In case you haven’t noticed, it’s a new year. That means a whole new year of books! I’ve been trying to keep my eyes and ears open for news of upcoming releases that pique my interest. I’ve got several on my list, but I also have a huge gap in my book year. So I’ll let you know about books I’m looking forward to if you’ll let me know about your go-to list for 2012 (especially if you’re looking forward to books coming out in the spring and summer).
The Rook by Daniel O’Malley (January 2012)
After reading a snippet somewhere (probably in Publisher’s Lunch), I put The Rook on my radar. Then I read the sample chapters months ago. I followed the @RookFiles Twitter feed. The voice has me captivated, and I have the book pre-ordered. I’ve never pre-ordered a book in my life. (My mom pre-ordered Harry Potter books on my behalf, but I’ve never actually felt the need to do it myself.) O’Malley, you better deliver. I expect to enjoy myself between those simple black covers.
Thief’s Covenant by Ari Marmell (February 2012)
Thief’s Covenant is coming out as a part of Pyr’s new YA line. I haven’t picked up a new YA for a while (not since last Christmas when I bought Matchless on a whim), but I’ve been looking forward to this one since I heard about it at WorldCon last year. (P.S. Is the cover not awesome?) The main character is the only remaining worshipper of her household god; everyone else who used to worship him is dead. Now she runs through the city as a thief, trying to keep ahead of the people out to kill her.
Shadow Ops: Control Point by Myke Cole (February 2012)
I’ll let you in on a secret: although I’m a military wife, I’m not normally into military genre books. War literature is something I dig (you might remember that I love Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried), but genre military fiction (military SF, for example) normally doesn’t float my boat. But something about Shadow Ops: Control Point intrigues me. Maybe it’s because it’s military fantasy, which is something I don’t recall running into before. It’s an interesting angle, and I’d like to see where it goes.
Big Gap for Spring and Summer
Please donate your suggestions to fill this gap. Or I could use this time to catch up on some of the wonderful books that are already out that I haven’t had a chance to sample yet.
Six Little Sisters by Garcia McCall (Fall 2012)
This book is coming out from Tu Books, an imprint with a cause. A cause that has led it to introduce me to this very interesting-sounding book, Six Little Sisters. I got this description of it from Tu Books’ editorial director’s blog: “In this retelling of The Odyssey, Odilia and her five sisters embark on a quest to return a dead man to his family and must overcome monsters from Mexican folklore as they journey home.” Sound cool much? If not, maybe you’re just not enough of a folklore junkie yet. Don’t worry. Listen to me long enough and I’ll get you hooked eventually.
Rootless by Chris Howard (November 2012)
Rootless is another book I saw a pitch for in Publishers Lunch. A tree sculptor who fashions decorative trees out of scrap metal learns about the possible whereabouts of a real, living tree. He sets off to investigate. Yes, this is in a dystopian world in which all living trees have supposedly died off.
Your Favorites for 2012
What are you looking forward to in 2012? I’m open to all suggestions. I seem to only have speculative fiction on my 2012 reading list, but I’d be happy to hear recommendations for mainstream fiction, nonfiction, Billy Collins–like poetry, or any anthology with folktales in it. If you’re on Twitter, you can also use the hashtag #books2012 to tell your tweeps about books to look for.
A Memory of Light, the last book in the Wheel of Time (fall); The Death of Kings, by Bernard Cornwell-he is the best historical fiction writer alive (Jan). That’s about it that I’m really looking forward to. Sure there’ll be others that pop up.
I’m looking forward to AMoL mostly because I promised myself that after book 11 I wouldn’t read any more of the series until it was over. Once that book is out I can finish the series! I doubt I’ll get to it this year though.
I’ve never heard of Bernard Cornwell, and I haven’t been able to find a historical fiction book that satisfied me since Shaara’s The Killer Angels, so I’ll have to look him up. Thanks, Jordan!
I’m looking forward to Crown of Embers by Rae Carson. It’s the sequel to Girl of Fire and Thorns, and it comes out in October, 2012.
I just looked up the series–sounds like some good stuff!
I’m looking forward to a “Memory of Light” too. I’ve been reading that series since high school (which is quite a few years ago), and I’m excited to finally finish it.
Agent Kristen Nelson blogged about one of her clients’ book “Firelight” by Kristen Callihan. Kind of a gothic retelling of Beauty and the Beast with some twists. That’s my favorite fairy tale, so I’m looking forward to that one as well.
Ah, a retold fairy tale. I’ll definitely be looking that one up. I probably won’t be looking into it right when it comes out because my January and February reading lists are looking nice and plump, but I’ll have to keep it in mind later in the year.