Anticipated Books of January 2023

A few weeks ago, I brought you my most anticipated books of 2023, and now I’m back to my monthly anticipated book posts where I can tell you about even more books I’m excited for.  So today I’m sharing my most anticipated books of January 2023.  And even this isn't the full list of books coming out in January that I'm likely to read at some point, just the ones I'm most looking forward to reading. Although I have early copies of some of them, I haven’t started reading 2023 books yet, so I have my work cut out for me - but in an exciting way! 

Here they are by US pub date - note that some of these are out already in the UK and/or Australia:

Anticipated Books of 2023

Somehow it's almost the end of the year, which means it's time for me to reveal my most anticipated books of 2023!  I’ve always enjoyed looking to see what books are going to be published in the near future.  Indeed, for me, tracking upcoming books is kind of its own hobby, separate from reading.  

For the last few years, in addition to my anticipated books of the year posts, I’ve been doing monthly anticipated book posts which allow me to feature even more books.  But putting together my most anticipated books of the year in addition to my anticipated books each month is still something I will always keep doing.  This list is limited to just the TOP books I’m most super-excited about - the ones I will be making it a priority to read.  It was so hard to narrow it down that these are all books by authors who I’ve already read and loved, though there are definitely some great sounding debuts coming next year too!  To narrow it down, I also only included a book if it had a set release date and a cover. 

My longer list has at least three times as many books as I am discussing here, but for this post, I limited myself to 25 books.  Well, I tried to limit it to 25, but I ended up with 26 anyway.  😂 But anyway, keep an eye out for my monthly posts about anticipated books to see even more books I’m looking forward to, whether they’re ones that just don’t fit here, or ones I hear about later.  And if you are looking for even more bookish content from me, check out my instagram account where I post book-related stuff almost every single day from reviews to anticipated books to other book features.

Now without further ado, here are the 2023 releases that I’m most looking forward to, so you can go ahead and request from Netgalley/get on the library waitlist/pre-order them if you so desire!  I am lucky enough to have ARCs of a few of these, but I decided not to read any of my 2023 advanced copies of books until 2023, so I haven’t read any yet!  So all my descriptions are just based on their publisher blurbs or what I’ve heard from early reviewers.

So, here they are, listed in order of their current US publication date, which is listed in parentheses after the title and author of each book:

Anticipated Books of December 2022

The end of the month really snuck up on me!  So, it's time to look ahead to the books publishing in December that I’m most excited for.  I’m happy it’s a short list so I can also use December to catch up on books I missed this year and backlist books I meant to get to. And stay tuned for my list of my most anticipated books of 2023, coming soon!

I haven’t read any of these yet, but looking forward to checking them out.

Anticipated Books of November 2022

As the end of the month approaches, it's time to look ahead to the books publishing in November that I’m most excited for.  So if you too like to look ahead with me, it’s time to get your library holds and pre-orders ready! I haven’t read any of these yet, but I'm looking forward to checking them out.

Anticipated Books of October 2022

 The end of the month is almost upon us, so it’s time to reveal my most anticipated books publishing in October 2022. I’m sure you will immediately notice that this is the shortest list I’ve ever put together.  😂 Well, there are plenty of other books coming out in October, but what can I say, none of them have grabbed me enough to make it onto my list.  I’m kind of relieved to have a shorter list though, my backlog is already so long!

I haven’t read any of these yet despite the brevity of the list, but looking forward to checking them out.

Anticipated Books of September 2022

August is almost over, so it’s time for my look at my most anticipated books of September!  Get those library holds and pre-orders ready! I haven’t read any of these yet but am looking forward to checking them out.

Anticipated Books of August 2022

Looking for yet more books to add to your TBR?  Well it’s time to place those pre-orders and library holds, because here I am with my monthly look at the books I’m most looking forward to coming out in the next month - this time, August!  

Anticipated Books of July 2022

Sorry I’m so late with my anticipated reads for July - June has been such a busy month!  But it’s not too late - there’s still time to make your library holds and pre-orders for July!  Here are my anticipated books of July, in order by US publication date:

5 Star Review: When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

Last year I only had one five star book all year, so I'm pretty happy that I have already discovered by third 5 star book of the year - When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill.  I don’t know if I can find the words to describe how much I loved this book!  It’s set in the 1950s and 60s in a world just like our own - except that some women have been spontaneously transforming into dragons.  No one talks about it and the government tries to cover it up, but our protagonist, Alex, first saw it happen when she was just 4 years old.  The book is told as the older Alex reminiscing about her childhood and how it was affected by the dragonning, interspersed with bits of news articles and scholarly writing about it. 

Anticipated Books of June 2022

Time to get those library holds and pre-orders in as I’m here with a look at my most anticipated books of June 2022!  I have a lot of these from Netgalley, but I’ve been so distracted by the exciting releases of May and book club books that I haven’t gotten to any of them yet!  Hopefully I will read them soon.

5 Star Review: This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

Happy to share my latest 5 star book with you - This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub.  I loved this book so much!

Anticipated Books of May 2022

Absolutely ridiculous how many awesome sounding books are coming out in May 2022!  I’ve already read a few and have ARCs of some of the others that I’ll try to get to soon; but for way too many of the books below I was denied by Netgalley and have to wait on the library.  I'm also excited so many rom coms are coming out - I haven't done as much light reading lately, and it's just what I need to kick off summer reading season!   

Anticipated books of April 2022

Excited to bring you my most anticipated books publishing in April 2022.   So many good sounding books coming out next month, with a ridiculous amount of then all coming out on April 5th!  I’ve already read a few and have ARCs of some of the others that I’ll try to get to soon; others I’ll be reading once they are published. Here they are, in order of publication date:

5 Star Review: Notes On an Execution by Danya Kukafka

 Happy to give my first 5 star review of the year to Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka!

Anticipated Books of March 2022

Bringing you my anticipated books for March early since I’m leaving for vacation tomorrow. I haven't read any of them yet, and indeed I don’t even have copies of some of the ones I’m most excited for because Netgalley rejected me. 😢. But hopefully I will be reading a lot of them next month!  

Anticipated Books of February 2022

Another month, another set of books publishing that I am excited to read!  And the TBR list gets longer and longer...  Here are the books coming out in February 2022 that I'm most excited for.  Although I have advanced copies of some of them, I haven't read any of them yet - but hopefully will be reading a lot of them next month!

Jen's Top 10 Books of 2021

 Super-excited to bring you my top 10 favorite books I read in 2021!  And boy, did I agonize over this list!  I’ve been making top 10 lists since all the way back in 1999 (back when I used to just share my list with a few friends), but somehow it never gets easier!  In fact if anything, maybe it gets harder as I read more and more books over the years.  

As a reminder, these are books I read in a particular year, not necessarily books which were published that year - though as it turns out, all but one of this year’s list was published in 2021.  For the first time ever, I only had one 5 star book for the year!  I try to reserve 5 stars for the most amazing books that I know will be all time favorites, and this year even though I read 173 books, there was only one book that felt like it deserved 5 stars - Project Hail Mary.  However, I had 21 books which I gave 4.5 stars to, which is what made narrowing down my top 10 so hard, so perhaps I’ll also be sharing with you a “best of the rest” or a best of various genres.

Without further ado, my ten most favorite of the year, listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name:

Mary Jane - Jessica Anya Blau
Trophy Son - Douglas Brunt
Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr
Early Morning Riser - Katherine Heiny
Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro
True Crime Story - Joseph Knox
Once There Were Wolves - Charlotte McConaghy
Detransition, Baby - Torrey Peters
West With Giraffes - Lynda Rutledge
Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir

Read on for a little more about each book: