Wednesday 14 December 2016

Anticipated Reads (Jan - Aug 2017)

2017 looks like it's gonna be one helluva year for books, so here's one for each month (January to August, at least) that I'm stoked for (plus of course some honorary mentions).

JANUARY

History Is All You Left Me
by Adam Silvera

synopsis
When Griffin’s first love and ex-boyfriend, Theo, dies in a drowning accident, his universe implodes. Even though Theo had moved to California for college and started seeing Jackson, Griffin never doubted Theo would come back to him when the time was right. But now, the future he’s been imagining for himself has gone far off course.

To make things worse, the only person who truly understands his heartache is Jackson. But no matter how much they open up to each other, Griffin’s downward spiral continues. He’s losing himself in his obsessive compulsions and destructive choices, and the secrets he’s been keeping are tearing him apart.

If Griffin is ever to rebuild his future, he must first confront his history, every last heartbreaking piece in the puzzle of his life.


HONORARY MENTIONS

(1) Welcome To Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo
(2) The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman
(3) The Prometheus Man by Scott Reardon
(4) Off Base by Annabeth Albert
(5) Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley

FEBRUARY

Storm Season
by Pene Henson

synopsis
The great outdoors isn’t so great for Sydney It-Girl Lien Hong. It’s too dark, too quiet, and there are spiders in the toilet of the cabin she is sharing with friends on the way to a New South Wales music festival. To make matters worse, she’s been separated from her companions and taken a bad fall. With a storm approaching, her rescue comes in the form of a striking wilderness ranger named Claudia Sokolov, whose isolated cabin, soulful voice and collection of guitars bely a complicated history. While they wait out the weather, the women find an undeniable connection—one that puts them both on new trajectories that last long after the storm has cleared.

HONORARY MENTIONS

(1) To Catch a Killer by Sheryl Scarborough
(2) Nowhere Near You by Leah Thomas
(3) Starfall by Melissa Landers
(4) We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
(5) The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera
(6) The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

MARCH

The Inexplicable Logic of my Life
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

synopsis
Sal used to know his place with his adoptive gay father, their loving Mexican-American family, and his best friend, Samantha. But it’s senior year, and suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and realizing he no longer knows himself. If Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he?

HONORARY MENTIONS

(1) Fair Chance by Josh Lanyon
(2) The Monet Murders by Josh Lanyon
(3) The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
(4) Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
(5) These Ruthless Deeds by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas
(6) A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi
(7) Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
(8) Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon

APRIL

The Upside of Unrequited
by Becky Albertalli

synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.

Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly's totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie's new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. If Molly can win him over, she'll get her first kiss and she'll get her twin back.

There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid. He's a chubby Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there's absolutely no way Molly could fall for him.

Right?


HONORARY MENTIONS

(1) Tyrant's Throne by Sebastien de Castell
(2) Definitions of Undefinable Things by Whitney Taylor

MAY

When Dimple Met Rishi
by Sandhya Menon

synopsis
Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.


HONORARY MENTIONS

(1) Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
(2) The Battlemage by Taran Matharu
(3) Girl Out of Water by Laura Silverman
(4) Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh
(5) The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan
(6) Release by Patrick Ness
(7) The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich
(8) I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo


JUNE

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
by Mackenzi Lee

synopsis
Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.

But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.


HONORARY MENTIONS

(1) Want by Cindy Pon


JULY

The Library of Fates
by Aditi Khorana

synopsis
No one is entirely certain what brings the Emperor Sikander to Shalingar. Until now, the idyllic kingdom has been immune to his many violent conquests. To keep the visit friendly, Princess Amrita has offered herself as his bride, sacrificing everything—family, her childhood love, and her freedom—to save her people. But her offer isn't enough.

The unthinkable happens, and Amrita finds herself a fugitive, utterly alone but for an oracle named Thala, who was kept by Sikander as a slave and managed to escape amid the chaos of a palace under siege. With nothing and no one else to turn to, Amrita and Thala are forced to rely on each other. But while Amrita feels responsible for her kingdom and sets out to warn her people, the newly free Thala has no such ties. She encourages Amrita to go on a quest to find the fabled Library of All Things, where it is possible for each of them to reverse their fates. To go back to before Sikander took everything from them.

Stripped of all that she loves, caught between her rosy past and an unknown future, will Amrita be able to restore what was lost, or does another life—and another love—await?


HONORARY MENTIONS

(1) The Gallery of Unfinished Girls by Lauren Karcz

AUGUST

Dress Codes for Small Towns
by Courtney C. Stevens

synopsis
The year I was seventeen, I had five best friends…and I was in love with all of them for different reasons.

Billie McCaffrey is always starting things. Like couches constructed of newspapers and two-by-fours. Like costumes made of aluminum cans and Starburst wrappers. Like trouble.

This year, however, trouble comes looking for her.

Her best friends, a group she calls the Hexagon, have always been schemers. They scheme for kicks and giggles. What happens when you microwave a sock? They scheme to change their small town of Otters Holt, Kentucky, for the better. Why not campaign to save the annual Harvest Festival we love so much? They scheme because they need to scheme. How can we get the most unlikely candidate elected to the town’s highest honor?

But when they start scheming about love, things go sideways.

In Otters Holt, love has been defined only one way—girl and boy fall in love, get married, and buy a Buick, and there’s sex in there somewhere. For Billie—a box-defying dynamo—it’s not that simple.

Can the Hexagon, her parents, and the town she calls home handle the real Billie McCaffrey?


HONORARY MENTIONS

(1) You Don't Know Me But I Know You by Rebecca Barrow

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