Last month we brought you some of 2017’s biggest reads courtesy of the Goodreads Choice Awards. With the calendar freshly turned to 2018, it’s time to look ahead at the page-turners we’re looking forward to in 2018.
No doubt this list won’t cover all of the great books we’ll be talking about at the end of the year. The surprise hits are the best anyway, right? Debuts like The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara, Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi and Tangerine by Christine Mangan should make waves as the months roll along.
But a few notable, experienced authors with works already available through UNT Libraries will hit shelves again in 2018. Here’s a handful of the ones we’re most excited to dive into, as well as links to other works you can check out right now.
The Bomb Maker by Thomas Perry (Out Now)
Perry has been a mainstay in the thriller genre for almost four decades now. His latest involves a bomb squad dispatched for disposal; the narrative purportedly spins into a tense, twisting yarn from there.
UNT Libraries has the first five books of Perry’s acclaimed Jane Whitefield series, revolving around a Native American woman who helps desperate people disappear.
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson (Jan. 16)
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden is the final work of short stories published by Johnson, who died in 2017 of liver cancer. Johnson is one of the few authors to ever receive the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction twice. Those two nominees, Tree of Smoke and Train Dreams, are both available through UNT Libraries.
The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers (Jan. 23)
You might know Eggers’ name from The Circle (adapted into a 2017 film starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks) or his famous memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. The Monk of Mokha will tell the true story of a Yemeni coffee farmer living through a civil war.
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (Feb. 6)
Jones rose to prominence in 2002 with her coming-of-age story, Leaving Atlanta. A native of the Georgia city, Jones has set all three of her novels in her hometown. An American Marriage explores a modern marriage in the South while delving into the nation’s mass incarceration problems.
Feel Free by Zadie Smith (Feb. 6)
The 2017 recipient of the Langston Hughes Medal, this British author is widely revered as one of her generation’s greatest authors. Her debut novel, White Teeth, was an instant best-seller in 2000. Feel Free is her latest collection of essays, covering topics ranging from social media and her adoration for public libraries.
White Houses by Amy Bloom (Feb. 13)
White Houses features an interesting historical fiction premise: it’s a love story about Eleanor Roosevelt and White House journalist Lorena Hickok. Bloom previously wrote the short story collection Come to MeA Blind Man Can See How Much I Love YouAway.
Sunburn by Laura Lippman (Feb. 20)
Few 2018 books are as hotly anticipated as the latest from the detective author oWhat the Dead Know anI’d Know You Anywhere. Sunburn is described as modern noir about two lovers engaged in a dangerous game.
House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea (March 6)
This timely novel about Mexican-American immigrants is scheduled for release right as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will expire under the Trump administration. Urrea was previously a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his book The Devil’s Highway.
Varina by Charles Frazier (Apr. 17)
Frazier is best-known for writing Cold Mountain, which won the 1997 National Book Award for Fiction and spawned a film adaptation that won numerous awards. Varina is about a woman helping her children escape from Jefferson Davis through a war-torn America during the Civil War..
God Save Texas by Lawrence Wright (Apr. 17)
This book should interest a ton of visitors to UNT Libraries. Wright is a Dallasite and renowned nonfiction writer of The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Recently, his book Going Clear (a deep dive into the shady practices of Scientology) became an award-winning documentary.
Wright came back home to write God Save Texas; he toured the state, devouring its history and culture to discover why it is a reflection of the country today.
Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston (May 8)
Hurston was an influential contributor to African-American literature in the decades leading up to the civil rights movement. She died in 1960 before the movement truly took steam, but her legacy is undeniable. A major figure of the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston is best known for her 1937 book Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Before she died, Hurston wrote a study on the last known survivor of the American slave trade. That story will finally be told when Barracoon hits shelves in 2018.
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje (May 8)
If you’ve ever seen “The English Patient,” this guy is the writer behind the novel that film was based on. Ondaatje is one of Canada’s greatest authors, and Warlight proves to be another great read. The novel centers around characters living in the post-World War II decade.
Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami (November)
Murakami is a best-selling author both inside and outside Japan. The author of Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore and A Wild Sheep Chase returns this year with another bout of magical realism. Killing Commendatore will be a two-volume epic about a Japanese portrait artist.
