So many amazing books came out last year, and one of my goals for 2017 is to read the best of the best from 2016, but I am also eager to dig into this year’s new releases. Some of my absolute favorite authors have books coming out, and I will be waiting with baited breath until they’re on the shelves.
I wanted a nice, traditional top-ten list of my most anticipated YA and adult books of 2017 (I have a whole separate list for children’s books), but I couldn’t pare it down to any fewer than 12 titles. C’est la vie!
Here they are in order by release date:
Carve the Mark, by Veronica Roth
Carve the Mark is Roth’s first book since she wrapped up the Divergent series, so I’m just curious to see what direction she’s taking now. This one takes place in another galaxy where everyone has a “currentgift, a unique power meant to shape the future.” The two main characters have currentgifts that make them vulnerable in a chaotic environment. I’m intrigued…
Release Date: January 17
Caraval (Caraval #1), by Stephanie Garber
I don’t know much about this one, but the premise sounds fun. Scarlett and her sister Tella live on a remote island and they dream of going to Caraval, an annual extravagant audience-participation performance. They’re finally invited and Tella ends up kidnapped as part of the show – the contestant who finds her first wins.
Release Date: January 31
I See You, by Clare Mackintosh
Mackintosh’s I Let You Go was my Book of the Month pick last May and it totally blew my mind (read my brief review here) and I See You looks very promising. It follows Zoe Walker, a woman who lives a seemingly normal life. One night she opens the paper and sees her photo in it along with a phone number and listing for a website called FindtheOne.com. Other women who’ve appeared in the ad have been the victims brutal crimes, and Zoe’s afraid she’ll be next. Eek!
Release Date: February 21
All Grown Up, by Jami Attenberg
I read Attenberg’s The Middlestein’s a few years ago and found it to be such engaging family story. All Grown Up seems to be in the same vein, plus it explores what it means to truly be an adult. I always wonder when I’ll feel like like a real grown-up, so reading about characters who have the same question is comforting 🙂
Release Date: March 7
The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit, by Michael Finkel
Since the Books on the Nightstand podcast ended, I’ve missed hosts Anne Kingman’s and MIchael Kindness’ awesome recommendations, so it was great hearing them on Drunk Booksellers in December. This book was highly recommended by Michael Kindness and it sounds fascinating. In 1986, Christopher Knight decided to leave civilization behind and brave the forests of Maine. He lead a completely solitary life for almost 30 years, living off the land and occasionally stealing from nearby cottages. Finkel interviewed Knight for the book to get the inside scoop on his three decades living as a hermit.
Release Date: March 7
The Upside of Unrequited, by Becky Albertalli
Albertalli’s debut Simon vs. the Homosapien Agenda was one of favorite YA reads last year, and I can’t wait to see what else she has up her sleeve. The Upside of Unrequited is a story about twins, young love, and has a character who is described as “a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire.” I’m sold!
Release Date: April 11
Once and for All, by Sarah Dessen
I adore Sarah Dessen and will read anything that she writes. Her new one centers around Louna, the daughter of a wedding planner, who is a bit jaded when it comes to love. Of course, she has a cute boy after her, who just won’t quit his pursuit. Sounds fun!
Release Date: June 6
Sip, by Brian Allen Carr
I first heard the description of this book from the All the Books podcast and immediately added it to my Goodreads TBR. In Sip, Carr creates a world where people can get high by sipping shadows, and if your shadow is completely sipped, you go insane. 150 years after the first shadows were sipped, the world is divided (some folks live in a protected dome and shadow-addicts live outside it) and a cure of shadow sickness is dire. The premise is just TOO COOL. It’s going to be hard to wait until August to read it.
Release Date: August 29
Into the Water, by Paula Hawkins
A new psychological thriller from Paula Hawkins of Girl on the Train fame – yes! Dead women start surfacing in the town’s river and one of the women is the mother of a 15-year-old. The girl’s aunt has to come back to the home she left behind to take care of her. There’s not much more to the summaries I’ve read, but I thoroughly enjoyed Girl on the Train, so I’m excited to give this one a whirl.
Release Date: May 2
Wintersong, by S. Jae-Jones
Here are a few facts: There’s a Goblin King in Wintersong. There is a Goblin King in Labyrinth (one of the most amazing movies of all time). The Goblin King in Labyrinth was David Bowie (one of the most amazing musicians of all time). Putting all these facts together, there is only one conclusion: Any book with a Goblin King is a book I have to read! That is all.
Release Date: February 7
Men Without Women, by Haruki Murakami
I’ve been a Murakami fan since college, when I read his short story collection The Elephant Vanishes. His writing is the perfect combination of off-beat humor, fever dream, and thought-provoking ideas. Men Without Women is another story collection, and if it’s anything like The Elephant Vanishes, I will be tremendously happy.
Release Date: May 9
Theft by Finding: Diaries (1977-2002), by David Sedaris
If I could invite anyone to a dinner party, David Sedaris would definitely be on the guest list. His books have cracked me up for years, and seeing as his stories are predominantly semi-autobiographical, I can only imagine that his diaries will be hugely entertaining. Will they be as good as the Santaland Diaries? I’m itching to find out!
Release Date: May 30
Book cover images from www.amazon.com
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