My favorite time of year — talking about all the new book releases coming out and narrowing down my most anticipated books for adults in 2024 (okay narrowing down is not actually my favorite)!
Seriously looks like so many good new books to read in 2024 when it comes to adult fiction.
My YA new books list will be coming soon, by the way, but this book list is all about book releases for the first half of the year in 2024–January through June.
Things about this list that are always true:
- My reading taste, as always, is eclectic and this list reflects that — from romcoms to fantasy to literary fiction to escapist thrillers. That can be a pro or a con to people checking out what books I am anticipating! I tend to have more commercial tastes but definitely can get into less commercially appealing stuff and very genre-specific. Take what you are into, leave what you are not! Maybe even try something you wouldn’t have otherwise looked at.
- This list isn’t at all about what books I think are going to get the biggest hype or best sellers but some of those types of books are definitely the big buzz books. I pick based on what has me absolutely saying “OH I NEED THIS BOOK!” — new books I am personally anticipating. Sometimes they are also the darlings of the book world that year and sometimes they will most definitely be under-the-radar, very niche to my tastes books. Maybe even a very niche sub-genre I’ve hyper-fixated on lately that you might not even understand why, out of all the new books in 2024, I’m so excited about it.
I think that’s the beauty of these lists — the must read books for 2024 are going to look different from list to list (honestly even year to year for me) on every website you come across!
Sure, most of the big media lists are going for the more popular ones, but depending on the taste of the curator of the list–it looks different giving you a wide range of new books to discover! Particularly because I’m an independent site not beholden to anyone!
If you’ve read my lists before, you know my tastes are ALL over the place! So hopefully you will find something you are interested in genre-wise. And if not, stay tuned for some genre specific lists!
This year was SO HARD to narrow down to the point where I’m like wanting to quit during creating this list. I have WAY MORE to talk about that you’ll see on genre specific lists but I also talk weekly about new books that didn’t make this list (but easily could have) exclusively for email subscribers.
Check that out here (along with my thoughts as I tackle these new book releases and let you know if they were everything I hoped them to be) and other books I end up picking up throughout the year.
Interesting things about the list this year that I noticed:
- Apparently I’m into all things that have even a hint of magic or speculative twist to them still. Family dramas still absolutely roping me in.
- Romance and thrillers are normally reads that show up a lot on here but I feel like, as much as I still love both genres, they didn’t rank as high as usual. Still well represented on here but not as much as in recent years — I seem to be drawn to other things in 2024.
- Another year in which YA authors are debuting in the adult fiction scene and I am so excited!
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
P.S. Save these other lists for later: New Historical Fiction Books In 2024, New Thrillers & Mysteries For 2024
Most Anticipated New Book Releases For Adults (January to June 2024)
The titles are listed in order of the month they are published in from January to June. Stay tuned for the second half of this list of new books for adults to read coming out July through December.
Like I said above, there were SO many more selections I’m excited about each month so I highly suggest signing up for my newsletter as they receive even more of a deep dive into what other books are coming out each month.
So many books I’m intrigued by that are left off this list and I’m sure books will emerge that weren’t really on my radar or didn’t stick out to me initially.
A Little Tip…
Below you’ll see Bookshop.org mentioned. Bookshop.org is a fantastic place to buy books online that supports local bookstores. If you are looking to shop small when it comes to your books, I personally buy my books from here and highly recommend! Local bookstores are the heart of communities and Bookshop.org makes it SUPER easy to support them.
Anticipated New Books Coming Out In January 2024
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
Out January 2, 2024
At A Glance: historical fiction, set in Malaysia, WW2, family saga, espionage
Why It Makes The List: I’ve read so many WW2 novels and it’s getting harder for new ones to grab my attention these days. That is — unless I feel they are going to give something new or a different perspective that I’ve rarely or never read before to give a bigger picture of the time/of the War. A book centered around what was happening in Malaysia during WW2? Definitely fits the bill for me personally.
A Malayan mother becomes an unlikely spy for the invading Japanese forces during WW2 (to help oust the British) as she tries to contend with the consequences of that decision on her community and on her family as they try to survive war.
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
Out January 2, 2024
At A Glance: domestic suspense/thriller, cat & mouse game, deception, high stakes & twisty, Southern setting
Why It Makes The List: I’ve enjoyed Ashley Elston’s YA books since her debut (Rules for Disappearing — a YA mystery) came out and then really fell in love with her Christmas-y rom-com 10 Blind Dates so once I heard about her adult debut thriller I’ve been excited– especially with some industry folks raving! Love a good cat and mouse thriller!
A con artist for hire, who has assumed many new personas over the year, has been give her new mark by her mysterious boss and has fallen into her new persona as Evie Porter with ease!
Until she starts to find herself actually falling for her latest mark and someone claiming her actual identity comes strolling into town threatening to ruin the job and the potential future of returning to her real identity one day. So it’s game on to outsmart the imposter!
Mercury by Amy Jo Burns
Out January 2, 2024
At A Glance: multi-generational family drama, 1990’s (with time jumps forward), small town life, Pennsylvania
Why It Makes The List: You know by now that family sagas are my book catnip! As someone who grew up in a small blue collar town in PA until I was a teen in the late 90’s, I was really drawn to the setting and premise of this one as it tells the story of a family, through the span of many years, told through a woman who becomes one of them through the years.
Teenager Marley West, perpetually the new girl, moves with her mother to the small blue collar town of Mercury, Pennsylvania in 1990 where she soon finds herself brought into the dynamic Joseph family who become her whole world then as a young woman and even more later as she marries into the family — a family she later becomes the glue to hold together through hard times, family business troubles, dysfunction, secrets and uncertain futures.
The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
Out January 9, 2024
At A Glance: Gothic suspense, wealth, family secrets, North Carolina
Why It Makes The List: Rachel Hawkins thrillers/mysteries and I have a rollercoaster relationship (her YA Hex Hall series though – it’s all love!) but the premises for them ALWAYS make me willing to give her new one an enthusiastic try. And this one sounds her best yet to me!
Cam’s adopted mother was the infamous Ruby McTavish — a famous heiress who was kidnapped as a child and whose been mysteriously widowed four times — and he rejected it all after his mother’s death: the huge fortune to inherit, the estate, the rest of the McTavishes.
Ten years later, now a teacher and married to Jules (a woman with her own messy past she was eager to escape), he’s forced to return back to the estate and confront Ruby’s legacy, the family & their secrets, rumors and the depths of what he has inherited.
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
Out January 16, 2024
At A Glance: literary sci-fi, aliens, “what it means to be human” type book, coming of age
Why It Makes The List: While I do enjoy some more traditional sci-fi genre books, I REALLY love literary fiction that uses a sci-fi element/plot for musings on life and social issues. This one, by using the coming of age of an alien girl living on Earth, looks like a really interesting and tender exploration of what it means to be human as she is reporting back on the humankind experience to her superiors.
A baby is born to a single mom in Philadelphia — a baby who, as she comes of age, is to report on what it is like to be a human on Earth to those back on the faraway planet she is from. As she experiences life as a human on Earth — all the highs and lows — she tries to make sense of it all in her dispatches back to the planet where she belongs.
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett
Out January 23, 2024
At A Glance: mystery/true crime, cults, unique storytelling format (articles, interview transcripts, messages, etc).
Why It Makes The List: I love a good mystery/thriller that is told in a unique format and is complex and this one has been getting rave reviews from readers in the UK since it’s been out there for a bit.
A true crime writer looking for her next book idea has a potential huge true crime hit on her hands if she can find the baby, now a young adult, or the mother at the center of the 2003 Alperton Angels mass suicide case and interview one of them.
Nobody has heard from the mother (a former member of the cult) or the baby (that the cult believed to be the anti-Christ) after she exposed their criminal activities. Finding them is a massive undertaking and made even more difficult when a rival author is on the same trail for the scoop.
Family Family by Laurie Frankel
Out January 23, 2024
At A Glance: family story, adoption, parenthood, chosen family, great book club book potential
Why It Makes The List: I love Laurie Frankel’s books and always look forward to them. Also, I tend to gravitate towards more dark, trauma-filled family dramas for some reason but I have been reaching for ones that look a little more joyful and full of heart even in all the familial complications and messiness (a la Remarkably Bright Creatures) and this seems to fit the bill.
An actress, India Allwood, decides to speak up about the latest film she is in and tells the truth about how she feels about its depiction of adoption in the film — the topic being something very close to her heart as an adoptive mom. The comments swirls a media storm and she finds herself at the center of it and parts of her story that weren’t known publicly come to light risking the things she’s built. But when her twins set out to help by reaching out to family, things get even more complicated!
Other new books high on my list for January:
- Here In Avalon by Tara Isabella Burton (1/2) — magical realism/fairy tale vibes
- Emily Wilde’s Map of the Other Lands (1/9) — cozy fantasy; sequel
- The Djinn Waits A Hundred Years (1/9) — gothic; magical realism
- Poor Deer by Claire Oshetsky (1/9) — literary fiction
- You Only Call When You’re In Trouble (1/9) — family drama
- The Search Party by Hannah Richell (1/16) — mystery/thriller (update: listened to this on audio — fantastic!)
- Say You’ll Be Mine by Naini Kumar (1/16) — romance
- The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James (1/23) — historical fiction; magical realism
- Faebound by Saara El-Arifi (1/23) — fantasy
- Good Material by Dolly Alderton (1/30) — contemporary literary fiction
- Interesting Facts About Space (1/30) — literary fiction
Anticipated New Books Coming Out In February 2024
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Out February 6, 2024
At A Glance: historical fiction, 1960’s setting, Vietnam War, nursing, female friendship
Why It Makes The List: Kristin Hannah is a must read for me whether she is writing historical fiction or more contemporary fiction a la Firefly Lane. I’ve only read a couple things set during the Vietnam War but I’m interested in her exploration of the women (so often erased from history) who were there.
A young woman and nursing student deviates from her life’s plan when she impulsively enlists, just like her brother, to join the Army Nurse Corps in Vietnam. Her story unfolds amidst the destruction and horror of war (alongside the other women by her side) and through the trauma of finally returning home a changed person in a different America.
Night Watching by Tracy Sierra
Out February 6, 2024
At A Glance: thriller, psychological, home intruder, wintry set thriller
Why It Makes The List: I love a good claustrophobic feeling thriller (trapped in your house during a blizzard) and this one sounds downright terrifying.
A blizzard rages on in the middle of the night as a newly widowed mother settles one of her children back to bed. When she hears someone walking around in her house, she gathers her children and hides a hidden space behind a wall in the older part of her house. As she tries to keep them hidden and her children quiet, while also trying to formulate a plan, she realizes they are in more danger than she ever could have realized.
A Love Song For Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
Out February 6, 2024
At A Glance: romance, genre-bending, Harlem setting, ode to Harlem Renaissance, found family
Why It Makes The List: Did you read Seven Days In June?? Of course a new Tia Williams is on my list! (If you didn’t read Seven Days In June, let’s rectify that!). Regardless that I’d read anything by this author, this sounds fairytale-like and magical — a bit of the genre-blending romance of Ashley Poston and even maybe Rebecca Serle!
Ricki Wilde, already the black sheep of her family, has left her high society Atlanta family and the family business to pursue her dreams to become a florist and own her own shop. The pursuit of her dreams lands her in Harlem and brings into her life a larger-than-life 96 year old land lady, a new bff and former child star as well as the mysterious jazz pianist named Ezra.
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
Out February 6, 2024
At A Glance: paranormal romance, vampires & werewolves, fated mates, marriage of convenience
Why It Makes The List: I love Ali Hazelwood’s romcoms (The Love Hypothesis was her first hit!) and this seems like QUITE the departure from those but I love vampires and all sorts of other paranormal creatures in books so this is going to be FUN, I know it! (She also has another contemporary rom com coming out in June but I’m honestly more excited for this one!).
The only daughter of a powerful Vampyre leader agrees to give up her life among humans and get married to an Alpha Werewolf in a peace keeping alliance move with their mortal enemies. But she’s got her OWN reasons as to why to she agrees to the marriage of convenience that have nothing to do with the politics of this arranged marriage and she’ll stop at nothing for the sake of her goal.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
Out February 13, 2024
At A Glance: historical fiction with a speculative edge, WWI, family saga, standalone
Why It Makes The List: The Winternight trilogy is a favorite (and makes for a great winter read!) and this seems very different but I’m super intrigued because I love historicals with some magic/fantastical/speculative bends to them. This one honestly feels like a great Fall read from what I’m seeing — a little horror and eerie feeling.
A combat nurse, wounded during the war and honorably discharged, receives word that her brother Freddie is missing and presumed dead in combat. She’s convinced that not everything is as it seems so she volunteers to return to Belgium and work at a hospital in order to search for the truth about her brother. Her search leads to things she could not imagine leading her to believe he could have fell prey to something else entirely.
Meanwhile, in another timeline starting the year before the letter arrives to Laura, we learn the story of what happened to her brother Freddie in the trenches (where he did find himself in a precarious position) as their two stories converge in Laura’s search for her brother amidst the horrors of war and beyond.
I Love You So Much It’s Killing Us Both by Mariah Stovall
Out February 13, 2024
At A Glance: contemporary literary fiction, coming of age, complicated friendships, music (emo/punk scene), mental health
Why It Makes The List: This is one of those books where I’m not sure that it will be a huge mainstream popular book but elements of it make for a perfect storm of most anticipated for ME. This one is driven by music/the art of the mixtape & soundtracks to our life (huge draw for me!) and complicated/toxic/unhealthy friendships.
A young woman receives a letter and party invitation from her longtime best friend that she’s been estranged from for a decade. As she contemplates her RSVP and the mixed emotions about possibly reconnecting, she starts creating the perfect mixtape that weaves her mind through the formative memories of the past and that all-consuming & confusing friendship to guide her path forward.
The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
Out February 13, 2024
At A Glance: commercial contemporary fantasy, books about books, magical books, time travel adventures
Why It Makes The List: While I LOVE reading high fantasy and fully built fantasy worlds, there is something I love about books like The Midnight Library or Addie LaRue — there’s enough familiar that meshes with the perfect notes of fantasy and magic that even the fantasy beginner or avoider can enjoy.
Sometimes my mood dictates just a dip of the toes into the fantastical rather than a full submersion. If that makes sense? ANYWAYS this sounds delightfully charming and I love taking the idea that “books are doors” quite literally.
Cassie works in a NYC bookshop and comes into the possession of a strange book owned by one of her favorite customers who devastatingly dies right in front of her.
The book is no ordinary book she comes to find but is magical and gives her the ability to travel in and out of time and the world.
But a book so special is something others want and she finds herself hunted by those who also want to possess this rare book and must work to protect the book –and others like it– from those who want them for themselves.
The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson by Ellen Baker
Out February 20, 2024
At A Glance: dual time-line (1920’s to 2015) family drama, circus setting, family secrets, found family
Why It Makes The List: I saw it described as Orphan Train meets Water For Elephants meets When We Were Yours but mostly I’ve been looking for a new circus set book to love for a while! Plus, y’all know I can’t resist a sweeping family drama for the life of me.
Cecily Larson is only four years old when her mother drops her off at an orphanage promising to return with money to support both of them. Her mother never comes back and years later a seven year old Cecily finds herself sold to a traveling circus where she’ll find adventure, a different sort of family, forbidden love and discovers the dark side of the circus and the world all too young.
Many decades later, her great grandchild wanting to do a DNA project will force to light the many secrets a now 94 year old Cecily has hidden hidden away for so long that will surprise and shake up her family.
A Fate Inked In Blood by Danielle L. Jensen
Out February 27, 2024
At A Glance: fantasy romance/romantasy, Norse inspired mythology, rivals to lovers, forbidden romance
Why It Makes The List: The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen is one of my favorite fantasy romance books (I’ve been recommending it a ton for those looking for books to read after Fourth Wing) so I am STOKED for this.
“A shield maiden blessed by the gods becomes trapped in a union with a power-hungry jarl convinced she is fated to make him king. Eager to prove her strength, and survive the machinations of both the jarl, and his cruel wife, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, while battling her dangerous attraction to the jarl’s son, a beautiful and witty warrior who wields the fire the gods.”
Other new books high on my list for February 2024:
- Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander (2/6) — mystery thriller
- Girls With Bad Reputations by Xio Axelrod (2/6) — contemporary; romance
- The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn & Jamie Chang (2/13) — historical fiction
- The Blueprint by Rae Giana Rashad (2/13) — dystopian
- Medea by Eilish Quin (2/13) — historical fiction; mythology retelling
- This Disaster Loves You by Richard Roper (2/13) — contemporary; romance
- Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa (2/20) — gothic horror; historical
- River Mumma by Zalika Reid-Benta (2/20) — magical realism; Jamaican folklore
- Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana (2/27) — fantasy romance
- Brooklyn by Tracy Brown (2/27) — mystery thriller
- Piglet by Lottie Hazell (2/27) — literary fiction
- Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange (2/27) — literary fiction; historical fiction
- The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard (2/27) — speculative fiction
Anticipated New Books Coming Out In March 2024
Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering
Out March 5, 2024
At A Glance: domestic suspense/drama, female friendships, motherhood, obsession, social media
Why It Makes The List: Carola Lovering has delivered some solid suspense/thriller books for me and this premise sounds like her best yet. I love domestic suspense diving into all 3 of these things: female friendships, motherhood and social media.
Billie and Cassie have been best friends since childhood, with a complicated history full of shared secrets, but lately it seems like Cassie is really slipping away from Billie who feels like she’s been cast aside and having to share her with all Cassie’s social media followers, her new infant daughter and a wealthy husband.
Told from both girls in the past and present, we find out what transpired between them to lead up to the shocking event we find ourselves in at the start of the story — Cassie’s baby is missing and Billie has her.
Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle
Out March 5, 2024
At A Glance: love story, contemporary fiction with a healthy dose of magical realism, “the one”, set in LA
Why It Makes The List: I have loved every single one of Rebecca Serle’s adult fiction books so this new release from her is definitely a most anticipated.
I always can anticipate a contemporary novel with a magical sort of hook, a fast read, an emotional response normally resulting in tears and something really thought-provoking embedded. Her books are so discussable even when people don’t fall on the side of loving them like I do. Great book club books for that reason!
Daphne Bell, for the last 20 years, has received notes from the universe at the start of every romantic relationship that details how long exactly each relationship will last and it’s always right. (Whew is that a blessing or a curse? lol). It’s a secret — not the only secret though that Daphne is keeping — that only her best friend knows about.
And then a note arrives for Jake, a blind date, and there is no end date revealed like all the previous messages.
Listen For The Lie by Amy Tintera
Out March 5, 2024
At A Glance: murder mystery, true crime podcast element, small town drama, unreliable narrator
Why It Makes The List: I’m familiar with this author through her fantastic YA sci-fi/post-apocalyptic duology that starts with Reboot so this is QUITE the departure and sounds like a FANTASTIC and thrilling murder mystery.
What if your best friend was murdered and everyone thinks you just may have done it — and, to be honest, you aren’t so sure if you did or didn’t because you can’t remember anything from that night?
That’s what Lucy is trying to figure out — what happened the night her best friend was murdered and did she actually do it? Ben, a true crime podcaster, is also trying to find out the answers to that for a new episode by digging into the unsolved murder and the small town they lived in, which in the processes, exposes dark secrets kept in the community. Will these secrets prove that she did it or finally exonerate her?
The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft
Out March 5, 2024
At A Glance: literary fiction, humorous literary mystery, translators, set in Poland, nature
Why It Makes The List: It sounds so compelling and I’m always looking for a riveting read that is also funny which all the early buzz has been raving about in addition to just how layered and complex it is as this dark comedic mystery unravels.
Eight translators arrive at the forest-dwelling house of renowned author Irena Rey in order to translate her latest novel into their respective languages. Within a few days of their arrival the author disappears without a trace and the group is thrown into chaos as they try to figure out what happened– unearthing secrets they aren’t prepared for in the process — while also trying to keep paranoia, rivalries, isolation at bay as the fate of their beloved author (and their own work) is hanging in the balance.
Baby X by Kira Peikoff
Out March 5, 2024
At A Glance: speculative thriller, engineered babies, black market DNA theft, celebrities
Why It Makes The List: Anything that sounds like it could be a Black Mirror episode is always a must-read new book for me!
Set in a not too super distant future, scientific advancements in genetics have made it possibly to create life from anyone’s cells (and you can basically baby shop to have the best characteristics). The downside is that a black market has emerged that focuses on stealing and selling the DNA of celebrities. We meet a singer who is sick of paying ransom money on his own DNA, the bio-security agent he hires (and falls for) who specializes in protecting celebrities from this kind of thing and will do anything in her power to protect him and a young journalist hoping to make it big with her own genetics story.
The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez
Out March 5, 2024
At A Glance: historical fiction, Panama Canal construction (1900-1910 timeframe), colonialism, exploitation
Why It Makes The List: These days the historical fiction that make my anticipated new books lists are the ones where I’m like “hey I haven’t ever even really seen any books set in that era/about that event/from that perspective” and a book centered around the construction of the Panama Canal hits that for me.
A sweeping story centered around the construction of the Panama Canal and the stories of interconnected lives of those who labored, lived it and were otherwise impacted by this huge project that changed the world.
Murder Road by Simone St. James
Out March 5, 2024
At A Glance: thriller, supernatural, 1990’s setting, murder, small town secrets
Why It Makes The List: A new Simone St. James novel will never NOT be on my list of anticipated reads. The queen of atmospheric and spine-tingling thrillers tinged with supernatural horror.
A young couple takes a wrong turn on their way to their honeymoon and find themselves caught up in the latest in a string of gruesome murders committed along this deserted road after stopping for a bleeding young woman who later dies at the hospital. As the couple starts investigating the road and its violent history, in order to clear their names since they are now suspects, they soon learn the haunting truth as well as dark secrets surrounding the town.
A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Out March 26, 2024
At A Glance: literary fiction, family drama, Indian-American, discrimination, immigration, the American Dream, California setting
Why It Makes The List: I’m always looking for a smart and meaty drama to dive into — especially ones in the vein of books like Little Fires Everywhere, Such A Fun Age, etc.
The Shahs are a close-knit Indian American family who is new to the gated community that the family has worked so hard to be successful enough to move into. The family is changed forever when, as the parents are enjoying a dinner party with their new community, their 12 year old son is being arrested in a violent encounter with the police that will fracture the foundation upon which they’ve built everything.
The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn
Out March 26, 2024
At A Glance: slow burn romance, road trip, sisters, family drama, light mystery element, podcast
Why It Makes The List: I really enjoy Kate Clayborne’s books and this seems like a unique hook for a romance novel!
Two sisters embark on a road trip with a podcast team — reluctantly for one sister as she’s tried to keep this part of her life a secret — to find their estranged mother who abandoned them 10 years ago when she ran off with an infamous swindler who is now at the center of this true crime podcast episode.
Worry by Alexandra Tanner
Out March 26, 2024
At A Glance: contemporary literary fiction, sisterhood, dark comedy, chronically online, mental illness
Why It Makes The List: Sometimes I just need a plotless, slice of life novel that is perfect for chronically online millennials who love sad girl fiction and musings on the collective ennui of our generation. It was also described as “Seinfeldian” and some of the descriptions of the sisters fighting feels TOO REAL so YES please — a most anticipated new release for 2024 indeed.
A slice of life novel set in 2019 about two twenty-something sisters turned bickering roommates navigating this new chapter in their relationship, mental health, existential crises, dysfunctional family, life as a 20-something in NYC and more.
Other new books high on my list for March 2024:
- The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger (3/5) — mystery thriller
- Anita De Monte Laughs Last (3/5) — literary fiction; historical
- The Wren in the Holly Library (3/5) — fantasy
- The Last Verse by Caroline Frost (3/5) — historical fiction
- Such A Lovely Family by Aggie Blum Thompson (3/12) — murder mystery
- Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (3/12) — speculative
- Memory Piece by Lisa Ko (3/19) — literary fiction with speculative twist
- The Trail of Lost Hearts by Tracey Garvis Graves (3/26) — contemporary romance
- The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian (3/26) — thriller
Anticipated New Books Coming Out In April 2024
Just For The Summer by Abby Jimenez
Out April 2, 2024
At A Glance: contemporary romance, summer romance, online meet cute, fake dating/dating pact, complicated family
Why It Makes The List: I love Abby Jimenez’s romance books so much — there is always so much depth in them (and things that make me cry) in addition to just wonderful romances to get swept up in. Her books make the perfect beach reads while also being great book club books, too!
Justin and Emma share the same curse — everyone they date and break up with immediately goes on to finding their soulmate.
After Justin’s story goes viral on Reddit, Emma contacts him and the two start chatting. Soon a plan is formed — they decide to a dating pact which will result in a break up in hopes to rid themselves of this curse.
But as their summer fling and pact are underway, things get complicated in both of their lives and in the feelings they start to actually have for each other.
The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
Out April 2, 2024
At A Glance: marriage/love/dating, Sliding Doors-esque, humorous
Why It Makes The List: You should know by now I love anything time-travel or Sliding Doors or Groundhog’s Day. I’ve yet to get sick of these premises (even if some don’t pan out how I hope) and this one sounds amazing — an endless supply of husbands/lives with said husband to try out?? Definitely seems like one for fans of Rebecca Serle or even Ashley Poston.
A woman comes home drunk from a night out and finds a man, who she has never seen before, claiming to be her husband. Despite not knowing him, the evidence around her supports that he has indeed her husband of quite a few years.
Even more curious is when he goes up to the attic to change a light bulb, he doesn’t come down but instead is replaced by a new husband (and quite a few more after that). A seemingly endless supply of husbands leads her to a year of adventures in trying to figure out what she wants in a husband and life as she tries these different husbands on for size.
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Out April 9, 2024
At A Glance: historical fantasy, 16th century Madrid, Spanish Inquisition, Jewish MC, standalone (at least as of now)
Why It Makes The List: I’ve been a fan of Leigh Bardugo since Shadow & Bone came out. I will ALWAYS look forward to her new fantasy books (I mean honestly though I’d read whatever) and THIS TIME IT IS HISTORICAL FANTASY. Top tier anticipated new book territory for 2024!
After a young servant girl’s magical abilities to perform little miracles is found out and exploited by her employer, for their own social gain, she’s thrust into a world of magic, power, politics and those who want to use her for their own purposes and gain. As she tries to use this opportunity to forge her own path and fortune, her notoriety grows and so does the danger she’s in.
How To End A Love Story by Yulin Kuang
Out April 9, 2024
At A Glance: romance, second chances, complicated romance, Hollywood setting, trauma/grief, Chinese American MC
Why It Makes The List: I will be honest — it hooked me that this author is tied to screenwriting and directing some of Emily Henry’s upcoming book to movie adaptations and then I read the summary and it sounded like the type of a little more emotionally driven romance (a la Abby Jimenez/Emily Henry/Kennedy) books with depth that I love to read (with some spice!).
Helen and Grant, bound together by tragedy, haven’t seen each other in 13 years but find themselves forced to work together in the writers room of the tv adaptation of Helen’s YA novel. As they try to work together and contend with the painful past between them, their complicated feelings unfurl into something more healing in the present which makes things even messier for them.
A Short Walk Through A Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke
Out April 9, 2024
At A Glance: historical fantasy/magical realism, outrunning a mysterious curse/affliction, travel/adventure
Why It Makes The List: I know, I know, I know — lots of books have been throwing around “Addie LaRue meets X” but 1) I am still in a never-ending search for Addie-esque books and 2) I have a GOOD feeling this new book coming out is going to deliver. But also? They said Addie LaRue meets The Life of Pi so there’s no way I’m not reading this, you can’t stop me. And even before I saw that I wanted to inject this synopsis into my bloodstream.
A young girl leaves home when she is afflicted with a condition which she think is a curse that, she realizes, seems to only go away when she is on the move.
She can’t stay too long in one place and it seems she can’t return back to a place. This realization begins her lifetime of adventures and wandering the globe to outrun her condition, trying to discover meaning in her vagrant life and hoping to find a place she can finally settle for good and call home.
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Out April 23, 2024
At A Glance: contemporary fiction, romance, opposites attract, roommates, faux dating (to get back at their exes), family drama
Why It Makes The List: I have loved each and every one of Emily Henry’s romances/rom-coms! The premise of this is too fun to pass up — two exes that got left behind become roommates and hatch a plan to give the illusion of them being together in front of their exes?? Plus a children’s library as a main character? Love it.
The only thing Daphne and Miles have in common is that they’ve both been left behind when their partners, two childhood best friends named Peter and Petra, realized they were actually in love with another. The two become roommates out of necessity and then hatch a little plan to leave the illusion of ~being together~ to save face in front of their exes. As the two keep up their little ruse and deal with their own baggage, it becomes evident there’s more there between them than their shared breakup.
Sweetness in the Skin by Ishi Robinson
Out April 23, 2024
At A Glance: coming of age story, Jamaica setting, baking/cooking, dysfunctional family
Why It Makes The List: I love a good coming of age story (especially a coming of age story set amidst another culture) featuring a determined and clever young woman and Pumkin, the main character of this one, sounds like that type of voice I LOVE reading.
A young girl tries to find her place in the world and get away from her dysfunctional family by using her talents in baking to raise money for an amazing and life-changing opportunity away from home — an opportunity that she starts to see slipping through her fingers as obstacles gets in her way (a big one being her own mother).
A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall
Out April 23, 2024
At A Glance: cozy fantasy, underwater world, pen pal romance, magical academia, epistolary
Why It Makes The List: I’m still very much loving cozy fantasy books and this one is being pitched as “Emily Wilde but underwater” and you should know how much I love Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries!! It sounds delightful!
Set in a magical underwater world, Sophie and Vyerin come together to read through and examine the correspondence between their siblings in hopes of finding answers about their sudden disappearance one year ago.
The pair had started corresponding through letters, initiated first out of a potential scientific discovery, and blossomed into something more in addition to their more academic inquiries that they were pursuing — a mystery that could be the very reason they’ve disappeared.
Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zenter
Out April 30, 2024
At A Glance: contemporary fiction, romance, music, grief, Southern setting, starting over/reinvention
Why It Makes The List: Jeff Zentner is one of my ALL TIME favorite authors and I’m over-the-moon for his adult debut. If I could only read one book coming out this year, this would be the one I’d pick because of how much I’ve loved Jeff Zentner’s work. (Seriously The Serpent King and In The Wild Light are two of my all time favorite books though I’ve loved all of his)
Colton Gentry has fallen hard from the top of a soaring career in country music when, drowning in grief after losing his best friend to gun violence, he takes the stage and gives his unfiltered opinion to the packed crowd at his show.
His career and marriage have taken a devastating blow so he heads back to his hometown in Kentucky where he’s works on redemption, reinvention and second chances at love.
Real Americans by Rachel Khong
Out April 30, 2024
At A Glance: literary fiction, science/genetic engineering, multi-generational family story, identity
Why It Makes The List: I’ve been waiting for a new book from Rachel Khong since her debut Goodbye, Vitamin! I’m hearing this one is mostly a family saga with a hint of the speculative.
“Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster, and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn’t be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.
In 2021, fifteen-year-old Nick Chen has never felt like he belonged on the isolated Washington island where he lives with his single mother, Lily. He can’t shake the sense she’s hiding something. When Nick sets out to find his biological father, the journey threatens to raise more questions than it provides answers.”
Other new books high on my list for April 2024:
- A Better World by Sarah Langan (4/9) — dystopian; horror
- The Gathering by CJ Tudor (4/9) — horror
- The House on Biscayne Bay by Chanel Cleeton (4/9) — historical fiction; Gothic
- The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes (4/9) — literary fiction
- You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen (4/16) — thriller
- When I Think of You by Myah Ariel (4/16) — romance
- Better By Far by Hazel Hayes (4/23) — genre-bending
- Darling Sisters by Sally Hepworth (4/23) — domestic thriller
- Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett (4/30) — thriller
Anticipated New Books Coming Out In May 2024
The Ministry of Time by Kaliene Bradley
Out May 7, 2024
At A Glance: time travel romance, speculative spy thriller, workplace comedy
Why It Makes The List: When I first read about this in the publisher’s catalog, I had the most visceral I NEED THIS reaction. Always a sucker when it comes to time travel!! I think it’s going to definitely be a most anticipated debut book for 2024!
In the near future, a woman who works for the UK government and has been given a new role within a time-travel ministry that is conduction an experiment around time travel. They have extracted 5 people from different centuries to test the effects of time travel and each person will have a handler to acclimate them to modern life and report on everything.
And when her assignment brings Commander Graham Gore, an Arctic explorer from 1845, into her life she couldn’t have imagined the fact that over the year together they’d fall for one another. But, as the project continues on, it becomes harder to ignore aspects of the project and the implications of it and their feelings towards one another.
This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune
Out May 7, 2024
At A Glance: contemporary romance, summer romance, Prince Edward Island, forbidden romance, friendship
Why It Makes The List: I trust Carley Fortune for all my summer reading romance needs (even if I didn’t LOVE Meet Me At The Lake as much as Every Summer After) so this is a must read anticipated no-brainer for me.
Lucy has a summer fling with a local while vacationing on Prince Edward Island – only to find out it’s her best friend’s younger brother and both vow to never let it happen again. But it’s easier said than done each year when she returns to the island. And when one unexpected visit happens, chasing her best friend who fled to the island in a crisis before her wedding, the temptation this time becomes even harder.
Loneliness and Company by Charlee Dyroff
Out May 7, 2024
At A Glance: literary fiction, speculative near future setting, loneliness/isolation, connection/friendship, technology, AI
Why It Makes The List: I feel like this is going to be one of those quiet Jamie-specific books that gets put on here because it scratches a particular itch for me so to speak. I’ve been accidentally going down rabbit holes (books, podcasts, etc) talking about loneliness because of the way our society is set up, social media, our need for community, etc. and have been feeling some of these things on a personal level so immediately this premise just jumped out to me as something I’d like to read since it seems like an exploration of these things.
Set in a near future New York, it’s about a young woman who finds herself assigned to work in a covert government project that aims to solve loneliness — the same emotion that was allegedly erased from society’s lexicon decades ago.
Her role is to train AI on how to be a friend and she takes to using her roommate’s life as a metric. Determined to succeed, she puts herself into more and more dangerous experiences in the name of the project to have the best data possible all the while learning how to be a good friend and what she’s willing to give up for success.
888 and the Divine Burden of Numbers by Abraham Chang
Out May 7, 2024
At A Glance: contemporary literary fiction, pop culture, 90’s setting, love story, Chinese-American family story, NYU setting
Why It Makes The List: Oh I am so excited for this one! The thing that grabbed me — before I even read the synopsis — was “for fans of Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow, High Fidelity, and Everything Everywhere All At Once”. I’ve enjoyed each of those things and I am a sucker for anything nostalgia-filled and fated love stories.
Young Wang, always finding meaning in just about everything and believer in numerology/superstitions, has always heeded his uncle’s warning that everyone gets seven great loves in their life — no more, no less.
But when he meets Erena at NYU in 1995 they fall in a deep and real love — their unfolding love story interspersed with flashbacks from his first five loves — and he begins to wonder if maybe his uncle could possibly be wrong. Is she the one and only or is their love doomed to end so he can have his final seventh love?
The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean
Out May 7, 2024
At A Glance: suspense/mystery, crime, missing persons, captivity, trauma
Why It Makes The List: I’m a fan of this author though this is quite the departure and it sounds fantastic. I love a good mystery/suspense novel that also seems balanced with some good character-driven elements.
When busy detective Chelsey Calhoun — whose own sister went missing many years ago — gets a shocking call that a missing girl from two years ago has reappeared, she’s ready to jump into the case.
The investigation becomes difficult when the young girl refuses to assist in the investigation of her own disappearance leaving the detective with more questions than answers and a tricky investigation to ensure nobody else goes missing.
Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland
Out May 7, 2024
At A Glance: fantasy romance, epic fantasy, assassins, inspired by Korean history & mythology, planned series
Why It Makes The List: I feel like this one is going to be for the Throne of Glass and Fourth Wing fans. The official pitch I keep seeing is Game of Thrones meets Kill Bill. GoT comps are a dime a dozen but I’m here for treacherous assassins competing to take the crown!
Five of the most skilled and dangerous assassins have been assembled to work together on the biggest and most difficult job of their careers — to kill the eternal God King Joon.
But can five deceptive killers — well versed in betrayal and lies — form an alliance to get the job done? After all, only one can take the crown?
Oye by Melissa Mogollon
Out May 14, 2024
At A Glance: contemporary fiction, coming of age, family drama, unique format, Colombian-American family
Why It Makes The List: The unique format of this family story is what made this stand out for me — it’s told in snippets of phone calls, as if we are sitting eavesdropping, from a girl to her old sisters relaying all her personal and family happenings.
A young woman finds herself at the center of her family’s drama — from hurricane evacuation to upending health crises to family history revelations — and relays the family’s drama and updates to her older sister on the other end who is away at college.
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren
Out May 14, 2024
At A Glance: contemporary romance, fake relationship/marriage of convenience
Why It Makes The List: I’ve never met a Christina Lauren romance I didn’t like and this one sounds like a fun, light and easy read!
A struggling artist gets caught back up in the fake marriage scheme she created for subsidized house at UCLA years ago — a marriage she thought ended in a divorce when they graduated — until her “husband” shows back up in her life letting her know they are technically still married and he needs her to pretend just a bit longer to be his wife for the sake of his huge inheritance that stipulates he must be married for five years.
Agreeing to meet his family eager to meet this mysterious wife of his and help him get the money, they set off to the tropical wedding for his sister to get him to the finish line of his inheritance.
The Last Murder At The End of the World by Stuart Turton
Out May 21, 2024
At A Glance: high concept murder mystery, post-apocalyptic vibes, isolated Greek island
Why It Makes The List: I loved The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and look forward to another unique mystery to get wrapped up in!
A group of 122 people (plus 3 scientists) live an idyllic and harmonious existence on a private island used for research. The rest of the world? Destroyed by a horrible fog that killed anyone it touched.
Life has been peaceful and content as they follow what they are told by the scientists — until one morning the peace is destroyed when one of the scientists is found stabbed to death. They learn that, triggered by this event, that the security system that kept the horrible fog from reaching them has been lowered and they have 92 hours before it reaches them.
Solving the murder is their only chance to hopefully reset the security system and save them all. The only problem? Nobody has any memory of what happened the night before, having been wiped by the security system, and now they have to solve the murder with the murderer in their midst.
Anticipated New Books Coming Out In June 2024
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Out June 4, 2024
At A Glance: literary fiction with a mystery, family drama, missing child, summer camp, Adirondack setting
Why It Makes The List: I could not rave enough about Long Bright River when it came out and it’s still a novel I recommend often! Looking for Liz Moore’s immersive blend of mystery/crime with family drama and depth of character. Seems less crime fiction/police procedural this time around but a literary novel driven by a compelling and suspenseful mystery.
A wealthy child goes missing from her bunk at the Adirondack summer camp her family owns — a horrific tragedy for the family and community only compounded by the fact her older brother went missing 14 years ago. What happened to the Van Laar siblings and are they connected?
The Unwedding by Ally Condie
Out June 4, 2024
At A Glance: locked room mystery, Big Sur setting, wedding
Why It Makes The List: When I tell you I GASPED when I saw that Ally Condie was writing an adult thriller and added it to my 2024 Must Reads list! All my fellow 2010 era YA dystopian fanatics where are you at? Excited to see how this departure goes — it seems like it’s going to be a big buzzy book for summer, too! “White Lotus meets Agatha Christie” — please deliver!
A recent divorcee decides to travel solo to the high end resort she was supposed to spend her wedding anniversary at. Already annoyed that she will have to endure a wedding taking place there, things get even worse when she discovers a dead groom and all the resort guests realize they are trapped thanks to a mudslide taking out the only way in or out. When the body count starts to grow, it’s evident danger is lurking.
Swift River by Essie Chambers
Out June 4, 2024
At A Glance: literary fiction, family drama, New England, sundown towns, family history, identity, generational trauma, racism
Why It Makes The List: I love family stories especially when it’s one of uncovering a family history that helps a character understand how their family shaped them and how to move beyond that.
Diamond Newberry hasn’t had it easy since her dad disappeared seven years ago — her mom is stuck in her sadness, she’s the only Black person in all of Swift River and she’s constantly being tormented about her weight. Her mom decides, in the summer of 1987, that they will declare him legally dead, collect insurance and move on. But a letter arrives from a relative she’s never met, on her father’s side, that help her learn about her father’s life and the story of her family — including two generations of women who came before her — and helps her find her own way.
Margo’s Got Money Problems by Rufi Thorpe
Out June 11, 2024
At A Glance: contemporary literary fiction, humor, motherhood, self discovery, complicated family, Being Online
Why It Makes The List: April 2020 was when I was introduced to Rufi Thorpe and her amazing book The Knockout Queen and the absolutely banger of a promotional tour she took on Instagram and Youtube to promote her book (including her hilarious self interview) while the world was shut down. This one looks hilarious and a bookseller friend said it’s even better than The Knockout Queen!
As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet’s always known she’d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can’t imagine how she’ll ever make a living. She’s still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor—and while the affair is brief, it isn’t brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone’s advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.
Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion—fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she’ll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx’s advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she’s turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo’s problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?
A Love Like The Sun by Riss M. Neilson
Out June 11, 2024
At A Glance: romance, emotional, childhood friends to lovers, fake dating, summer setting
Why It Makes The List: Riss M. Neilson is writing some absolutely fantastic books that I feel like need more attention (YA previously before this) and I am hoping this will be her breakout hit this summer! Definitely looks like a great read for folks who have been gobbling up Carley Fortune.
Two childhood best friends — one a private homebody; the other internet famous — end up in a pretend relationship for the summer after, in an attempt to help Laniah’s family business, tells the internet they are dating. Business suddenly starts booming which makes Laniah agree to this faux relationship for the summer so that she can leverage the sudden interest it to get things back on track — even though she knows it’s a dangerous charade considering the “more than friends” pull they’ve always had but have denied.
Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
Out June 18, 2024
At A Glance: thriller meets horror, mysterious disappearance, creepy woods housing a mysterious institute
Why It Makes The List: I have a great success rate with his books — he brings the thrillers and the creepiness. This one brings a mysterious disappearance, creepy woods, a crumbling estate where clandestine research happens! Cannot wait!
Thirty years ago Ethan Marsh’s best friend disappeared during a sleepover. Now, after reluctantly returning home, he notices some strange things happening in the middle of the night that lead him on a quest to find out what happened to his best friend — leading him to the dark secrets lurking just beyond his neighborhood.
Four Squares by Bobby Finger
Out June 18, 2024
At A Glance: literary fiction, found family, queer, humor, community, friendship, grief, senior citizens
Why It Makes The List: I feel like every year I always find book I MUST have that features an older protagonist and some element of found family/community after loneliness! I can’t wait to meet Artie.
“Spanning the 1990s and present day, about a young writer and the community he builds in New York City, and his lonely life 30 years later when an unexpected injury lands him at the local queer senior center”
All The Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
Out June 25, 2024
At A Glance: crime novel, family epic, bildungsroman, serial killer, missing girls, friendship, love
Why It Makes The List: We Begin At The End was my absolute favorite book of 2021 (and Dutchess a most memorable character ) and I’m really looking forward to this one! I looked at the page count at this one versus that one though and said OH WOW — 600 pages?? BABY that’s ambitious. There’s almost nobody that could make me read anything thriller/crime adjacent that long. But it seems this one is a crime novel but so much more — getting coming of age and epic love story vibes. I can’t wait to meet Patch and Saint!
Starting in 1975 and spanning decades, it centers around two friends and the abduction that is the catalyst for the rest of the story telling the story of a young girl’s search for her best friend and, in the aftermath of his homecoming, the singularly focused obsession for the rest of his life to find the young woman who comforted him while in captivity — no matter the cost.
A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
Out June 25, 2024
At A Glance: romance, contemporary with a dash of magical realism, books about books
Why It Makes The List: Who among us hasn’t dreamed of falling into the pages of a particular romantic or delightful novel? I love Ashley Poston’s brand of romances that blend a bit of magic in them!
For literature professor Eileen Merriweather, this weekend was supposed to be a great weekend at her annual book club retreat. But when her car breaks down she finds herself stranded in a little town that feels like it could be right out of her favorite novel.
And that’s exactly where she is: in the very town her favorite romance series is set in. Realizing she’s trapped in the late author’s unfinished story, she sets out to help bring the town its storybook ending — a task made complicated by a grumpy bookstore owner.
So those are the adult fiction new book releases for 2024’s first half that I am DYING to get my hands on. SO hard to narrow it down.Which book are your most anticipated books for adults in 2024?
Susan (Bloggin' 'bout Books) says
Well, my TBR just exploded! LOL. Thanks for this list. I found lots of new books to get excited for. Happy reading in 2024!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Jamie says
So late to reply!! I’m glad you found some good ones. The ones I’ve been reading so far my list have been going pretty darn well!