New 2021 Book Releases I Am Eagerly Anticipating

Maybe it’s a bit too early to start thinking about all the new books waiting for us in 2021. But, I guess I am not the only one who feels so done with 2020.

Sure, this (almost) past year brought us some very interesting books. Some great new series. A few long-anticipated sequels. Deep, heartbreaking stories that made us pause and think. Several great easy reads, to catch our breaths from the long and heavy books.

2020 for me wasn’t crazy productive reading year, but I am generally very happy with the quality or what I’ve read and I’ve even found a few new favorites. I still have several titles I absolutely want to finish before the New Year.

But I also feel ready to move on and start looking into a (hopefully) brighter future. So, I started checking out what new in the books world we can expect in 2021 and I have to say, some of them – I just can’t wait!

So, here are the titles I am most excited about getting my hands on as soon as they are out. In no particular order:

2021 Book Releases I’m Most Excited About

1. The Thorn of Emberlain by Scott Lynch

(Gentleman Bastard #4), August 19th, 2021

I read the first 3 books of the Gentleman Bastard series years ago and I loved them. Can’t wait to get back to Locke and Jean! I wish I could somehow squeeze in rereading them before this 4th book is out, because I read them a long time ago and I forgot many details.

The new book – apparently, a war is about to erupt in the Kingdom of the Marrows. And Locke, already tried being a thief, con-man, pirate and political deceiver, seems to be now bound for military carrier. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see good old Locke as a soldier :-)…

2. A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer

(Cursebreakers #3), January 12th, 2021

I love fairy tale retellings. And I like Brigid Kemmerer. Yet, I still haven’t read the first two books in this series, even though the first book (A Curse So Dark and Lonely) is a retelling of my favorite fairy tale – Beauty and the Beast.

But, I am hoping I’ll get to read all three of them in the next year. Plus, I’ve heard that there’s a major cliffhanger at the end of the book 2, that makes you not want to wait for too long to read the next book…

3. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

May 4th, 2021

I love science fiction probably even more than fantasy. And I really enjoyed reading The Martian. I’m still contemplating if I should read Artemis – the blurb sounds interesting, but I’ve seen so many negative reviews, I kinda don’t want to bother.

But this new book – I most definitely want to read that one! Apparently, the main character is the only one who can save the Earth and humanity – and he doesn’t even remember that! He just wakes up in space, his crewmates dead, not remembering even his own name…

I want this book! I want it so bad!

4. Hamlet Retelling by Gillian Flynn

(Hogarth Shakespeare #8), 2021

The Hogarth Shakespeare series is an international project for which some of today’s bestselling authors reimagine famous Shakespeare’s plays. The only one I read so far is Macbeth by Jo Nesbø, and I really enjoyed it.

And now, the author of Gone Girl is retelling Hamlet for us! And I cannot wait to see how an author who writes amazing morally gray female characters sees this Shakespeare’s incredible story full of intrigues, revenge, betrayal, madness, murder, conspiracies…

5. Those Who Run Towards Fire by Fredrik Backman

(Beartown #3), 2021

Fredrik Backman has quickly become one of my favorite authors of all times. And Beartown must be one of the best books I’ve read in the last couple of years.

So, the moment that third book is out, you can bet I’ll be jumping up and down from excitement right before I sprint to the closest bookstore! Even though there’s not a word of description of it on Goodreads, so I have no idea what it will be about… ☹ And it will be first published in Swedish, and there’s no way of telling when we can get it in English… ☹☹

(*Update – Apparently, the title has been changed and now it is The Winners. It should be published in October 2021, fingers crossed we get it translated soon…)

6. Spellmaker by Charlie N. Holmberg

(Spellbreaker Duology #2), March 9th, 2021

Spellmaker is a book #2 in the YA fantasy duology Spellbreaker. I haven’t read the first one yet. I think I’ll wait for the second book to be released, so that I can binge-read them.

This duology caught my attention because, unlike most characters I love and follow, the protagonist in this one doesn’t cast spells – she breaks them in order to help common men. But, since she is an unlicensed magic user, what she does is considered a crime…

7. Namesake by Adrienne Young

(Fable #2), March 16th, 2021

For some reason, I always used to think pirate books and nautical stories in general wouldn’t be my thing. Yet every time I picked up a book set on a ship, I ended up really enjoying it.

I still haven’t read the first book (Fable). I think I’ll wait and binge-read the two. Don’t know too much about the story except that it involves pirates, fantasy, romance, intrigue, betrayal, adventure and some family drama…

8. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

May 25th, 2021

After this author’s previous work, including The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six, I knew I’d want to read whatever she comes up with next. And Malibu Rising looks like it is going to be a perfect summer read.

The story is set in 1983. It follows the famous, talented members of the Riva family. Everyone is looking forward to Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party. But the Rivas have reasons both for excitement and to dread…

9. The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

February 16th, 2021

This one really could be a hit or miss for me. Because the topic is… Not easy to wrap your head around. But if it’s done right, I think it really could be something great.

So, this is a – SF literary fiction and thriller? I guess. And it is about Evelyn Caldwell, who has created a genetically cloned replica of herself – Martine. And Martine is having an affair with Evelyn’s husband, and now the husband is dead.

If that doesn’t sound intriguing, I don’t know what does.

10. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

(The Scholomance #2), July 6th, 2021

After the success of the first book in this series – A Deadly Education, I feel that many of us will be eager to see where the story goes next.

I mean – of course I’d want to read this as soon as possible. It is a dark academia. It involves a magical school in which if you fail you die. And it has interesting characters, good story, great dark vibes and Naomi Novik’s writing style. Why wouldn’t I want to read it?

11. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

March 9th, 2021

I’m not going to lie – historical fiction, and especially books set during the World War II, are not my thing. I tried a few, but for some reason it just never worked out for me.

This one, though, seems like might be the one. It follows three strong female characters as they try to navigate horrible new circumstances. To me, the blurb sounded very exciting, very intriguing and like something I would most definitely want to read…

*Read it in the meanwhile, you can check my review here.

12. The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

March 2nd, 2021

This book is at the very top of the list of 2021 books I can’t wait to grab. I love the cover. And the blurb seems so promising, so intriguing, mysterious and whimsical – I just can’t wait.

The story is split into two timelines. One takes us to 1791 London, where a secret apothecary dispenses poisons to women desperate to free themselves from the men in their lives. The second timeline follows an aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell in the present day London, as she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames…

13. Such a Quiet Place by Megan Miranda

July 13th, 2021

Megan Miranda is a well-known thriller author. I have to say, I didn’t like all her books. But the ones I liked – I liked them enough to definitely want to give this new one a try.

From what I’ve read in the blurb, to me Such a Quiet Place sounds like a thriller with strong Desperate Housewives vibes. The story is set in Hollow’s Edge, a quiet little place where a year and a half ago a double murder has happened. But the main suspect Ruby Fletcher is now back in Hollow’s Edge, and it becomes more and more clear that not everyone told the truth about that night…

14. The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

January 5th, 2021

Another book I’m super excited about. I loved Jane Eyre, and The Wife Upstairs is a modern-day retelling of the famous gothic classic – but with a few twists.

I’m not really expecting this story to closely follow the Jane Eyre we all know, in fact – I hope it won’t. If I understood well, where Jane Eyre is a forbidden love story primarily set on the romance part of it all, I think The Wife Upstairs might fall closer to the thriller/mystery genre, and – sign me in!

15. Game Changer by Neal Shusterman

February 9th, 2021

Did I already mention how much I love science fiction? Well, I do. I really, really do. So, a new sci-fi book by an author of Arc of a Scythe series? Insert a few star-struck emojis!

The blurb doesn’t reveal much. All I know is Game Changer is about a guy who gets hit while playing football and ends up in another dimension? I think. And then continues to travel through different universes, discovering new things about his own world and learning important life lessons…

*Read it in the meanwhile, you can check my review here.

16. Survive the Night by Riley Sager

July 6th, 2021

This book is on my most anticipated new releases list mostly because of how popular this author’s other books have been lately. Plus, though thriller/horror genre isn’t exactly my favorite, I love to break my usual reading every now and then with a nice suspenseful read.

And this one’s blurb sounded quite thrilling. It is set in 1991. A college student Charlie Jordan is sharing a ride home to Ohio with a man who is a virtual stranger to her. During the ride, Charlie starts to realize that this man might actually be the serial killer who has recently murdered her best friend…

17. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

March 2nd, 2021

Another sci-fi that looks like it is going to have strong literary fiction elements. I’ve been seeing this one on many people’s most anticipated 2021 books lists, and now it is on mine as well :-).

Klara is an Artificial Friend and from her place in the store, she carefully watches the shoppers and passers-by. Every day, she is hoping she will be chosen soon. However, she doesn’t seem to fully understand that humans and their promises cannot always be trusted…

18. People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd

January 12th, 2021

People Like Her is a suspenseful contemporary thriller written by a London-based husband-and-wife writing team Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos.

It follows Emmy Jackson, aka @the_mamabare, an ambitious Instagram influencer who is great at monetizing the intimate details of her family life. This thriller explores the dangers of social media, both in terms of the pressure that Emmy’s success is putting on her family and when it comes to obsessive followers that are watching her closely all the time…

19. A Million Reasons Why by Jessica Strawser

March 23rd, 2021

A Million Reasons Why is tagged as a thriller on Goodreads, but looks like a literary fiction to me. And the books of this genre I usually end up either absolutely loving or absolutely hating. I’m having high hopes for this one, though.

This is a story about two half-sisters who don’t know about each other and whose lives couldn’t be more different. But one of them is suffering from irreversible kidney failure and urgently needs a donor. The other half-sister is a perfect match…

20. Nowhere by Brandon Sanderson

(Skyward #3), 2021

So, this last book –I mean, do I even need to say anything? It’s Brandon Sanderson. And its Brandon Sanderson writing science fiction. I think everyone who read the first book in the Skyward series will be very eager to get his hands on the books #2 and #3 as well.

Granted, there are no many details available at the moment. We only have the title and an estimation that it will be ready for spring 2021. But I can just feel it’s going to be great, and I can’t wait!

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This list is not definite – I will probably keep adding books as soon as I find out about them. Please help me out – if you know about some exciting 2021 book release I didn’t mention above, leave a comment down below – one can never have too many things to look forward to…