10 2022 New Releases That Are Already on My TBR
- maureenomalley721
- Oct 11, 2021
- 9 min read
Do you ever have those moments where you are blissfully going about your day, minding your business, only to glance at a calendar and have reality hit you in the face? Hard?
Hello, welcome to mid-October! Surprised you've ended up here? Me too!
The thing about the middle of October is that it means that it is basically already Halloween. Which means it's almost Thanksgiving. Which means it's almost Christmas. Which means a new year is on the horizon, and oh yeah! What were my New Year's resolutions again?
Personally, I feel time has gone by so quickly over the past few months. I have a ton of projects and big life changes lined up in the next few weeks, and no idea how I'm going to get them all done. There is a silver lining, however!
A new year means new books!
There are SO MANY incredible new releases coming out in 2022, and I don't know about you all, but I'm already starting to put together my holiday wishlists.
(Sidenote: Is there anything better than asking someone to pre-order a book for you, as a birthday/holiday/graduation/generalized celebration gift? It is truly the gift that keeps on giving!)
If you, too, are looking to jump on some of the more exciting new releases coming up, I've got a list of ten promising options for you!
1. A Far Wilder Magic - Allison Saft
This has been one of the most hyped books I've seen on Book Twitter over the past few months. A lot of that, I suspect, has to do with the absolutely STUNNING cover. Seriously, it might be one of my top ten book covers that I've ever seen. The premise stands on its own though. The book centers on a sharpshooter and an aspiring alchemist, who join forces to compete in a hunt to find a mythical beast. It looks like it is going to be full of dark atmosphere, and one of my personal favorite tropes: a grumpy person and a ray of sunshine falling in love with each other. Not to mention the fact that Saft has said it is inspired by the 1920s! It's rare to find a fantasy set in that era, and I'm really interested to see how science, myth, and magic all intertwine. "A Far Wilder Magic" releases on March 8, 2022
2. Juniper and Thorn - Ava Reid
Reid and Saft actually just recently did an event together. After finishing Reid's "The Wolf and the Woodsman" (recipe forthcoming! Stay tuned!), I can see how these two writers pair well. I loved Reid's debut, so when I heard about "Juniper and Thorn," it went straight onto the TBR. If there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I love a good fairy tale retelling. Reid's upcoming book is based on the little-known Grimm Brothers' story entitled "The Juniper Tree," widely considered to be one of their darkest stories (can you say cannibalism?). The main character, Marlinchen, and her sisters are the last witches left in their city and are kept away from the outside world by their close-minded father. Marlinchen's horizons are broadened, when she falls in love with a dancer in the city's new ballet theatre. But, of course, this is a fairy tale. Monsters lurk in the shadows, threatening to upend the world as they know it, and I have a feeling it will be up to this trio of sisters to save the day. It sounds like the perfect fall read, and I so wish I could have my hands on a copy ASAP! Alas, we will all have to wait until June 7, 2022 to dive into Reid's new, magical, world!
3. A Magic Steeped in Poison - Judy I. Lin
Judy I. Lin's debut fantasy has one of the most compelling magic systems I've heard of in a long time! Three words, everyone. Magical. Tea. Brewing. I mean...come on! Doesn't that immediately pique your curiosity?
The book tells the story of Ning, who enters a competition to find the kingdom's best Shennong-shi; a master of magical tea brewing. However, Ning already has a complicated relationship with the art form, as she accidentally killed her mother through a cup of poisoned tea. And for some reason, that same poison now threatens her sister's life. Winning the prestigious competition is the only way to ensure her sister's safety, but the competition itself is riddled with dangers that Ning will have to face first.
I am a huge sucker for any story where siblings sacrifice everything to protect each other, and get the sense that this one will really tug at my heartstrings. I ALSO think I may need to create a tea-inspired recipe! Who knows? I guess we'll all have to wait until March 22, 2022!
4. How High We Go In The Dark - Sequoia Nagamatsu
While I love to read books from all sorts of genres, and written for all age ranges, I find I tend to get more pre-emptively excited for YA fantasy, and sort of stumble into the adult reads that I end up falling in love with. But the premise for Sequoia Nagamatsu's debut has really stuck in my head and made me excited to dig in.
A decade in the future, an archeologist and his team are studying the preserved remains of a child, who has been frozen in the ice of the arctic. However, when they accidentally start a spread of the virus that killed her, it sets in motion a chain of events, both tiny and large, that will echo across the globe for years to come.
"How High We Go In The Dark," has been compared to David Mitchell's sprawling "Cloud Atlas," and certainly seems to contain many of the elements that made the latter's work compelling to me; an ensemble cast, a theme of interconnectedness, and new, imaginative worlds. However, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, I imagine Nagamatsu's work will resonate deeply with lots of us, who have had our worlds flipped completely upside down. The book will be released on January 18, 2022.
5. You Truly Assumed - Laila Sabreen
In the early days of the pandemic, my close friends and I started a virtual book club, as a way to try to stay close when the virus forced us apart. We all have hugely differing tastes in books, and as a result, I ended up reading in a lot of genres that I don't often pick up. One of those is YA contemporary, and I really enjoyed a lot of the books my friends selected. I picked Laila Sabreen's debut for this list because I know many of my friends will be excited about this one.
After seeing an increase in Islamophobia in her hometown, Muslim teen Sabriya starts a blog entitled You Truly Assumed in order to process her feelings. What starts as a personal project, spirals out into a viral sensation, leading Sabriya to make friends with two other Black Muslim girls in her community. As the attention and subsequent hateful attacks increase, the girls have to make a choice between speaking up for what they believe in, or shutting the blog down. The decision, of course, weighs heavily on their friendship, and the girls start to wonder if that will survive, too.
Allow me to shout it from the mountaintops: I LOVE STORIES FEATURING FEMALE FRIENDSHIP. Especially, when it's the crux of the book and not a sidenote. I actually think this is really difficult to find outside of the Middle-Grade category, as more and more books focus on romantic relationships (and don't get me wrong, I like those too). I love the idea of getting to share a book that centers on this, with my group of female friends. Sabreen's book debuts on February 8, 2022.
6. Witchlings - Claribel A. Ortega
Claribel Ortega has been one of my favorite internet presences in the past year. You might recognize her as a co-host of the Write or Die podcast, or from her MG debut novel "Ghost Squad," which was published earlier this year. Or, maybe, you, like me, spend a lot of time laughing at her tweets and Instagram reels. Regardless, "Witchlings" sounds like the stuff dreams are made of!
Twelve-year-old Seven Salazar is excited to find out what coven she will be sorted into, so she can finally unlock her powers as a full-fledged witch. But things don't go according to plan, and Seven finds herself being declared a Spare, with her hopes of being able to work powerful magic dashed to pieces. Her only hope is to band together with a group of her fellow Spares to perform The Impossible Task. A task so difficult that the last group who attempted it, turned into toads! It will take teamwork and cooperation, but in the end, the witchlings might finally get a taste of the magic they always dreamed of!
I think some people have some funky attitudes about adults reading middle-grade books. But, some of the most impactful books in my life have been middle-grade, and I have continued to enjoy reading them as I age. A good story is a good story, and Witchlings sounds exactly like the book ten-year-old Maureen would have wanted to find, while combing the shelves of her local library. But don't take my word for it! Go out and buy a copy for yourself on February 1, 2022.
7. The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea - Axie Oh
Let me take a moment to tell you all what the comps for this book were.
"Spirited Away meets Naomi Novik's Uprooted."
SPIRITED AWAY.
MEETS
UPROOTED.
Um....favorites meeting favorites? Count me in, 1000%!
Mina's hometown has been ravaged by dangerous storms for years, with most people blaming the Sea God for the destruction. In an attempt to placate him, each year, the village's most beautiful girl is thrown into the sea, with the hopes that the Sea God will fall in love, and finally bring peace. Unfortunately, this year, the girl in question is Shim Cheong, who also happens to be the girl Mina's brother is in love with. To protect her brother, Mina sacrifices herself in Shim Cheong's stead, only to find that not all is as it appears to be under the sea.
Mina cannot survive in the spirit realm forever. But she is the only one who can fix the problems there, and save her hometown. With the help of a soulless boy, gods, and demons, Mina must wake the sleeping Sea God before it is too late.
The book comes out on February 22, 2022, and you better pre-order your copy because I will be buying every copy within a ten-mile radius of me.
8. Cafe con Lychee - Emery Lee
Again, I don't read a whole ton of contemporary YA. And I really don't read a whole lot of contemporary romance. But I LOVE Emery Lee's Twitter presence, and you all already know how I feel about food-centric books.
Theo wants nothing more than to leave behind his small Vermont town, and his parent's Asian-American cafe. Gabi's only safe place is his parents' Puerto Rican cafe, which he one day hopes to run. When a new restaurant opens in town, threatening their parents' businesses, both boys see their dreams slipping away forever.
They decide to band together, to sell food at school, with the hopes of drawing in new customers. But, of course, feelings develop that threaten to ruin all their plans.
I, personally, eagerly await this books' release on May 10, 2022, as well as the subsequent Netflix movie because...come on! It's too perfect, right? Is this not 100% the rom-com you want to see brought to life on screen? I sure do. And, who knows, maybe I'll be crafting a recipe or two to go along with it all!
9. A Comb of Wishes - Lisa Stringfellow
In terms of magical creatures being featured in literature, I really feel mermaids have gotten the short end of the stick. We've had vampires, werewolves, dragons, and unicorns (seriously, though. Why are all kids today OBSESSED with unicorns?). Mermaids are fun! They're beautiful, spooky, humanoid, with such great lore behind them!
Lisa Stringfellow's debut MG novel "A Comb of Wishes," is here to bridge that gap for us, though! Based in Caribbean folklore, the story follows young Kela, who is deeply grieving the death of her mother, when she and her friend discover a magical comb in a coral cave. The comb belongs to a mermaid, who is obligated to grant Kela one wish. Kela, of course, only has one wish: to bring her mother back. But, as any good reader will tell you, wishes always come with complications.
I love writers who aren't afraid to tackle big subjects like grief and loss with their young readers, and look forward to reading Stringfellow's book when it releases on February 8, 2022!
10. This Vicious Grace - Emily Thiede
Our list is ending with a classic adult fantasy tale, about a woman whose magic ends up killing every partner she touches. Alessa's gift from the gods has gone awry three times when it is supposed to magnify her partner's magic instead. To top it all off, demons threaten the safety of everyone on the island where she lives. If she can't find a partner to help her fight them off, they will devour everyone and everything.
But when the local priest convinced everyone that Alessa is the one whose magic is wreaking chaos on their town, she is forced to hire a surly bodyguard to protect her from everyone, while she tries to control her magic. Her new bodyguard may be the key to understanding her powers and her heart...but is she willing to take that risk?
I'm very curious to read about this island setting, and I always love the mix of religion and magic in. fantasy. Thiede's debut comes out June 28, 2022!
Are you adding any of these books to your TBR? Are their upcoming releases you are excited about? Let me know in the comments below!
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