2013 Releases I’m Excited About

A couple of weeks ago, several of the blogs I follow listed their top ten most anticipated book releases for 2013 as part of Top Ten Tuesday, and I thought it would be fun to make a list of my own. Last year I wrote a similar post as part of Smugglivus, and it’s interesting to look back on it now and see which books I did or didn’t get around to reading, as well as which ones lived up to my expectations. Who knows how I’ll feel about the following list at the end of 2013? For now, though, they all sound incredibly promising:

1. The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness

Yay, new Patrick Ness! The fact that it shares a title with an album I love only adds to my excitement.

2. More Than This by Patrick Ness

MOAR new Patrick Ness! Unlike The Crane Wife this one is YA, and that and the fact that it’s out in September is pretty much the full extent of what we know about it so far. But Ness is one of those authors I trust implicitly at this point, so yeah, I’m really excited.

3.The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

You know the year promises to be really good when many of your favourite authors will have new books out. I imagine that many of you will already have read the synopsis for this, so all I’m going to say is that I love how it sounds dark and strange and full of everything I love about Neil Gaiman. Why can’t it be June already?

4. The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

I really enjoyed Redemption in Indigo and I’m super excited to read this science fiction novel by the same author.

5. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Although I have yet to catch up with Atkinson’s back catalogue, I can’t resist the lure of this historical novel. The synopsis makes it sound like it has fantasy elements as well, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what Atkinson does with the premise.

6. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

New Adichie! Be still my heart. According to GoodReads, it’s “a story of love and race centered around a young man and woman from Nigeria who face difficult choices and challenges in the countries they come to call home.”

7. Before and Afterlives by Christopher Barzak

A collection of short stories by one of my favourite authors. I enjoyed Birds and Birthdays earlier this year, and I’m really looking forward to Barzak’s first full-length collection.

8. Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff

Remember what I was saying earlier about so many of my favourite authors having books out in 2013? This is yet another example. We don’t know much about it, but again, all I need to know to be excited is that it’s by Meg Rosoff.

9. Starglass by Phoebe North

I’m a big fan of North’s blog and I can’t wait to read her debut novel, which judging by the synopsis sounds like a politically charged space adventure featuring a girl scientist. What’s not to love?

10. Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block

There are many older Block novels I still haven’t read, but I can’t resist the title and the gorgeous cover for this one. GoodReads also makes it sound like it might be loosely based on The Odyssey, which only makes me more excited.

11. Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan

This collection of short stories has been out for quite some time in Australia, but it’s getting a US and UK release next May, which makes it more accessible to me :D

12. Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth

Speaking of Australian books that will make it to my corner of the world next year, I’m really looking forward to this historical retelling of Rapunzel.

A couple more books we don’t seem to have covers for yet:

13. Fifty Shades of Feminism edited by Lisa Appignanesi, Rachel Holmes and Susie Orbach

More and more I think it’s important to emphasise that there isn’t a single right way to be a feminist, so I really love the idea behind this anthology.

14. Last but certainly not least, Dracomachia by Rachel Hartman

I loved Seraphina, and as much as I sometimes resent getting sucked into a new series these days, I absolutely can’t wait for the sequel.

So, do any of these sound good to you? What are you looking forward to next year? Anything I missed?

Disclosure: I have received advance reading copies of The Best of All Possible Worlds and Before and Afterlives.