Hey guys, this is Abi here,
And April is just round the corner, which means one thing- there's a whole stack of new books being released.
I'm back with my next quarterly anticipated releases post, for the next three months, and trust me when I say, there was a lot to sift through!
I hope you enjoy reading my post, as always.
~April~
1. Swept Away, by Beth O'Leary
Release date: 1/4/2025
It might seem a bit stupid to add the new release of an author you currently have two unread books by, but here we are.
Swept Away is about Zeke and Lexi, two people that wake up on a boat after a one-night stand- to nothing but boundless ocean.
Going back to a boat with a stranger seems like the perfect answer to forgetting Zeke and Lexi's problems- at least for a few hours. But with an innocent case of miscommunication, during a dark and foggy night, means nobody tied the houseboat the dock.
With just a few provisions on this small boat, Zeke and Lexi must figure out how to get back to land. But they have an even bigger challenge- not getting too swept up in the other person- and definitely not falling in love.
When I was looking for potential books for this list, and I was drawn to this, I knew I probably shouldn't. But, I'm about to read one of my current Beth O' Leary unread books, that counts. Doesn't it? Besides, Swept Away sounds like a fun, survival book, with a romance. Perfect for the Spring months. Why not?
2. Strangers in Time, by David Baldacci
Release date: 15/4/2025
At this point in time, I have way too many historical fictions on my TBR to add another one. But with Strangers in Time, I will make an exception.
Fourteen-year-old Charlie is up to no good, but for a very good reason. Without parents, or any sort of guardian, Charlie is living day by day, stealing food, and just getting by until he's old enough to enlist to fight the germans. After barely surviving the blitz, Charlie knows more than anyone that the next bombing could well be his last.
Fifteen-year-old Molly Wakefield has just returned to a nearly unrecognisebale London. Being one of the million children shipped away as part of the 'Operation Pied Piper' evacuation, Molly has been away from her home-from her parents- for nearly five years. Even worse, she arrives to less than perfect news: both her parents are gone.
Without guardians and stability, Charlie and Molly find an ally in Ignatius Oliver, and solace in his bookshop, The Book Keep, where a book a day keeps the bombs away. Mourning the recent loss of his wife, Ignatius forms a kin-ship with Charlie and Molly, and in each-other, and they begin to rediscover the spirit that each family has lost.
But Charlie's excapades have not gone unnoticed- and someone has been following Molly until she arrived home- Ignatius himself has been harbouring a secret himself- one about his wife- that ultimately killed her and resulted in his world being turned upside down.
As bombs continue to cascade over the city, Ignatius and the two children find that their companoinship might be just what they need to keep them alive.
Like I said- couldn't resist. David Baldacci isn't known for his historical fiction, which I found out the other day when I came across his crime series' in Waterstones, but this one sure sounds like a winner to me. Released mid April.
~May~
1. My Friends, by Fredrik Backman
Release date: 6/5/2025
I genuinely don't think I'll be able to describe what this story is, as well as the author does on the Goodreads page, so I would urge you all to go to the Goodreads page and read the blurb there.
If you're not able to do that, I'll give you the shorter version of what it is.
-A work of art, created by four completely different teenagers in a summer where they found hope, at the beach, at peace, telling stories.
-Joar, who never backs down from a fight; quiet and bookish Ted who is mourning his father; Ali, the daughter of a man that never stays in one place for two long; and finally, there's the artist, who hoards sleeping pills, who's gift might just be his ticket out of town- creating a bond that changes the course of a person's life, twenty-five-years later.
1,088 people have read the ARC of this book, and 770 have rated it 5*. That is unheard of. I cannot wait to read this 'unforgettable funny, deeply moving tale' that Fredrik Backman has created.
2. The Names, by Florence Knapp
Release date: 6/5/2025
Three stories. The same characters. The same important event, with three different journeys.
In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter Maia, to register the name of her newly-born son. Her husband Gordon, a well-respected doctor, but agressive and controlling husband at home, expects their son to be named after him. But when the registrar asks for his name, Cora hesitates.
What follows are three different stories, based on what she decides- a story that spans thirty-five years. In richly worded prose, The Names explores the repercussions of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, the possibility of autonomy and healing.
With exceptional sensitivity and depth, Knapp's debut novel forces to confront a number of what if moments, and consider the 'one... precious life' we are given.
If you know me in person, or you've been following my blog for a while, you know I love these kinds of books. I'm very much into choice based video games, and seeing how decisions play out in books, so this is one book I'm really, very excited about.
3. Saga Volume 12, by Brian K. Vaughan
Release date: 13/5/2025
I mean, I know I still haven't read Volume 11 yet, but there's no way this wasn't going on my Anticipated Releases post.
I'm genuinely waiting for the right time to marathon the whole thing again.
4. Aftertaste, by Daria Lavelle
Release date: 20/5/2025
I was a little bit on the fence as for whether to include this or not. But I will thank the ARC readers, and their reviews, for persuading me to keep it on here.
In short, Aftertaste is an epic love story, a dark comedy, and a synesthetic adventure about food and grief.
Konstantin Duhovny is a haunted man. Since his father died when he was ten, he has always been able to tell when a spirit is present. Flavours of food he has never tasted will appear in his mouth- he can never see the ghosts though- just taste their favourite foods. It's a clear sign that a ghost is nearby. Through the years, he has always kept the aftertaste a secret, until one night, he decides to act on it. And everything changes.
Kostya discovers that he can reunite people with their lost loved ones- at least for the length of time it takes them to finish the meal he has prepared. He thinks his life's purpose is to give closure to the people of New York, to help them speak to the people they've lost just one more time. But what he can't see is the catastrophe he's caused in the Afterlife- while he's busy helping people. And the one person that has the ability to tell him might just be falling in love with him.
This sounds like a sensitive, yet unique story that deserves a good following.
I'm curious as for how well received it is upon publication, and how my opinion differs.
~June~
1. Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins-Reid
Release date: 3/6/2025
It's perfect timing for another Taylor Jenkins-Reid book to be released- I've just finished my fourth book by her, and I want more!
Atmosphere is about Joan Goodwin, professor of Astronomy and Physics at Rice University, and she has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. However, she is perfectly content with her life, her job and her family. That is, until she sees an advertisement from NASA, seeking women researchers for their new Space Shuttle Program. Suddenly, Joan is desperate to be one of the few people to go to space.
Selected from a pool of over a thousand applicants, Joan is invited to train at Houstan's Johnson Space Centre, along with an exceptional group of other candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and Scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easy going, even when the stakes are at sky level; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard, and too long to play nice; warm-hearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is harbouring secrets of her own; and Vanessa ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautic engineer, who is able to fix any engine and fly any plane.
As the new astronauts form an unlikely friendship and prepare for their first flight, Joan finda a passion and love for this new world that even she didn't expect. In this new light, she starts to question everything she thought she knew about her place in this observable universe.
But then they take off, and everything changes.
I've been transported into the lives of a famous tennis player, a starlet, a band in the 60s, and the children of a world-class singer, and now I'm visiting the life of an astronaut. I truly believe that Taylor Jenkins-Reid can write about anything, and I will be waiting with my money, on release day. Her books are fast paced, easy reads, with well-crafted characters and a message, and I cannot wait for this release.
2. Nobody in Particular, by Sophie Gonzales
Release date: 3/6/2025
I haven't read a book by Sophie Gonzales since 2021, but and I only gave that 3.5 stars. But when I heard about Nobody in Particular, I just couldn't resist. It's basically a f/f romance, in a boarding school.
With her reputation currently in shatters, Rosie is staying in the background, just trying to keep her head down and not make her country more ashamed of her- than she has already. Having lost her best friend in the process, she can't afford distractions. However, when an atractive new girl starts at her school, she finds herself very distracted indeed.
Attending Brampath College on a music scholarship, talented pianist Danni fully expects to be the oatcast in the group of welathy girls she attends the school with. She doesn't expect to be taken in by the ex-best friend of the princess. Or to become quite as fascinated by the princess as she is.
When someone witnesses something they shouldn't, Rosie and Danni have two choices: they must either try to deflect the rumours that are circulating the school; or call things quit for good. What they do know is that Rosie's reputation cannot take any more hits- unless they want the palace to make sure they stay seperate.
I haven't really thought about Sophie Gonzales since reading Only Mostly Devastating- but this sounds interesting. A perfect read for the upcoming months. I look forward to reading it.
3. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, by V.E. Schwab
Release date: 10/6/2025
Now, it wouldn't make sense to try and change the words for the blurb for this book, because it's so short. So I'm just going to quote them:
'Santa Domingo de la Calzada, 1532.
London, 1837.
Boston, 2019.
Three young women, their bodies planted in the same soil, their stories tangling like roots.
One grows high, and one grows deep, and one grows wild.
And all of them grow teeth.'
I definitely wouldn't have thought that this book was about vampires, except the Goodreads genre has the word VAMPIRE, in straight black and white.
I might not read this right away, because it's giving me nightmare halloween vibes, but you can bet I'll be eager to sink my teeth into this as soon as it starts getting dark in September.
*Pun intended.*
4. The Girls Who Grew Big, by Leila Mottley
Release date: 24/6/2025
I don't know what it was that made me remember it, and want to read it, out of all the seemingly millions of books being released in June, (and it did seem like millions-for all three months actually) but there was something about how the premise was written really stuck.
After sixteen-year-old Adela Woods finds out that she is pregnant, she is shipped away from her comfortable home in Indiana, to her grandmother's home in small beach town Padua Beach, Florida. There, Adela meets Emory, who brings her newborn to school, determined to graduate, and defy all odds in the process; Simone, mother of four-year-old twins, who is surprised to discover that she will be expecting a further child and is struggling to figure out what to do; and a collection of young mums trying to raise their children in the back of Simone's red truck.
When society thinks these young mums have lost their way, these resilient women are proving the opposite: they are in fact, finding their way, finding love and establishing a new life for them and their children.
This sounds like a powerful, heart-warming, but raw novel that I genuinely can't wait to pick up.
Okay! Those are all of my Anticipated Releases for the next three months!
I have to say, I'm so happy I persevered with writing this- I didn't just forget about it for a week- I made a conscious effort to progress with writing it whenever I got the chance, and I finally finished!
I'm probably going to go and take a nap now- marathon training is wooping my ass- but I hope you all have a wonderful evening, and I will see you all soon with my March Wrap Up!
Byeeeee!
-Abi xxxxxx
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