy/Short Stories
Ken Liu is one of speculative fiction's hottest authors at the moment. His debut fantasy novel, The Grace of Kings, was critically acclaimed and was featured on many year-end Best Of 2015 lists. His first collection of short stories is already garnering massive praise. He's definitely one to watch. 

Monstrous Little Voices: New Tales from Shakespeare's Fantasy World by Various Authors

Genre: Fantasy
A collection of Shakespeare retellings focusing on the more fantastical of the Bard's works. 

Forest of Memory by Mary Robinette Kowal

Genre: Fantasy
An intriguing novella about a woman who is cut off from a world steeped in technology and artificial intelligence when a hunter meets her in the woods and makes her his unwilling guest. 

Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee

Genre: Middle Grade Fiction
A tale of two sisters, a fox cub, and what happens when one of the sisters disappears forever.

What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours:Stories by Helen Oyeyemi

Genre: Fiction/Short Stories
A collection of stories by acclaimed author Helen Oyeyemi that focus on magical realism. 

March 15

Yellow Brick War (Dorothy Must Die #3) by Danielle Paige

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
The third and final book in the Dorothy Must Die series. 

A Drop of Night by Stefan Bachmann

Genre: Young Adult Mystery
Said to appeal to fans of The Maze Runner and The Cabin in the Woods, this story follows Anouk, a seventeen-year-old girl chosen to help excavate a vast, underground palace that hid an aristocratic family during the French Revolution. 

The Last Mortal Bond (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne #3) by Brian Staveley

Genre: Fantasy
The third and final book in the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne series. 

Snakewood by Adrian Selby

Genre: Fantasy

A band of successful mercenaries are now retired and separated from each other. Now they are being hunted down, one by one, and killed. But why? For their past crimes? Or for a more sinister reason?

The First Time She Drowned by Kerry Kletter

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Cassie, a psychologically damaged girl, tries to reconcile with her estranged mother. But not much has changed and their unhealthy relationship threatens to destroy Cassie's already-fragile mental health.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Inspired by Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, this book tells the story of Hermione Winter, a cheerleading captain who must struggle with the aftermath of a devastating sexual assault and the resulting pregnancy.

The North Water by Ian McGuire


Genre: Historical Fiction
From Goodreads: 'A nineteenth-century whaling ship sets sail for the Arctic with a killer aboard in this dark, sharp, and highly original tale that grips like a thriller.'

March 22

Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke

Genre: Young Adult Mystery
A mystery told from three different perspectives: Wink, the secretive girl-next-door. Poppy, the Queen Bee bully. And Midnight, the sweet boy caught between them. 

The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture by Gled Weldon

Genre: Non Fiction

Just Fall by Nina Sadowsky

Genre: Mystery
How can you find out the person you love is a killer...and continue to love them anyway?

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney


Genre: Fiction
From Goodreads: 'A warm, funny and acutely perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives.'

The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan


Genre: Fiction

A story about an Indian family torn about by terrorism.

March 29

The Winner's Kiss (The Winner's Trilogy #3) by Marie Rutkoski

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
The third and final book in the Winner's trilogy. I can't wait for this one!

Half Lost (The Half Bad Trilogy #3) by Sally Green

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
The third and final book in the Half Bad trilogy.