12 2022 releases I can’t wait to get my hands on
Everybody else starts making a list of books they want to read next year before the year is even over, right?
Okay, good. Glad it’s not just me.
2021 was an incredible year for books and reading, and 2022 looks like it’s going to be even better. Big series’ are finally coming to a close, new ones are launching and a highly-anticipated sequels are on their way and authors who’ve exploded due to TikTok this year are following up with new books.
All of the books on my most anticipated list are brand new releases from authors and series’ I already know and love.
Note: All release dates cited below are UK release dates correct at time of writing on 12 December 2021.
‘Book Lovers’ by Emily Henry (5 May) - literary agent Nora agrees to a girls’ trip to North Caroline with her sister, Libby, where she keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute. My love for ‘Beach Read’ and ‘People We Meet on Vacation’ means my expectations are already sky-high for this one!
‘Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow’ by Jessica Townsend (22 November) - In Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow, we will travel to places in Nevermoor that we've never seen, we'll meet people from Morrigan's past who will be very important in untangling the mystery of who she is ... as she sides with someone very dangerous to learn more of the Wundrous Arts. There’s not much info available for this yet, but I’m already all-in. This middle grade series swept me away this year.
‘The Gifts That Bind Us’ by Caroline O’Donoghue (3 February) - Maeve and her friends have revealed their powers and banded together as a coven: Roe can pick locks, Lily sends sparks flying, Maeve can read minds and Fiona can heal any injury.
But with strange things happening at school, and old enemies appearing in new places, it soon becomes clear their powers are attracting all the wrong attention. ‘All Our Hidden Gifts’ was one of my 2021 favourites and I’m so ready to be swept away by this magical story again.‘Her Majesty’s Royal Coven’ by Juno Dawson (21 July) - The first in a supernatural new series that follows a top secret government department of witches and the deadly threat to the nation that they must confront. I love Juno’s books and this has the serious potential to be a new favourite.
‘The No-Show' by Beth O’Leary (28 April) - Three women. Three dates. One missing man... Meet Joseph Carter. That is, if you can find him. This sounds a bit different compared to O’Leary’s previous books and I’m super intrigued! I hope it turns into a girl power book as well as a romance, of course.
‘Melt With You’ by Jennifer Dugan (17 May) - A sweet and salty queer YA rom-com about two girls on a summer road trip in an ice cream truck. Jennifer Dugan has become a go-to contemporary YA rom-com author for me, and I’m so ready for this.
‘The Ministry of Unladylike Activity’ by Robin Stevens (6 October) - Britain is at war, and a secret arm of the British government called the Ministry of Unladylike Activity is training up spies. Enter May Wong: courageous, smart, stubborn - and desperate to do whatever she can to help end the war, so she can go home to Hong Kong. I adore the ‘Murder Most Unladylike’ series so I’m both anxious and excited to join the new generation of detectives. Bring. It. On.
‘The Lost Metal’ by Brandon Sanderson (15 November) - For years, frontier lawman turned big-city senator Waxillium Ladrian has hunted the shadowy organization the Set - with his late uncle and his sister among their leaders - since they started kidnapping people with the power of Allomancy in their bloodlines. Can it be?! Is it finally here? The last instalment of Mistborn Era 2 is finally here, and i’m going to embark on a huge Mistborn re-read in 2022 and I’m so excoted to get my emotions put through the wringer.
‘House of Sky and Breath’ by Sarah J Maas (15 February) - Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar have made a pact. As they process the events of the Spring they will keep things … platonic … until the Solstice. But can they resist when the crackling tension between them is enough to set the whole of Crescent City aflame? I adored book one, even though it’s a behemoth of a book, and I’m really looking forward to indulging in another SJM adventure.
‘Book of Night’ by Holly Black (3 May) - Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn't pick, a book she couldn't steal, or a bad decision she wouldn't make. She's spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie. I’ve been a fan of Holly Black’s books for nearly 20 years and I’m never disappointed by her writing and stories.
‘London, With Love’ by Sarra Manning (5 May) - London. Nine million people. Two hundred and seventy tube stations. Every day, thousands of chance encounters, first dates, goodbyes and happy ever afters. And for twenty years it's been where one man and one woman can never get their timing right. Another author I have loved for over two thirds of my life! I adore her and her books.
‘I Kissed Shara Wheeler’ by Casey McQuiston (3 May) - Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she's spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that's kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal's perfect progeny. But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes. Casey McQuiston is fast becoming a new favourite author and her books are deliciously swoony, funny and full of heart.
My poor bank account, honestly. I already have most of these pre-ordered….
What are you looking forward to in 2022?
Written by Sophie
