My TBR list is already wildly out of control. But I am over the moon about some of the new book releases coming out in 2021! Some of my very favorite authors will share their new work with us next year and it looks like there will be something to look forward to every month!
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Here are 10 (plus a few) books that I can’t wait to get my hands on:
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
Release Date: January 12, 2021
Angie has written two of my all-time favorite YA books – The Hate U Give and On the Come Up. Both were amazing and dealt with very serious and sensitive topics in a truthful and heart-wrenching way, told through the eyes of smart young black women. Concrete Rose will take on a different perspective, as the protagonist is Maverick Carter, the son of a gang legend. In this book, Maverick becomes a teenage dad and his world is turned upside down. I can’t wait for this book to be released!
The Survivors by Jane Harper
Release Date: February 2, 2021
Jane Harper was my new favorite author in 2018 when I read her book, The Dry, the first of the Adam Falk Detective series. If you like crime fiction, I highly recommend this book! Since The Dry, she also wrote Force of Nature, the second of the series, which I also really liked, and The Lost Man, a stand alone, which I kind of liked. The Survivors is also a stand alone. This one is about a young man with secrets from his past, a missing girl and a sunken ship – sounds like a winner to me!
How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
Release Date: March 9, 2021
I absolutely loved Behold the Dreamers. It is probably one of my favorite books – ever. It’s the story of Cameroonian immigrants who come to America to live out the American dream. Jende gets a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a wealthy business executive. Jende’s wife Neni works for the Edwards family as a maid. This story shows the lives of two families, living at opposite extremes of socioeconomic status and how both experience their own set of hardships. In her new novel, Imbolo writes of an African village, Kosawa that is being ravaged by an American oil company. The government is no help to the small village, existing only for its own interests, so the people decide to fight back. I love the way she writes and am so excited to get this new book!
Every Vow You Break by Peter Swanson
Release Date: March 23, 2021
I really liked his last book, Before She Knew Him. This was about a woman who was sure that she lived next door to a killer and she couldn’t rest until she found out the truth. Even if that meant putting her own life in danger! In his new book, Peter writes about a new bride, young and in love and living her dream when a regrettable one night stand shows up on her honeymoon threatening to destroy it all. I love a good thriller and this certainly sounds like one!
The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon
Release Date: April 6, 2021
I first picked up Winter People by accident at the library and tore through it in one day. Don’t you love when that happens? I chose it solely for it’s cover, even though you are never supposed to do that! I also read and loved The Invited, her next book. Both of these delve into the supernatural and completely spooked me out! The Drowning Kind sounds similar to the first two. It’s about a social worker named Jax whose sister just died in her grandparents’ swimming pool. Jax goes to her grandparents’ house to retrieve her sister’s things and learns that she had been researching the estate just before her death. What dark secrets from the past did her research reveal? I will let you know when I read this in April!
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Release Date: May 25, 2021
Taylor Jenkins Reid wrote two books I’ve loved: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six. Evelyn Hugo was a fascinating story about a 1950s Hollywood film star, retelling her life and loves. Daisy Jones was about a 1970s rock star and her tumultuous relationship with Billy Dunne, the lead singer of The Six. Malibu Rising takes us to the 1980s where Nina Riva is about to host her annual summer party. The Rivas are famous in Malibu and throughout the world for their surfing championships and this party is the social event of the season. On the night of the party, this family’s lives will change forever.
Survive the Night by Riley Sager
Release Date: June 29, 2021
I have read 4 books by Riley Sager: The Last Time I Lied, Final Girls, Lock Every Door and Home Before Dark. This is an author that I never miss when a new book comes out. My favorite of the 4 was Home Before Dark, a haunting Hill House-like novel. Survive the Night is about two college students who meet through a college ride board and decide to ride home together to Ohio for break. Charlie begins to suspect that the driver, Josh, is actually the serial killer who has been killing students on campus. What follows is a long night and car ride where Josh needs to just survive the night. This is another one I will be sure to pick up!
The Stranger in the Mirror by Liv Constantine
Release Date: July 6, 2021
I just finished listening to The Last Mrs. Parrish on audiobook and it was so good! I read a lot of thrillers and this was one where I truly did not see the twist coming. This book sounds like it will have a few twists and turns in it for sure. Addison was in an accident two years ago. She was found on the side of a highway with no identification and had completely lost her memory. She is now still trying to remember her past so she can move on and marry her fiance, but something seems wrong. She is afraid she may have done something terrible that she can’t remember. A few states over, Julian is still trying to find his wife who went missing two years ago and left him and their daughter without so much as word. Will their lives intersect long enough for Addison to find out about her past?
The Therapist by BA Paris
Release Date: July 13, 2021
I have read a few of her novels that I thought were okay. But I really loved the last one, The Breakdown. I listened to that on audio and thought it was so well done… a Gaslight kind of thriller. The Therapist is about a young couple who move into a beautiful house in a gated community. Alice begins to feel a deep connection with the therapist that lived in their house previously. As she tries to figure out what happened to her, she begins to realize that her neighbors are harboring secrets and her new neighborhood isn’t everything it appears to be.
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahri
Release Date: August 20, 2021
Another one of my all-time favorite books is Interpreters of Maladies. This book is a collection of short stories and tells the tales of first and second generation Indian families. I found them to be a fascinating look into a people and culture that I didn’t know a lot about. Whereabouts is the story of a woman who over a course of a year transforms her life. When I saw that this book was coming out, it reminded me about how much I loved Interpreter of Maladies and I wondered why I never picked up another of her books. I think I may also read The Namesake this year, which is another one of her more famous novels.
BONUS:
Here are some more 2021 books that I am looking forward to reading. These books are by new-to-me authors:
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkes
Release Date January 5, 2021
This story is a new retelling of Jane Eyre. Jane, a poor dog walker, falls in love with Eddie Rochester, a rich and handsome widower. They plan to marry, but the memory of Bea, Eddie’s first wife, is constantly threatening their happiness.
You Have a Match by Emma Lord
Release Date: January 5, 2021
This book is just the kind of fun, light YA book that I like to indulge in every now and then. Abby takes a DNA test for fun and finds out she is the sister of social media star Savannah Tully. The two decide to meet up at summer camp to try and figure out what happened. Add in love interest Leo, the camp’s co-chef and it makes for one interesting summer!
The Little French Bridal Shop by Jennifer Dupee
Release Date: March 9, 2021
Larissa returns to her hometown an emotional wreck. She just lost her job and her boyfriend and she is coming home to take care of her sick mother. As she walks through town, she notices a small French bridal store and decides that she will try on a gown for fun. Now the entire town thinks she is getting married, including an old love interest.
The Lost Village by Camilla Sten
Release Date: March 23, 2021
