Top 10 2019 Book Releases

I’ve definitely jumped the gun on the new year, but I’m so excited for 2019. I couldn’t wait to share the book releases I’m looking forward to in the next 12 months! Obviously, there are so many books coming out in the new year that seem wonderful and captivating, but I’ve narrowed it down to the top ten 2019 book releases that I’m looking forward to. Let’s get started!

Image from Amazon

1. The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh — January 9
This book honestly seems a little creepy, but I’m totally here for it. It’s based on three sisters, Grace, Lia, and Sky, who are sheltered from the world entirely. They live on a remote island with their parents where they are taught about the horrible things life off of the island has to teach them. The girls are fully satisfied in their lives on the island, until one day, their father dies. They are without a source for knowledge. One day, three men wash up onto shore insisting they own the land. And everything changes. Just reading the description gives me the heeby-jeebies, but I can’t help but put it on the list.

Image from Amazon

2. The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker— January 25
As someone who doesn’t dream often but dreams very vividly, I’m intrigued by this new novel by Karen Thompson Walker. The story unfolds when a town is afflicted with a strange illness that leaves people trapped in a perpetual dream world that can change their life. Anyone else getting strong Sleeping Beauty vibes? This book is said to test the boundaries about the possibilities in life, awake and asleep, and I can’t wait to devour it from beginning to end.

3. The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff — February 5
I’ve gotten really into historical fiction in the last year or so, and there’s nothing I love more than a story about strong women throughout history. The Lost Girls of Paris is told from the perspective of Grace Healy, a women who is trying to find meaning in life after losing her husband during World War II. She stumbles upon a suitcase that opens a door to a world she never knew existed. In the suitcase are 12 pictures of women, Grace finds out, who were secret agents sent to aid the resistance as couriers and radio operators. The women are still missing, and Grace makes it her mission to find out what happened to them. I love learning new things about history, and this book seems like just the one to put on my shelf in 2019.

Image from Amazon

4. Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi — March 5
How could I not read a book based on my favorite Christmas tradition? Gingerbread tells the story of a family whose one constant throughout the years in a famous gingerbread recipe. The novel follows Perdita, who as a teenager wants to learn more about her family, as she sets out to find her mother’s long-lost best friend. Perdita gets much more than she bargained for and ends up learning her families entire history — the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Image from Amazon

5. Lights All Night Long by Lydia Fitzpatrick — April 2
You know I had to include a book featuring murder. SSDGM to my fellow Murderinos! (If you know, you know.) This book takes place partly in the Arctic Circle and partly in Louisiana. The main character, Ilya, and his brother, Vladimir, are inseparable. That is, until Ilya decides to take part in a foreign exchange. When Vladimir hears the news, he escapes to dark side of town. When three women are murdered that winter, Vladimir is pinned with the crimes. Ilya must depart to America to take place in the exchange program, but he’s not letting his brother go to jail without a fight. He enlists the help of his host sister, and together they try to prove Vladimir’s innocence. This sounds like such an enticing novel that I can’t wait to pick it up in April.

Image from Penguin Random House

6. Possessed By Memory: The Inward Light of Criticism by Harold Bloom — April 16
I really love reading non-fiction books, and I think one of my goals of 2019 is going to be to read more literary criticism, so what better place to start than with Possessed by Memory. In this memoir-type book, Harold Bloom analyzes what impact literature of a high caliber has on the mind throughout your life. I’m excited to hear his thoughts and add a few highbrow books to my list.

Image from Macmillan Publishers

7. The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates — April 23
2019 is the year of the woman. Girl power is here to stay, and Melinda Gates’ new book talks about how empowering women can change societies entirely. Through her work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda has found that if you want to lift a society, you must invest in women. Allow them to make their own choices about child-rearing, give them equal pay for equal work, encourage them to go into STEM careers. Throughout the book, Melinda weaves in stories of her own life and her personal female heroes. This is one I (and you) don’t want to miss.

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8. No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder — May 14
While in college, I was in the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. Our philanthropy was domestic violence awareness, and I actually haven’t read a book about it before. I think it’s something we don’t know enough about as a society, so I’d love to start educating myself further with a book like Rachel Louise Snyder’s. Snyder is a journalist who investigates the crime that happens behind closed doors in America and accounts for 15 of all violent crime. I’m interested to see how she frames domestic violence and what I can learn about this horrible affliction.

Image from Amazon

9. The Gone Dead by Chanelle Benz — June 25
The Gone Dead features a girl who has returned to her hometown 30 years after her father’s sudden death. Despite being in the home when it happened, Billie doesn’t remember how her father died. And when she comes back to town, she finds out that she went missing the same day her father died. Tackling topics of race, justice, and memory, this dark, twisty mystery is sure to keep me on the edge of my seat.

Image from Barnes and Noble

10. Doxology by Nell Zink — August 7
What starts out as a story about a punk band that gets beaten up by life, turns into a story about surviving the aftermath of 9/11. I don’t want to say too much more because that’s what originally got me interested in reading this story, but I’ll definitely be picking it up come August 7.

There you have it. The top ten 2019 book releases I’m looking forward to. What books are looking forward to reading in 2019? let me know in the comments below.

Happy reading,
Kimberly