15 2024 Releases I Can't Wait to Read

It's shaping up to be another absolutely amazing year in books.

Hi, book friends.

A few weeks ago, I spent several hours reading through The Millions’ most anticipated list for the first quarter of 2024 and Lit Hub’s list for the first half of 2024. I do this ritual for a few reasons:

• Shiny new books are fun to read about, of course!

• I like to mark all the books that catch my eye as “want to read” on Goodreads so that I’ll get notified about giveaways. (Yes, you can steal that pro tip. 😉)

• There are so many books coming out every single week. When I do my research ahead of time, I’m better prepared to browse bookstores and assess promotion opportunities from publishers.

I must have read up on at least 350 books. Given that, I feel good about the fact that my personal most-anticipated list on Bookshop.org only ended up being about 70 books long. 😅 There are just so many amazing-sounding books coming our way this year!

If you have a reading taste similar to mine — a mix of SFF, nonfiction, and literary fiction, especially when that literary fiction skews a little speculative — I encourage you to browse it in more detail. But for the sake of brevity, here are some highlights.

1. House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3) by Sarah J. Maas (Jan. 30): This one needs very little introduction. The entire romantasy world is waiting for this book. I spent 2023 reading or re-reading all 15 of her previously published books in preparation. It’s that big of a deal. Ahhh!

2. The Book of Love by Kelly Link (Feb. 13): Pulitzer Prize finalist Link is a decorated short-story writer, most of them shelved with literary fiction but with heavy speculative elements. She’s also in a writing group with Cassandra Clare and Leigh Bardugo, and Carmen Maria Machado calls her “our greatest living fabulist.” So basically, she was made for me. Catch me inhaling this 600-page debut novel from Link in February.

3. Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange (Feb. 27): I’m not the only one who’ll be talking about this book this year. It’s a highly anticipated follow-up to Orange’s There, There, which I can attest was both devastating and phenomenal.

4. Sunbringer (Godkiller, #2) by Hannah Kaner (Mar. 12): Godkiller was awesomesauce. It felt both fresh and fantasy-classic in the best way. I can’t wait to be reunited with its motley crew of characters in the sequel.

5. James by Percival Everett (Mar. 19): Need I say more than “Percival Everett”? No, but I will! James is a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the enslaved man Jim’s perspective. It’s got nothing but rave reviews, and I’ll be picking up my early reader’s copy next month. Watch for this one on allll the prize lists this year.

6. The Morningside by Téa Obreht (Mar. 19): After reading The Tiger’s Wife, which won the Women’s Prize, I declared I’d happily read Obreht’s grocery list. And this one — about a mysterious family history, folktales from the MC’s homeland, and “the stories we tell and the stories we refuse to tell” — sounds right up my alley.

7. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo (Apr. 9): Bardugo is an auto-buy author for me, and I’ve already preordered this one. She’s blessing us with a standalone historical fantasy set during the Spanish Golden Age and featuring “an embittered immortal familiar whose secrets could prove deadly.” Say. Less.

8. Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie (Apr. 16): I’ve been a big Rushdie fan since I saw him live in conversation with Marlon James to promote Quichotte a few years ago; he’s smart and funny and just seems to get it. But after the attack he survived last year — not to mention the fatwa he’s survived for decades — I’m not the only one ready to hear more. Also, this title!

9. Funny Story by Emily Henry (Apr. 23): It’s Emily Henry; enough said. Who’s ready for some revenge fake dating mixed with Henry’s phenomenal character work and hard-hitting central conflicts? Me!

10. Heavenly Tyrant (Iron Widow, #2) Xiran Jay Zhao (Apr. 30): Zhao has been very transparent about the fact that we’ve waited a few years for this sequel because the terrible economics of modern book advances meant they couldn’t afford to write it right away. But that hasn’t dampened anyone’s excitement, including mine. Yay for angry women, polyamory, and the destruction of oppressive institutions!

11. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (May 7): This might currently be my MOST anticipated book of the year? Please read this hype from LitHub and tell me that doesn’t pique your interest. Also, my galley says this debut already sold in 17 languages and has a TV adaptation in the pipeline after a 21-way auction. Okay!! Feels like it could be this year’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, but somehow even better.

12. Mirrored Heavens (Between Earth and Sky, #3) by Rebecca Roanhorse (Jun. 4): This is the conclusion to the trilogy that started with Black Sun. I haven’t yet decided if I want to reread the first two books before June, but y’all, I am HYPED.

13. Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland (Jun. 11): Rowland’s A Taste of Gold and Iron had me screaming in puddles, and I still want everyone I know to read it ASAP. This book is set in the same world but with a different set of characters. Also: Pirates!! OT3 (throuple)!! SIGN ME UP.

14. Same as It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo (Jun. 18): I have been chasing the feeling I got from Lombardo’s The Most Fun We Ever Had ever since I read it, years ago now. It’s a heartfelt family saga that had me sobbing like a baby. And now she’s giving us another family saga. We are truly blessed.

15. The Palace of Eros by Caro de Robertis (Aug. 13): Hi yes, this is a Psyche and Eros retelling but Eros is nonbinary and it’s all super queer. Caro de Robertis has been one of my faves since I read Cantoras (and I am not alone! Read that book ASAP!), and I simply cannot WAIT to see what they do with a Greek retelling. Ahh!!

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— Deedi (she/her)