So Much To Look Forward To

Book releases have been scheduled and rescheduled due to the uncertainty of our current health crisis but 2021 looks like it is taking an on with the show approach and lucky for us, there are so many great books coming out this winter to keep us engrossed, enlightened and entertained! Here is a list of the books I am looking forward to reading. Order the ones that sound great to you in advance and request them at your local library to ensure they will be available once the book is released. My list begins with several 2020 books I plan to read and then the January, February and March releases on my nightstand…Here we go!

Books Published in 2020 I Plan To Read

White Ivy by Susie Zang 11/3/2020

“A dazzling debut novel about a young woman’s dark obsession with her privileged classmate and the lengths she’ll go to win his love.”

To Be A Man by Nicole Krauss 11/3/2020

“In this collection of short fiction, the author of The History of Love explores what it means to be in a couple, and to be a man and a woman in that perplexing relationship and beyond.”

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart 2/11/2020

“Shuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of young Hugh ‘Shuggie’ Bain, a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980s childhood in run-down public housing in Glasgow, Scotland.”

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline 8/25/2020

“The author of the Orphan Train returns with an ambitious emotionally resonant novel that captures the hardship, oppression, opportunity and hope of a trio of women’s lives in nineteenth-century Australia.”

January 2021 Releases

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour 1/5

“A crackling, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone Black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like, and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems.”

Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson 1/5

“To survive the Holocaust, a young Jewish woman must pose as a Christian farmer’s wife – a story of terror, hope, love, and sacrifice, inspired by true events, that vividly evokes the most perilous days of World War ll.”

Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson 1/12 (My Review and Author Q & A)

“In the tradition of Wench and Twelve Years a Slave, this harrowing story follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia.”

What Could Be Saved by Liese O’Halloran Schwarz  1/12

“An enthralling, redemptive novel sets in Bangkok in 1972 and Washington, DC, in 2019 about an expatriate child who goes missing, whose family is contacted decades later by a man claiming to be the vanished boy.”

February 2021 Releases

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah 2/2 (author of The Great Alone)

“An epic novel of love and heroism and hope, set against the backdrop of one of America’s most defining eras – the Great Depression.”

This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith 2/2

“A cathartic novel about the life-changing weekend shared between two strangers: a therapist and the man she prevents from ending his life.”

The Girl From the Channel Islands by Jenny Lecoat 2/2

“Hitler’s army captures the Channel Islands and Hedy, a young Jewish girl, finds herself trapped with no escape – a sweeping tale of bravery and love under impossible circumstances.”

When the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkinson 2/2

“Inspired by her own experiences in Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s rule, Wilkinson’s evocative, suspenseful debut is told through the eyes of three very different women confronting the limits of friendship, forgiveness, and the strength of a mother’s love.”

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles 2/9

“Based on the true World War ll story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together.”

March 2021 Releases

Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian 3/1 (author of The Red Lotus)

“A young Puritan woman – faithful, resourceful, but afraid of the demons that dog her soul – plots her escape from a violent marriage in this riveting and propulsive historical thriller.”

Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi 3/2 (author of The Pearl That Broke It’s Shell)

“An Afghan American woman returns to Kabul to learn the truth about her family and the tragedy that destroyed their lives.”

Rhapsody by Mitchell James Kaplan 3/2

“This stunning work of fiction explores the timeless bond between two brilliant, strong willed artists – Kay Swift, the restless but loyal society wife of wealthy banker, James Warburg, and a serious pianist who longs for recognition, George Gershwin.”

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner 3/2

“A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them-setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.”

Come Fly the World by Julia Cooke 3/2

“Glamour, danger, liberation; in a Mad Men-era of commercial flight, Pan Am World Airways attracted the kind of young woman who wanted out, and wanted up. Cooke weaves together real-life stories of the stewardesses. “

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn 3/9 (author of The Alice Network)

“A heart stopping World War ll story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.”

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue (author of Behold the Dreamers)

“A sweeping, wrenching story about the collision of a small African village and an American company.”

Lifelines by Melissa Bernstein 3/16 (founder of toy company Melissa & Doug)

“The riveting book that’s inspiring a self-discovery movement. Join Melissa Bernstein, co-founder of wildly successful toy company Melissa & Doug, on a journey to triumph over anxiety, depression, and despair—a story she hopes will help others find their path to meaning and inner peace.”    

Half Life by Jillian Cantor 3/23 (author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time)

“Cantor reimagines the pioneering, passionate life of Marie Curie using a parallel structure to create two alternative timelines, one that mirrors her real life, one that explores the consequences for Marie and for science if she’d made a different choice.”

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly 3/30 (author of Lilac Girls)

“Kelly tells the story of Georgeanna Woolsey, a Union nurse who joins the war effort during the Civil War, and how her calling leads her to cross paths with a young enslaved girl who is sold off and conscripted into the army, and a southern plantation mistress whose husband enlists.”

I am ringing in the new year with a fresh sense of hope, wishes for continued good health, and an incredible pile of books! (Book blurbs were picked up from Goodreads.)