These are my most anticipated book releases by category. Of course, these aren’t all of the books coming out this month, only the ones I am most interested in.
I have read ARCs of some of these releases so check out the links below to longer reviews.
There are quite a number of releases that topically I am interested in but have content and trigger warnings that I avoid. You won’t find these on this list either!
Fantasy
January 6 – The Swan’s Daughter by Roshani Chokshi
I was pleasantly surprised to be approved for the audio ARC or the ALC rather last minute on NetGalley. This audiobook was AMAZING.
Demelza escapes her abusive home situation and tries to hide in the only place her father can’t get to her. It just so happens to be a kingdom and palace where there is a prince trying to find a bride through an unorthodox way, a competition. Demelza bargains with the prince to let her stay and she’ll help him find out which contenders secretly want to kill him or not. In order to do this, she has to compete in the competition herself…
Some of the content bothered me a bit, especially when it came to the end, but read my full review here for more details! It’s absurd, funny, and beautifully written.
Roshani Chokshi is the author of commercial and critically acclaimed books for middle grade and young adult readers that draw on world mythology and folklore. Her work has been nominated for the Locus and Nebula awards, and has frequently appeared on Best of The Year lists from Barnes and Noble, Forbes, Buzzfeed and more. Her New York Times bestselling series include The Star-Touched Queen duology, The Gilded Wolves, and Aru Shah and The End of Time, which has been optioned for film by Paramount Pictures.
January 6 (US), 8 (UK) – Tidespeaker by Sadie Turner
A girl with the power to command the tides has her life changed when she secures a job serving a wealthy noble family–only to learn upon arrival that the last person to fill her post mysteriously died, and her new employers are hiding dark secrets–in this haunting and lush debut fantasy.
I might pick this one up unless my library has it soon!
Sadie Turner grew up in the Welsh Borders and now lives in Hampshire, not far from the former home of one of her biggest inspirations: Jane Austen. She is a copywriter, mother of two, and author of gloomy, romantic, neurodiverse YA Fantasy. When she can find the time, she loves reading, cooking, and classic CRPGs, and is rarely seen without a cup of tea on hand. She is the author of the Tidespeaker duology.
January 13 – The Age of Calamities by Senaa Ahmad
I read an eARC of The Age of Calamities and LOVED it. Highly recommend if you are looking for a short story collection that is as absurd as it is imaginative and beautiful. Senaa applies her creativity to historical figures and events for a whirlwind of plots and characters as we’ve never thought of them before.
See my full review here.
Senaa Ahmad’s short fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, McSweeney’s, Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, Best Canadian Stories, and elsewhere. She has received the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, the Speculative Literature Foundation, and the Carl Brandon Society’s Octavia Butler Scholarship. Her work was also the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and the Sunburst Award and a finalist for the National Magazine Award for Fiction. The Age of Calamities is her first book.
January 13 – Fire Sword & Sea by Vanessa Riley
This one had me at pirates…and I’ve just ordered myself a copy!
In addition to being a novelist, Vanessa Riley holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and both a BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Penn State. She currently juggles mothering an architect, baking her Trinidadian grandmother’s desserts, hugging her retired military husband, and speaking at women’s and STEM events. You can often find her writing from the comfort of her Georgia porch, tea or latte in hand. – Bookshop.org
January 20 – A Wild Radiance by Maria Ingrande Mora
A searing and romantic fantasy adventure about an oligarchic state on the verge of a magical industrial revolution—perfect for fans of Arcane, Wicked, and Iron Widow!
I wasn’t sure about the romantic part of this but the comp to Iron Widow means I am REQUIRED to try it.
Maria Ingrande Mora (they/she) is the acclaimed author of Fragile Remedy, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, the Ranger Academy series, and The Immeasurable Depth of You, an Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award finalist, which earned three starred reviews, with Kirkus Reviews calling it “raw and compassionate.” A queer, AuDHD single parent, Mora lives in Florida with their two teenagers and three cats. Instagram: @MariaMoraWrites.
Click to unhide Community Content Warnings per StoryGraph (Potential Spoilers Warning!):
Click here to see content warnings
Graphic – Death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury; Moderate – Death of parent, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail; Minor – Sexual assault, Sexual harassmentJanuary 27 – To Ride A Rising Storm by Moniquill Blackgoose
I read this one as an eARC – read my review here! It’s a great series with fantastic characters; my only complaint is info-dumping.
This is a series about a young indigenous woman and the baby dragon that choses her. She is forced by threat of violence and death to attend an Anglish (colonizers/imperialists/invaders) academy to teaches future dragon riders.
Book 1 – To Shape A Dragon’s Breath is the first year or semester of school and focuses a lot of the differences in cultures. Book 2 is the second and more of a fight for independence.
Moniquill Blackgoose is the bestselling author of To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, which has won both the Nebula and Lodestar Awards. She began writing science fiction and fantasy when she was twelve and hasn’t stopped writing since. She is an enrolled member of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe and a lineal descendant of Ousamequin Massasoit. She is an avid costumer and an active member of the steampunk community. She has blogged, essayed, and discussed extensively across many platforms the depictions of Indigenous and Indigenous-coded characters in sci-fi and fantasy.
January 27 – A Spell for Drowning by Rebecca Ferrier
A stunning historical fantasy debut steeped in the salt and superstition of the Cornish coast. Perfect for readers of Circe and Godkiller.
Forgotten sirens, mischievous sea gods, and the lore from days long since passed weave an irresistible tale.
Sounds right up my alley so I think I will be grabbing a copy of this especially since it is releasing paperback at the same time, YAY.
Rebecca Ferrier is an award-winning writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her speculative fiction reveals her obsessions with class, power, and death. She teaches creative writing and is a PhD student at Northumbria University. A Spell for Drowning is her debut novel. Since writing it, she has been inundated with hagstones, whether they be gifted by loved ones or hurled from the sea.
Sci-Fi
January 6 – Starseekers by Nicole Glover
This was such a fun read! It could also go under Fantasy as well. I read an eARC and would definitely recommend it.
It has so many elements that Glover weaves into the story including mystery, celestial magic, treasure hunting, family, found family, adventure, a dash of romance,
Click here to see my full review.
Nicole Glover is the author of The Conductors and The Undertakers as well as The Improvisers in the Murder and Magic series. When she’s not writing, she’s working as a UX researcher in Virginia where her knowledge about murder and other mysteries is surprisingly useful.
Horror
January 27 – This House Will Feed by Maria Turead
A January Aardvark box pick! Cannot recommend this book box subscription enough. They are active on TikTok (LOVE to see), engaging, and their picks are incredible. They lean more Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, and Literary, often with early releases.
This story follows a young woman who is taken from a horrible fate during the time of Ireland’s “Famine” by a rich older woman to impersonate her late daughter so that the Lady can continue to receive her widow’s pension and care for her village. Of course, as she moves into the widow’s remote manor house, the horrors don’t stay behind.
Billed as gothic horror and supernatural suspense!
Maria Tureaud is an editor and acclaimed author of middle grade and adult fiction. Born and raised in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland, she now lives with her husband and son in New Jersey and can be found online at AuthorMariaTureaud.com.
Other
January 13 – Is this a Cry for Help? by Emily Austin
I picked this one up slightly early thanks to Aardvark Book Club (highly recommended!! – check it out here).
While a bit outside of what I typically gravitate towards, it sold me on the power of libraries, fighting book banning, queer identity, and coming back from a mental breakdown.
Emily Austin is the author of We Could Be Rats, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, Interesting Facts About Space, and the poetry collection Gay Girl Prayers. She was born in Ontario, Canada, and received two writing grants from the Canadian Council for the Arts. She studied English literature and library science at Western University. She currently lives in Ottawa, in the territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.
The Bookshop.org links above are indeed affiliate so I may make a few pennies if you purchase something following those. It helps me buy more books to review of course! Or potentially offset the costs of this website (which will probably never be enough lol), or fuel my reviews and reading with coffees. Thank you if you do make a purchase through the links!!
Happy reading 🙂
~M