My Most Anticipated Releases, 2015

I know this is a little late, but honestly, I don't really keep up with new releases, and I rarely buy books straight as they come out. However, I found that several of them were appearing on my to-read list, and some of them are lesser known but I'm really excited about them.

Books I Will Definitely Be Buying in Hardback

August 4th: Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead: Stead's When You Reach Me has been a favorite of mine since it won the Newbery Medal. It means a great deal to me. Now, this one is strictly realistic--no philosophical time-travel discussions, I'm sure--but it still interests me. It concerns relationships between middle schoolers, both friendships and romantic, and it apparently tackles some themes not often seen in middle grade. I love Stead's quiet storytelling and it informs my own writing for that age group, so I'm very excited for this!

September 22nd: I Crawl Through It by A.S. King: I absolutely loved the three A.S. King novels I read last year, and I've been wanting to read this since I discovered that it's her most surreal yet and involves escaping from standardized tests. But then a more official blurb was released, and I am more in love:

Four talented teenagers are traumatized--coping with grief, surviving date rape, facing the anxiety of standardized tests and the neglect of self-absorbed adults--and they'll do anything to escape the pressure. They'll even build an invisible helicopter, to fly far away to a place where everyone will understand them... until they learn the only way to escape reality is to face it head-on.

Different from her recents, but I love it

Basically, I really need this book. I always feel under pressure (a lot of it by myself) due to perfectionism which has possibly led to other issues at this point. I wish I could fly away in an invisible helicopter. Although, an invisible helicopter? I must understand all this weirdness!

King also said:

I Crawl Through It is a surrealist novel. I love surrealism and it seems in my twenty years of writing novels, I was always moving in this direction. The teens in the book aren’t just trying to escape standardized testing, they’re also escaping school violence—intruder drills and bomb threats—and their lives, in general. In a standardized society, those who don’t fit into the little ovals feel freakish. Except the ovals are really a lie. No one has a perfect life, no matter how many advertisements seem to want to sell us one.

September 22nd: Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? by Lemony Snicket: This is the fourth and final book in the All the Wrong Questions series, the companion/prequel series to the A Series of Unfortunate Events of our childhoods. I've been following these as they've come out, usually asking relatives for each one for Christmas, which will probably be what I do again instead of buying it when it comes out. I don't have much to say because I haven't read the third book yet (which apparently has more to do with the driving plot), but I expect childhood wonder mixed in with cynical sarcasm.

Books I Will Read (Wait Until Paperback/Library)
January 6th: Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick: This one's already out, and it's a series of four interconnected stories from different points in history (including the future, I believe). I've heard it's pretty weird and not the kind of thing to get mass appeal...so I'm really curious. Plus, it's a different way of telling a story.

January 27th: Fairest by Marissa Meyer: I've changed my mind, I think I'll probably read this. It seems like an interesting little story. (See Winter below for context if you need it).

February 3rd: Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman: Right now I need to catch up on some Gaiman before I read this, but I've been enjoying short stories lately and I'm interested. I've already read the Doctor Who story (it was one of the ebooks published for the 50th Anniversary).

February 24th: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab: I still have yet to read anything by Victoria/V.E. Schwab, though I plan to soon, but I've heard nothing but good things and I can get behind some adult/general fiction fantasy.

March 30th: Solitaire by Alice Osman: This was released in the UK and elsewhere last year and is now making it around to the U.S. Mostly I am interested because it was written by a very young author (19), the front cover (of the original edition at least) claims that it's a love-free YA story, and it features a cynical protagonist. Sounds fun.

April 7th: None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio: A YA debut that's been getting some press. It follows a girl who discovers she intersex. I've been attempting to read more diversity lately, so I'm interested in reading this story and learning something.

April 21st: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman: This is apparently an in-depth look into the mind of someone with a mental illness, so I'm very interested to see how it is written and how it plays out. Plus, it was influenced by Shusterman's own son's condition. I've also enjoyed Susterman's writing in the past and currently, as I'm making my way through the very fascinating Unwind.

April 28th: Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley: This is pitched as Stardust meets The Fault in Our Stars, which is a tirelessly annoying marketing tactic that has me rolling my eyes. However, upon looking at the summary, the ship-in-the-sky and travels to another world sound like it's mostly Gaimanesque fantasy, so I guess TFiOS = the lung disease the character has, and a hint of romance. Additionally, a reviewer I trust has said this is actually a very unique and original novel, and it sounds very dream-like, so I'm in!

April 28th: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir: This is a pretty hyped-up (currently stand alone!) fantasy, and since I have fond memories of fantasy stories but haven't had much luck lately, I hope this will do something for me.

August 28th: The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness: This is apparently the story of a nobody in a YA-story-like world. Sounds hilarious and interesting.


July 14th: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee: I know, I know, this is going to be insanely a big release based on the frenzy that has gone on since the announcement was made. I like To Kill a Mockingbird fine, though I wasn't too fond of the way it ended, and I was originally pretty excited for this. However, I'm having some ethical questions regarding its publication that are making me uncomfortable. (If you haven't heard, check out articles like these.)

November 10th: Winter by Marissa Meyer: I've been really enjoying The Lunar Chronicles lately, so I'm sure once I read Cress I'll be really excited for this one! It looks like it's going to be quite long, too...

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And that's it! There are some others I've seen hyped up, but I'm not completely sure if I'll like them. What are you looking forward to?