A post about books I’m excited for in 2020 could easily get out of hand. I have A LOT of new titles on my ever-growing To-Be-Read list! But I do admit that there are always books that get me just a little *extra* excited to read. So for today’s ‘5 for Friday’ list, I’m going to mention a few of the books I can’t wait to get my hands on!
And while I know today is Valentine’s Day, I didn’t really feel like writing a post about love … but wait, my LOVE of books counts, right? In any case, here are just a few of the books that are at the top of my TBR!
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False Value by Ben Aaronovitch
Release Date: February 20, 2020
I’m a huge fan of Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series so any time there’s a new release it goes right near the top of my TBR. False Value is Book 8 and comes out next week.
The most amazing thing is that earlier this month I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley (I still can’t believe it!) so I’m starting to read it this weekend!
Quick blurb: Peter Grant is facing fatherhood, and an uncertain future, with equal amounts of panic and enthusiasm. Rather than sit around, he takes a job with émigré Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner’s brand new London start up—the Serious Cybernetics Company. Peter must learn how to blend in with people who are both civilians and geekier than he is. Compared to his last job, Peter thinks it should be a doddle. But magic is not finished with Mama Grant’s favourite son.
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The Mirror & The Light by Hilary Mantel
Release Date: March 10, 2020
I read Mantel’s Wolf Hall many years ago and was just blown away. It’s still one of my favourite historical fiction books around. So I’m very excited to read the final book in this trilogy.
Quick Blurb: With The Mirror & the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with her peerless, Booker Prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.
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A Murderous Relation by Deanna Raybourn
Release Date: March 10, 2020
Last October I picked up A Curious Beginning, the first book in Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell series based on a recommendation from a friend (plus the cover is beautiful!). I ended up binge reading all the books in the series within less than two weeks and i was pretty sad when I had no other books to read.
So I’m really excited that Book 5, A Murderous Relation, comes out next month!
Quick blurb: Veronica and Stoker are asked by Lady Beauclerk to stop a potential scandal that threatens to rock the monarchy. Prince Albert Victor is a regular visitor to the most exclusive private club in London, and the proprietress, Madame Aurore, has received an expensive gift that can be traced back to the prince. Lady Wellie would like Veronica and Stoker to retrieve the gift. Meanwhile, London is being terrorized by what would become the most notorious serial killer in history, Jack the Ripper—and Lady Wellie suspects the prince may be responsible.
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The Arbella Stuart Conspiracy by Alexandra Walsh
Release Date: April 27, 2020
When I joined NetGalley, the very first book I requested (and was approved for) was Alexandra Walsh’s The Catherine Howard Conspiracy, the first book in her The Marquess House trilogy. I didn’t know anything about the author and very little about the book, but it was Tudor historical fiction, one of my favourite genres, so I took a chance.
And while the book has several elements that I usually don’t enjoy (time-shifting chapters and revisionist history), let me tell you that I LOVE this series. The first two books are among my favourite reads of 2019 and the final book, The Arbella Stuart Conspiracy, is at the very top of my TBR for 2020. I’m both excited and sad to read it though – I can’t wait to find out what happens, but I’m also sad that it will be the end of the series.
Quick blurb: (England, 1603) Elizabeth I is dead and the Tudor reign is over. As the men in power decide to pass the throne to the Scottish King James, one woman debates changing the course of history. Two Tudor heirs have been covered up for decades and with a foreign king threatening the stability of England it could be time to bring the truth to the fore. (England, 2019) Perdita and Piper have already discovered earth-shattering secrets which will change the course of English history forever. But they are missing one vital piece of the puzzle. Two Tudor rings have led them to cover-ups at the Tudor court, but now they must track down a missing silver locket to slot the final parts of the mystery together.
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Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Release Date: January 28, 2020
So this one is a little bit cheating on my part since it’s already out (it came out late last month) but when I started putting this post together it was still unreleased, so I’m keeping it on the list.
Race, identity, pop culture, fitting in… these are all things that Yu writes with cleverness, humour and depth. I can’t wait to read this book as I think that it will resonate with me personally.
Quick blurb: Willis Wu doesn’t perceive himself as a protagonist even in his own life: He’s merely “Generic Asian man”. Sometimes he gets to be “Background Oriental Making a Weird Face” or even “Disgraced Son”, but he is always relegated to a prop. Yet every day he leaves his tiny room in a Chinatown SRO and enters the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a procedural cop show, is in perpetual production. He’s a bit player here, too, but he dreams of being “Kung Fu Guy”—the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain. At least that’s what he has been told, time and time again. Except by one person, his mother. Who says to him: Be more.
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But wait, there’s more!
As an added bonus, and to help you add even more books to your TBR, I asked other bloggers to share their lists of 2020 anticipated reads. I received some amazingly diverse lists so there has to be something for everyone here! Enjoy!
- #ANTICIPATEDREADS JAN-MAY 2020 by Rachel Read It
- The top ten most anticipated new releases for 2020! (thus far!) by Jorie Loves a Story
- Can You Feel the Diversity Tonight? // Favorite Upcoming Diverse Books of 2020 by The Paperback Voyager
- #ArmedWithABingo 2020 Reads by Spells and Spaceships
- Most Anticipated Books of 2020 | Blogmas Day 5 by Steph Loves
So that’s it for this Friday! What books are you most looking forward to this year? Share them with me in the comments so I can go check them out!
Every Friday, I share five things that have caught my interest – from my favourite book blog posts to my favourite bookstagram accounts, from random book lists I’ve put together to my current shopping list of bookish gifts. Have an idea for a future “5 for Friday” post? Leave a comment and let me know!
Hallo, Hallo Stephanie!
Of all the stories listed I think False Value needs to be added to my TBR! Mostly as it is just quirky enough to be up my bookish street of interest and just geeky enough to whet my curiosity! I haven’t heard of this author previously – being this is the 8th in a series, I have my work cut out for me to get *current!* in the series! lol Although I must confess – Deanna Raybourn has been sitting nicely on my TBR for so many years I am unsure if my blog OR her position on it have outnumbered the moments I’ve awaiting beginning her stories! Such a good list – I commend you for shortening it to a mere ‘five’ as you know I didn’t even keep mine to ’10’ until one was pushed forward into 2021!
A powerful 5! I’m super excited for Interior Chinatown too. Thank you for the mention 🙂