It’s the SECOND moooooost wonderful time of the yeaaaaaaar. The first most wonderful time was the first installment in which I talked about the books on my must read list for the FIRST half of 2018. You guessed it…it’s time for my most anticipated books to read in 2018 list! I just love diving into what new books are coming out each year.
So if you are also looking for a list of new books to read in 2018 (the second half anyways), you’ve come to the absolute right place, dear reader. Strap in, this list of books to read in 2018 is also quite hefty.
I wanted to have this up at the beginning of July but our move just took all my time and energy so I wasn’t on target for that but it is what it is! Basically my motto these days.
If you want books to read in 2018 that are already out — check out the first Books To Read In 2018 list! If you love young adult fiction, check out this list of YA books to read in 2018! I will be serving up my second half of the year YA list soon!
Books To Reads In 2018
(PART 2)
[Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links which means that if you click on a link and purchase something I’ve talked about or recommended, I’ll receive a very small percentage of the sale. Please see my disclosure policy for more info.
The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams — Out July 10
“a spellbinding novel of romance, murder, class, power, and dark secrets set in the 1950s and ’60s among the rarified world of a resort island in the Long Island Sound”
I’m reallyyyyy into reading books about SUPER elite & wealthy for some reason especially from the perspective of someone who doesn’t exactly feel like they fit in like the main character in this book who is thrust into this super wealthy community, alongside the working class who inhabit the island as well, when her mother remarries. Very curious what makes her leave the island abruptly and not come back for 10ish years! Sounds like a drama-filled historical novel that I am HERE for.
Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott – Out July 17
Two former friends, no longer friends after one shared a bombshell of a secret with the other, find themselves 10 years later locked in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse that threatens to destroy them both when they are both up for the same coveted position doing groundbreaking research with their idol.
This sounds like a fantastic psychological thriller — love the former friends 10 years later piece of it and I love that maybe we will have a little STEM goodness in the book?? I’m DYING to know what the secret is that tore them apart.
Eagle & Crane by Suzanne Rindell— Out July 3
“Two young daredevil flyers confront ugly truths and family secrets during the U.S. internment of Japanese citizens during World War II”
I really enjoyed the gritty circus setting of Water for Elephants and as soon as I read that this book had a circus element I was like YAS I NEED. I’m curious about the plane crash and who the two bodies are in the Shaw’s plane and also obviously family secrets are always my own personal book crack.
City of Lies by Sam Hawke – Out July 3
“Outwardly, Jovan is the lifelong friend of the Chancellor’s charming, irresponsible Heir. Quiet. Forgettable. In secret, he’s a master of poisons and chemicals, trained to protect the Chancellor’s family from treachery. When the Chancellor succumbs to an unknown poison and an army lays siege to the city, Jovan and his sister Kalina must protect the Heir and save their city-state. But treachery lurks in every corner, and the ancient spirits of the land are rising…and angry.”
I read a ton of YA fantasy but I never really read much adult fantasy and I’m trying to change that (please shoutout any recs in the comments!) but this one sounded really good featuring not the assassin but the person who is supposed to keep the heirs safe from that sort of thing! I feel like I haven’t read from that POV!
The Romanov Empress by C.W. Gortner — Out July 10
“For readers of Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir comes a dramatic novel of the beloved Empress Maria, the Danish girl who became the mother of the last Russian tsar.”
Anything royalty of any kind I’m here for.
Ghosted by Rosie Walsh — Out July 24
Sarah meets the perfect guy and they instantly connect and she knows they are meant to be — she’s finally found the one and he seems to feel the same way. Promising to call her when he arrives to the airport for a vacation he had already booked, she is shocked when she doesn’t hear from him. Her friends think she’s been ghosted but she believes something happened…even as the weeks go by and she doesn’t hear from him. She discovers that she may be right….there IS a reason for his disappearance
I 10000% need to know why he ghosted her. I’ve never been romantically ghosted but I’ve been friend-ghosted lol.
This one sounds SO good. SO GOOD. I love a good family story. It sounds like it could be pretty heartbreaking.
The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon — Out July 31
Phoebe and Will meet at university and Will knows he absolutely loves her. Phoebe secret blames herself for her mother’s death and finds herself involved into a religious group (a secretive extremist cult) started by a former student. Will, coming from an extreme fundamentalist background and trying to heal from that, tries to find Phoebe (and answers abou if she could have carried this out) after the group bombs several buildings and Phoebe goes missing.
Oh man this is going to be a great book club book, I think! I always love books that do a deep dive into cults or extreme groups like this so I’m HOOKED.
During the summer of 1969, the owner of a dilapidated country house employs Frances to stay at the house and assess follies in the garden. Soon after has also commissions a man named Peter to make an inventory of the house’s remaining contents, and he arrives with his partner, Cara. They’re a carefree, glamorous pair and draw in a lonely Frances in as she watches them. She soon finds herself growing close to them and they start abandoning their work and do a lot of drinking, smoking and eating lavish dinners. And yet, as she grows closer to them and learns more, she finds something very off-key about the couple and not adding up.
Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood — Out August 7
“When 11 year-old Sally Horner steals a notebook from the local Woolworth’s, she has no way of knowing that 52 year-old Frank LaSalle, fresh out of prison, is watching her, preparing to make his move. Accosting her outside the store, Frank convinces Sally that he’s an FBI agent who can have her arrested in a minute—unless she does as he says. The next two years she’s held captive by him as they travel cross country.
So apparently this kidnapping incident of this young girl was the inspiration for Lolita — a book I have read and was squicked out by. It looks heartbreaking!!
Our House by Louise Candlish — Out August 7
Fiona comes home to strangers moving into her house — a house that is the nest for her co-parenting situation with her estranged husband where they switch off living there every few days and one she most definitely didn’t sell. Next thing she knows her estranged husband and children are missing and she starts to uncover lies her husband had been weaving all along.
This looks like quite the page-turner!! I need to read this ASAP. I need to know what’s going on here!!
I have been beginning to really love the “used to be together and come back into each other life to possibly rekindle the flame” trope. This looks like a pretty promising romcom for 2018!
The Third Hotel by Laura Van Den Berg — Out August 7
“Shortly after Clare arrives in Havana, Cuba, to attend the annual Festival of New Latin American Cinema, she finds her husband, Richard, standing outside a museum. He’s wearing a white linen suit she’s never seen before, and he’s supposed to be dead. Grief-stricken and baffled, Clare tails Richard, a horror film scholar, through the newly tourist-filled streets of Havana, clocking his every move. As the distinction between reality and fantasy blurs, Clare finds grounding in memories of her childhood in Florida and of her marriage to Richard, revealing her role in his death and reappearance along the way”
Why isn’t this in my hands now?! Is he really alive? Is this some sort of hallucination? WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS BOOK???
If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim — Out August 7
“the unforgettable saga of two ill-fated lovers in Korea and the heartbreaking choices they’re forced to make in the years surrounding the civil war that continues to haunt us today”
The cover is so pretty but I feel like this one is going to punch me in the gut being about war and refugee life and (it seems) women’s issues in a country where there is less autonomy!
Goodbye, Paris by Anstey Harris— Out August 7
Grace once had the beginnings of a promising musical career, but she hasn’t been able to play her cello publicly since a traumatic event at music college years ago. Now she lives in a small village, fixes instruments and continues to nurture her long distance relationship with a married man who helped to rebuild her life and plans to leave his marriage once his children are old enough. When he suddenly is catapulted into fame after saving a woman’s life, the truth about his relationships comes out and shatters Grace who spirals and hits rock bottom. Her friends, an elderly violist and a teenaged shop clerk, try to step in and help her.
I was interested when I was reading the description but as soon as it mentioned her two friends (I love interesting and unlikely friendships) I was sold. It’s been described as for fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, Where’d You Go Bernadette? and Jojo Moyes books.
Vox by Christina Dulcher — Out August 21
“On the day the government decrees that women are no longer allowed more than 100 words daily, Dr. Jean McClellan is in denial–this can’t happen here. Not in America. Not to her. Soon women can no longer hold jobs. Girls are no longer taught to read or write. Females no longer have a voice. Before, the average person spoke sixteen thousand words a day, but now women only have one hundred to make themselves heard. For herself, her daughter, and every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice.“
If The Handmaid’s Tale (book or tv show) made you rage then don’t sleep on this one!
Blind Kiss by Renee Carlino — Out August 14
Penny and Gavin met through a psych study where, for a gift card, they have to be blindfolded, make conversation and kiss a stranger to explored the question if you can have sexual chemistry without seeing a person. Fourteen years later, after Penny makes The Decision that puts an end to their dance between friendship and romance after that kiss, both of their lives are about to change and they could potentially have a shot at romance again.
I am LOVING this premise. I love those ~almost loves~ storylines and this one sounds fantastic.
The Other Woman by Sandie Jones— Out August 21
“Emily thinks Adam’s perfect; the man she thought she’d never meet. But lurking in the shadows is a rival; a woman who shares a deep bond with the man she loves. Emily chose Adam, but she didn’t choose his mother Pammie. There’s nothing a mother wouldn’t do for her son, and now Emily is about to find out just how far Pammie will go to get what she wants: Emily gone forever.“
I love me a good domestic thriller and I’m intrigued by the mom thing.
The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle— Out September 11
“When Sabrina Nielsen arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also her favorite professor from college, her father, her ex-fiance, Tobias, and Audrey Hepburn. At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we’d like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen? These are the questions Sabrina contends with as she sits down with these people who are all clearly there for a reason“
I have always really had a hard time with that dinner party question. I have a couple solid thoughts about it but I ALWAYS love hearing everyone’s answer to this question. This Sliding Doors-esque dinner party story sounds amazing! I know Rebecca Serle from her YA stuff so I’m stoked to see her in the adult space too!
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton— Out September 18
“At a gala party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed—again. She’s been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. Doomed to repeat the same day over and over, Aiden’s only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder and conquer the shadows of an enemy he struggles to even comprehend—but nothing and no one is quite what they seem.”
I’m fascinated by this premise! I always loved Groundhog’s Day and this seems like a murder-y Groundhog’s Day.
Transcription by Kate Atkinson— Out September 25
“During WWII, Juliet Armstrong was conscripted into service as a young woman, transcribing conversations between an MI5 agent and a ring of suspected German sympathizers. Years later, in 1950 post-war London, Julie can’t escape the repercussions of her work for the government, and is pulled back into the life of espionage she thought she’d left behind.“
Winter in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand — Out October 9
A woman gets a call that her husband has passed away — on the beach in St. John — far away from where they live. As she flies down to the tropic island she also finds out that he had a second secret family and she begins to try to figure out the mysterious circumstances of her husband’s death.
Totally here for the drama of a secret second family plus I love a good beachy/island setting.
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter by Hazel Gaynor — Out October 9
“1838: Northumberland, England. Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands has been Grace Darling’s home for all of her twenty-two years. When she and her father rescue shipwreck survivors in a furious storm, Grace becomes celebrated throughout England, the subject of poems, ballads, and plays. But far more precious than her unsought fame is the friendship that develops between Grace and a visiting artist. Just as George Emmerson captures Grace with his brushes, she in turn captures his heart.
1938: Newport, Rhode Island. Nineteen-years-old and pregnant, Matilda Emmerson has been sent away from Ireland in disgrace. She is to stay with Harriet, a reclusive relative and assistant lighthouse keeper, until her baby is born. A discarded, half-finished portrait opens a window into Matilda’s family history. As a deadly hurricane approaches, two women, living a century apart, will be linked forever by their instinctive acts of courage and love“
I love books that have two different storylines in different decades or centuries…especially when it’s a distant relative!
Emma wants to help Clara with her search for Luke, but she refuses to talk about what happened–even though it nearly destroyed her family when she vanished. And the deeper Clara digs into Luke’s mysterious disappearance, the more convinced she is that the two incidents are connected.”
The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory — Out October 30
“When Nikola’s boyfriend of 5 months, an actor with a man bun, proposes to her unexpectedly during a Dodgers game she says no which is hard to do in front of a disappointed crowd. Carlos, a guy at the game with his sister, comes to her rescue and keeps the camera crews away from her and also is there for her when the video goes viral and hoards of internet trolls come for her on social media. Soon she embarks on an epic rebound with Carlos, a handsome doctor, until one of them breaks the rules of their hookups”
I really enjoyed Jasmine Guillory’s The Wedding Date a lot and I can’t wait for another romance from her!
The Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia Kim— Out November 6
The story of two sisters, one raised in the United States and the other in South Korea, and the family that bound them together even as the Korean War kept them apart.
I LOVE sister stories and I’m so intrigued by this one, told in alternating perspectives from the two sisters, about growing up apart — one in a nice area in the US with her mom and dad and the other in wartorn Korea (they were supposed to come back and get her as they got settled) with extended family she barely remembers. And the summary mentions family secrets soooo I NEED ME SOME OF THAT.
The Girl They Left Behind by Roxanne Veletzos — Out November 13
A young Jewish girl is left in grave danger on the steps of an apartment building in Romania, recently allied with the Nazis, and is brought to an orphanage where she is adopted by a wealthy couple and assimilates to her new life renamed Natalia. She lives her childhood through the war but is loved deeply but her new parents. She comes of age as Romania is under Soviet occupation and in her twenties is given a chance to escape which means leaving her family behind.
This sounds SO SO good and from what I’ve heard it’s actually based on a true story within the author’s family which makes it all the more heartbreaking to me.
Becoming by Michelle Obama — Out November 13
I LOVE THIS WOMAN AND CANNOT WAIT TO READ THIS. I find her so inspiring and love any time I get to hear her speak so I am just dying to read her memoir.
“Claire and Matt are no longer together but decide that it would be best for their daughter, Scarlett, to have a “normal” family Christmas. They can’t agree on whose idea it was to go to the Happy Forest holiday park, or who said they should bring their new partners. But someone did–and it’s too late to pull the plug. Claire brings her new boyfriend, Patrick (never Pat), a seemingly sensible, eligible from a distance Ironman in Waiting. Matt brings the new love of his life, Alex, funny, smart, and extremely patient. Scarlett, who is seven, brings her imaginary friend Posey. He’s a giant rabbit. Together the five (or six?) of them grit their teeth over Forced Fun Activities, drink a little too much after Scarlett’s bedtime, overshare classified secrets about their pasts . . . and before you know it, their holiday is a powder keg that ends where this novel begins–with a tearful, frightened call to the police.
What happened? They said they’d all be adults about this. . ”
All I had to read was that it was a darkly comical twist on Love Actually and The Holiday and I was here for its like a really fun read!
PIN IT FOR LATER
Don’t forget about all these new books to read!
Emily says
Kill the queen looks EPIC
Jamie says
RIGHT??? I need it NOW!
Susan (Bloggin' 'bout Books) says
I love these lists! Thanks for another great one. I hadn’t heard of a number of these, so I appreciate the heads-up.
I have read OUR HOUSE, which wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be. The premise is so chilling, but the execution left something to be desired!
Emma @Ever Emma says
I’ve only read The Proposal, but it was so, so cute! I actually haven’t read The Wedding Date yet, but I obviously have to now!! I have some E-ARCs for a bunch of these, but am most intrigued by the one I was denied for, The Dinner List. haha We always want what we can’t have, I guess. It just sounds like such an interesting situation, but I’m curious to see how it works out as a full-length novel. I’ve heard rumors it’ll be one of the BOTM picks, so I’ll likely add it to my box. 🙂
India says
Our House sounds INCREDIBLE. Also, Becoming (I CAN’T WAIT), The Proposal, My sister, the Serial Killer and The Adults are all added to my list!
Rachel @ Never Enough Novels says
If you’re looking for adult fantasy I’d suggest The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfull and Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I absolutely adored both of these gritty stories and the worlds and characters the authors created!
Jamie says
Ooh both of those are on my TBR list on Goodreads so yay!
Elizabeth Miller says
Omg. I am here for these books!
In regards to adult fantasy try a Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness— the tv show is about to come out in England. The trilogy is complete too!
I am not a fan of The Name of the Wind. Too flowering of writing and it’s been like 6 years and still the final book hasn’t been published. It’s like George RR Martin all over again.
Liz says
I almost skipped this post because I – despite being over 30 – very rarely read “adult” fiction books! I’m so glad I didn’t, I added several of these to my TBR! Thanks for the list. 🙂
Jamie says
Haha I feel you! I went from reading ALL adult fiction to, back when I started blogging in 2010 reading pretty much ONLY YA for quite a few years and now I feel like I’m back to a good half and half mix! So TOTALLY understand! Glad you didn’t skip and found some good books for the TBR! I’m reading THe Way of Beauty right now (was on my part 1 list) and the girl is definitely in the YA age if you like historical fiction but it’s adult fic!
Melissa @ Writer Grrl Reads says
Blind Kiss is so so so good. I read one of Renee’s other books and it was good but not great, but BK just blew me away.
I cannot waaaaaait for The Proposal!!! I got approved for an egalley and I just want to read it NOW, but I also want to wait because then the wait for her next book will be so long. #bloggerproblems
Marjorie Bill says
Gives me some great ideas for new books to enjoy.
Jessica Welling says
Thank you! I’m excited to check these out soon!
Roxanne West says
SO many great options!!! I need to get back into reading fiction novels!
Sara | mshealthesteem.com says
These all look awesome! But I’m especially excited about The Last Time I Lied and The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle! Adding them to my ‘must read’ list ^^.
Have you read The First 15 Lives of Harry August? You might love if if the whole Groundhog’s Day premise! 😊. Happy reading ♡
Erica Robyn says
GREAT list!!!
Susie | Novel Visits says
Terrific list. Thanks for all the hard work!
Deborah Regen says
Arrgghh! Sooo many choices! For me, I would say the Michelle Obama book for sure….also I like what I read so far about The Subway Girls and also Ghosted. Will add those titles to my list!
Theresia says
Great books! Thank you!
Scott Gombar says
I am not much of a fiction reader but my wife loves to read fiction. I will share this list with her to see which ones she would be interested in.
Amanda says
I have been wanting to expand my book collection and I have quite the list of books that I want to read. I have heard about a lot of these and now I am pretty sure my list is going to be expanding now.
Nicole says
This is a fantastic list, I can’t wait to get my hands on Kill the Queen and The Lighthouse Keepers Daughter! Thanks for the great round up, now all I want to do is make some tea and curl up with a book 😉
Brittany says
Awesome can’t wait to check some of these out!