Recently, I went to clean-up my “to read” list and added no less than six titles. There are so many great books coming out! Here are just a few I am super excited about and they are in no particular order:
The Outsider by Stephen King (5/22/18)
“An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park.”
That’s all I need to know before I pre-order this one. I love that King always comes out with a book right before summer.
Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami (US, unknown)
“A two-part story about a 36-year-old portrait painter and what happens after his wife divorces him and he moves into an old house on a mountainside west of Tokyo. The mysterious events include meeting a neighbor and finding the painting that shares the book’s title.”
The US release date has not been made public yet. It’s not fair that we have to wait so long for the translation!
The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch (2/6/18)
“Shannon Moss is part of a clandestine division within the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. In western Pennsylvania, 1997, she is assigned to solve the murder of a Navy SEAL’s family–and to locate his vanished teenage daughter. Though she can’t share the information with conventional law enforcement, Moss discovers that the missing SEAL was an astronaut aboard the spaceship U.S.S. Libra–a ship assumed lost to the currents of Deep Time. Moss knows first-hand the mental trauma of time-travel and believes the SEAL’s experience with the future has triggered this violence.”
Doesn’t it sound good?
The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian (3/13/18)
“Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She’s a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together, counting the minutes until she has to catch her crew shuttle to the airport. She quietly slides out of bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man she spent the night with. She sees his dark hair. His utter stillness. And blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets.”
Holy moly.
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer (4/3/18)
“Greer Kadetsky is a shy college freshman when she meets the woman she hopes will change her life. Faith Frank, dazzlingly persuasive and elegant at sixty-three, has been a central pillar of the women’s movement for decades, a figure who inspires others to influence the world. Upon hearing Faith speak for the first time, Greer- madly in love with her boyfriend, Cory, but still full of longing for an ambition that she can’t quite place- feels her inner world light up. And then, astonishingly, Faith invites Greer to make something out of that sense of purpose, leading Greer down the most exciting path of her life as it winds toward and away from her meant-to-be love story with Cory and the future she’d always imagined.”
This one sounds like it could be a very powerful read.
I have more because my list is so long but this is good for now. Are you excited about any of these? Any others I need to know about?
Book Chatter 
You know I can’t wait for the new Murakami – so excited!! I’m definitely going to read the new King – sounds perfect for the summer 🙂 One book that I’m super excited about is the new Yoko Ogawa (The Memory Police) – I LOVE her stories and am so happy a new one is finally coming out this year.
You are on a Japanese literature kick!
The Flight Attendant is definitely on my radar since I love Bohjalian’s work.
Im looking forward to the new Meg Wolitzer novel, too!
Thanks for the heads up on the new King and Murakami books. I read the Flight Attendant and was somewhat disappointed.
I have The Flight Attendance as an ARC but I was saving it to read closer to the release date. I’ve heard mixed things which is a little disappointing because it sounds so good.
I think The Gone World sounds interesting. And probably the Stephen King book, though it’s interesting that he seems to have moved full tilt into the mystery world and out of horror and whatever else you want to call his books. Have heard mixed stuff about The Flight Attendant.
King’s been writing for a lot of genres these days. He’s also been so heavily involved in the movie adaptations that sometimes I think it affects his writing. He’s been a little safe these days.
The Gone World sounds really good. It’s a little outside what I normally pick up. Not the genre but the subject matter but it’s getting a lot of buzz.
I have a confession…I haven’t read any Haruki Murakami. And yes, I did propose a Japanese Lit study abroad course for this summer and tentatively included a title. I don’t know why I’m intimidated, but I am! Where should I begin?
Oh!! I envy you! I think I know a little about your reading tastes. Usually I advise readers to start with one of his stories collections but the flip side is to just dive in, head first and really immerse yourself in his world. My first read was Kafka on the Shore and although it was way, way out there, by page 50 I was all in. I say Kafka or Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
Begin with his first one: A Wild Sheep Chase. It’s not as long as many of the others, and it will give you a feel for his surreal world.
I can’t even pronounce your faves last names! You read heavy and I read kind of light…but I always love reading about what you love to read…it is fascinating…but then I know what you watch on TV…and that’s kind of interesting, too.
Actually, I don’t think there is anything heavy on that list. I think sometimes you see an author and peg him or her as “heavy” and yes, sometimes they are but I wouldn’t call any of those heavy. Even the Murakami is very “Everyman” or at least his new one sounds like that.
Why did I think King’s latest novel was releasing this fall? Now I am even more excited for May. The question remains whether I audio it or actually read it…
He sometimes has a fall release. Maybe they originally said fall? I’m glad it’s May because I need something to kickoff my summer reading. I tend to pre-order it for my Kindle so I can have it right away but every time I do that it’s not like I get to it immediately even though all I want to do is drop it all to read it. It’s almost 600 pages.
The Female Persuasion sounds good!
If Murakami’s latest is as long as some of his others, I’m sure it’s not easy for a translator to work quickly, while also making sure that he or she translates the material accurately and warmly. So if you have to wait, you have to wait. At least, you get the work the way the author intended and not done half-assedly. 🙂
There you go making sense again. It was released in two volumes in Japan. I am guessing it will be one volume for the US so it could be pretty big. Murakami speaks and writes in English too. I keep waiting for him to write in English to appease the “want it now” US readers, such as myself.
I added The Flight Attendant to my list of books to read!
Confession: I’ve never read Stephen King. Where do you recommend I start?
I can’t remember if I replied to this already so excuse me if I did. Stephen King is a good storyteller but some of his books are more gory than others. Actually, his recent ones hardly have any gore at all.
My faves are IT and The Stand. IT has plenty of gore and a creepy clown. The Stand has some gore but it’s from a virus and has lots of end-of-the-world references. Both are huge. Maybe his older works like Salem’s Lot or Carrie. The Shining is good too.
I hope you get to read all of these. King is on my list!
You have enticed me with these upcoming novels! I’m curious about The Female Persuasion and The Flight Attendant. thx for letting me know of these