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Goodreads Members' Most Anticipated Books of 2022
The new year is famous for bringing all kinds of newness into life: new opportunities, new concerns, new surprises. Happily for the dedicated reader, the new year also brings new books—and 2022 looks like a very good year.
High-profile releases on the temporal horizon include new fiction from Jennifer Egan, Hanya Yanagihara, and Hernan Diaz, as well as new mysteries from Lucy Foley, Brendan Slocumb, and Simone St. James.
Science fiction and fantasy readers will want to watch for new titles from Sequoia Nagamatsu and Emily St. John Mandel. Plus we’ve got incoming YA books from V.E. Schwab and Casey McQuiston, and new romance from Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry.
Finally, there are some intriguing nonfiction books on the way regarding, oh, rescue animals, the Founding Fathers, the 1990s—you know, that sort of thing.
At the end of each calendar year, the Goodreads Editorial team takes a look at the upcoming books that are being published in the U.S. We also track early reviews and crunch the numbers on how many readers are adding these books to their Want to Read shelves. All of that information ultimately fuels our curated list of the Most Anticipated new releases of the coming year.
Be sure to add anything that catches your eye to your Want to Read shelf, and let us know what you're reading and recommending in the comments.
High-profile releases on the temporal horizon include new fiction from Jennifer Egan, Hanya Yanagihara, and Hernan Diaz, as well as new mysteries from Lucy Foley, Brendan Slocumb, and Simone St. James.
Science fiction and fantasy readers will want to watch for new titles from Sequoia Nagamatsu and Emily St. John Mandel. Plus we’ve got incoming YA books from V.E. Schwab and Casey McQuiston, and new romance from Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry.
Finally, there are some intriguing nonfiction books on the way regarding, oh, rescue animals, the Founding Fathers, the 1990s—you know, that sort of thing.
At the end of each calendar year, the Goodreads Editorial team takes a look at the upcoming books that are being published in the U.S. We also track early reviews and crunch the numbers on how many readers are adding these books to their Want to Read shelves. All of that information ultimately fuels our curated list of the Most Anticipated new releases of the coming year.
Be sure to add anything that catches your eye to your Want to Read shelf, and let us know what you're reading and recommending in the comments.
Three fin de siècle novels in one, the new novel from Hanya Yanagihara (A Little Life) is a sustained gaze into the past, present, and future of the American Experiment. To Paradise threads together a trio of separate timelines—an alternate history of America circa 1893, a contemporary Manhattan story in 1993, and a futuristic vision of our ravaged and totalitarian nation in 2093.
Release date: January 11
Release date: January 11
Chilean American novelist Isabel Allende (A Long Petal of the Sea) returns with historical fiction of the epic variety. One hundred–year–old Violeta del Valle remembers it all: the Great Depression, the Spanish Flu, revolutions both personal and political. Now she’s living through her second worldwide pandemic. Via Violeta, a major author brings insight and a new perspective to our troubled times.
Release date: January 25
Release date: January 25
In August 1926, the world’s greatest mystery writer Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days. The reasons why are still a mystery, but novelist Nina de Gramont provides some interesting possibilities in this fictionalized story of one deeply weird real-world crisis. The Christie Affair is historical kinda-fiction, a thriller wrapped in romance, mystery, and some fascinating conjecture.
Release date: February 1
Release date: February 1
Two estranged siblings must piece together a twisty and tragic mystery when their mother leaves them a puzzling inheritance. Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel chronicles a journey of discovery—from California to London to the Caribbean, then back into a foggy and deadly past. Bonus trivia: Black Cake is currently in development as a Hulu series.
Release date: February 1
Release date: February 1
A long-awaited holiday in Italy takes a turn for the weird when Katy runs into her mother in the small town of Positano, Italy. The really strange part: Mom is dead, and the woman Katy meets appears to be adrift in time from 30 years ago, when Mom took a trip to the exact same small town. Hmm, this wasn’t covered in the travel guide.
Release date: March 1
Release date: March 1
Inspired by her own family history, debut author Tara M. Stringfellow weaves a kind of Black cultural fairy tale grounded in real life and real history. The novel unfolds over the course of 70 years through multiple voices, tracing one matrilineal line through the Memphis neighborhood of Douglass. It’s about what we pass to future generations—in our families and in our country.
Release date: April 5
Release date: April 5
Douglas Stuart is following up his Booker Prize-winning debut, Shuggie Bain, with this story of queer love and working-class families in Scotland. The novel revolves around the romance between two men from different religions in this tale about the bounds of masculinity, the divisions of sectarianism, and the dangers of loving someone too much. It is both a page-turner and literary tour de force!
Release date: April 5
Release date: April 5
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jennifer Egan’s new novel is set about five minutes into the future and orbits one powerful idea: What if our memories could be extracted and externalized—bought, borrowed, and sold? Told via multiple characters, The Candy House is a fiercely intellectual investigation of our current moment in time from one of the planet’s leading thinkers.
Release date: April 5
Release date: April 5
Acclaimed author Hernan Diaz (In the Distance) brings readers to the Roaring Twenties in this story of Benjamin and Helen Rask, New York royalty with an immense fortune of suspect provenance. Diaz’s layered novel explores America’s foundational inequalities and the ways in which power and money dictate what we come to think of as history.
Release date: May 3
Release date: May 3
Billed as Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca, this supernatural thriller from author Isabel Cañas features a remote estate in the Mexican countryside with a sinister past. New bride Beatriz Solórzano has a few questions: Why does the cook scrawl strange symbols in the doorways? Why won’t the family enter the estate at night? What is the malevolent presence haunting Hacienda San Isidro?
Release date: May 10
Release date: May 10
Naive 20-something maid Molly Gray has just found a dead body in the Regency Grand Hotel. The deceased, it appears, is none other than the infamous and wealthy Charles Black. Uh-oh. Soon enough, young Molly finds herself caught in a web of deadly intrigue. The Maid is recommended for those who like twisty locked-room-type mysteries in the style of Clue or Agatha Christie.
Release date: January 4
Release date: January 4
As a Black man, Ray McMillian has spent his life overcoming cruel prejudices and long odds to achieve his dream of working as a professional classical musician. So when someone steals his priceless Stradivarius before the international Tchaikovsky Competition, Ray is not going to put up with that nonsense. Author Brendan Slocumb's debut mystery-thriller brings new twists to the old whodunnit.
Release date: February 1
Release date: February 1
Lucy Foley (The Invitation) is staking out a nice little corner in the genre with her mysteries set in glamorous locations (the Italian Riviera, say). We’re off to Paris this time around as young traveler Jess arrives in the City of Lights. When plans go awry, Jess must search for her missing brother by infiltrating his strange new circle of friends. Mystérieuse!
Release date: February 22
Release date: February 22
Shea Collins runs a true-crime website, the Book of Cold Cases, inspired by her own frightening experiences as a child. When she gets a chance to interview exonerated murder suspect Beth Greer, Shea finds herself spending time in a mysterious mansion with the strange and reclusive woman. Even the twists have twists in this new novel from the author of The Sun Down Motel.
Release date: March 15
Release date: March 15
Longtime comic book industry insider Alex Segura sets his new noirish thriller in the 1970s comic book industry, where the cutthroat competition is getting uncomfortably literal. Rookie writer Carmen Valdez is tangled in a murder mystery when her pioneering female superhero, the Lethal Lynx, turns out to be a huge success. The Secret Identity is recommended for those who like their fiction pulpy and crime stories hardboiled.
Release date: March 15
Release date: March 15
Harvard art history student Will Chen is about to take the gamble of his life when he agrees to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago. Assembling his heist crew from friends and family, Will hopes to right a historical wrong. And also collect $50 million. Let’s not forget that part.
Release date: April 5
Release date: April 5
Find even more anticipated mysteries and thrillers here!
Debut author Jessamine Chan’s sci-fi parable mixes parental anxiety and surveillance paranoia into a sinister dystopian fever dream. In the future, government watchdogs monitor new mothers and punish even the slightest mistakes. Frida Liu finds herself in the worst-case scenario when she’s separated from her daughter and sent to the institution known as the School for Good Mothers. It’s hard out there for a mom.
Release date: January 4
Release date: January 4
Get ready for more fun with mother-daughter dynamics in Sue Lynn Tan’s debut fantasy, inspired by traditional Chinese mythology. When her mother stole the elixir of immortality, young Xingyin was forced to grow up, alone, on the moon. Now free to roam earth and sky, she must embark on a treacherous quest to save her mother from the cruel Celestial Emperor. Men! They’re the worst.
Release date: January 11
Release date: January 11
Cleverly combining our two biggest planetary anxieties, Sequoia Nagamatsu’s sci-fi epic imagines a grim future in which global warming unleashes a deadly virus, previously frozen in the Arctic permafrost. Unfolding over a period of hundreds of years, the book features multiple characters and POVs as humankind tests the limits of its inherent resiliency. Also: interstellar spaceships and talking pigs.
Release date: January 18
Release date: January 18
In Tochi Onyebuchi’s depressingly plausible future vision, the rich and privileged have abandoned Earth for more comfortable space colonies. Those left behind try to make the best of a wrecked planet, even as ruthless colonial salvage teams strip the cities of remaining resources. Goliath stitches together its multiple narratives with themes of race, class, and gentrification. Allegory! It can be scary.
Release date: January 25
Release date: January 25
Stalwart YA queen Holly Black makes her first foray into the shadowy realms of adult dark fantasy with Book of Night, concerning the low-level con artist Charlie and the rather astounding amounts of trouble she gets herself into. Among its many spooky delights, the book introduces the concept of shadow magic, a perilous line of work you definitely want to avoid unless there are no other options. Like retail.
Release date: May 3
Release date: May 3
Those who have read her books can tell you: Emily St. John Mandel is a Schedule I addictive author. With her new book, Mandel brings her sophisticated blend of lateral thinking and deep empathy to a kind of time-travel story, with stops in 1912 Vancouver and a lunar space station about, oh, 300 years from now. Sea of Tranquility drops April 5—mark your calendars now.
Release date: April 5
Release date: April 5
The concept of memory prosthetics and manipulation is an emerging theme in recent sci-fi, and no wonder—it’s directly in the future trajectory of current tech trends. Author Jo Harkin’s debut features a memory removal clinic in London, several patients thereof, and the staff psychologist who begins to question certain corporate priorities. Is it possible these companies don’t have our best interests at heart?
Release date: March 1
Release date: March 1
Early nominee for this year’s Most Excellent Book Title Award, the new book from John Scalzi (The Interdependency series) imagines an alternate dimension ecosystem where dinosaur-size creatures are threatened by the usual human stupidity. It’s a new riff on the kaiju concept, aimed at those of us with an abiding admiration for big giant monsters.
Release date: March 15
Release date: March 15
Ideas of how the South should be are rising once again. In this timely novel, Imani Perry, a professor of African American studies at Princeton, returns to her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, to take this look into the American South through a historic, personal, and anecdotal lens, arguing that South is, in fact, the nation’s heartland.
Release date: January 25
Release date: January 25
From the author of Drive, When, and A Whole New Mind comes a fresh take on an old and largely disparaged feeling. Daniel H. Pink effectively myth-busts the “no regrets” philosophy by drawing on extensive research in social psychology, neuroscience, and biology. Regrets are there for a reason, turns out, and we ignore them at our own peril.
Release date: February 1
Release date: February 1
Author, essayist, and inveterate thinker Chuck Klosterman swings for the fences with his new book, which tackles the colossal cultural topic we call the ’90s. Digging underneath the usual pop-culture ephemera (Seinfeld! Grunge! Zima!), Klosterman makes the case that the 1990s represent a fundamental shift in our collective consciousness—“the last era that held to the idea of a true, hegemonic mainstream before it all began to fracture.”
Release date: February 8
Release date: February 8
Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age
by Dennis Duncan
by Dennis Duncan
Pity the poor index, that alphabetical bit of back-of-the-book addenda that does all the heavy lifting but gets none of the glory. Professor Dennis Duncan of University College London traces the history of indexing from 13th-century European monasteries through Enlightenment-era bookshops and into 21st-century publication design software. Book nerds should appreciate this one.
Release date: February 15
Release date: February 15
The Funny Farm Animal Rescue outside Mays Landing, New Jersey, has a pretty amazing story. Owner Laurie Zaleski established the nonprofit after the death of her mother, whose lifelong dream was to run a full-time animal rescue. Since then, the 15-acre farm has been home to more than 600 rescues—horses, goats, dogs, cats, chickens, pigs. It’s the feel-good book of the year.
Release date: February 22
Release date: February 22
The American bald eagle—Haliaeetus leucocephalus to friends—hasn’t always had a smooth road to the top. This comprehensive study from leading historian Jack Emerson Davis (The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea) is packed with stories from the Founding Fathers all the way through to contemporary researchers studying our current environmental challenges.
Release date: March 1
Release date: March 1
Debut author Maud Newton dives into the deep end of her family history with this unique genealogical adventure. Newton’s research uncovered quite a cast of characters. Grandpa was married 13 times and was shot by at least one of his wives. Another ancestor was an accused witch in Puritan-era Massachusetts. Oh, and Mom performed exorcisms in the living room.
Release date: March 29
Release date: March 29
There are many ways that people behave badly, and Rogues brings together a dozen celebrated examples. From the bestselling author of Say Nothing and the 2021 Goodreads Choice Award winner for history and biography, Empire of Pain, comes these twelve enthralling stories of skulduggery and intrigue by one of the most decorated journalists of our time.
Release date: June 28
Release date: June 28
In an effort to appease the mighty Sea God, the most beautiful girl in the land is chosen as a human sacrifice. But in an act of supreme valor, the young villager Mina takes her place. Thrown into the ocean’s maw, Mina is swept away to the Spirit Realm, where she teams up with a ragtag crew of heroes. Author Axie Oh (Rebel Seoul) draws on Korean mythology for her new book, which may have the single most beautiful cover image of the year.
Release date: February 22
Release date: February 22
Author V.E. Schwab’s new standalone fantasy explores the notion of the shadow realm with an intriguing variation on the trope: What happens at that place where the shadow actually touches that which casts it? Young Olivia Prior finds out the hard way when she crosses a ruined garden wall into a dark version of the family manor. Advance word suggests Gallant is something like The Secret Garden meets Crimson Peak.
Release date: March 1
Release date: March 1
The Cloud’s Rest Inn is the culmination of a dream for Pakistani immigrants Misbah and Toufiq. But the dream is slowly sliding into nightmare as each faces a different deadly illness. Now it’s up to Salahudin to save his parents’ dream while he tries to salvage his relationship with Noor, the closest friend he’s ever had. Bonus trivia: Author Sabaa Tahir also grew up in her family’s motel.
Release date: March 1
Release date: March 1
From the author of Red, White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop, the YA romance I Kissed Shara Wheeler profiles aspiring valedictorian Chloe Green and her senior year adventures at Willowgrove Christian Academy. Chloe’s plans go haywire when she kisses, yes, Shara Wheeler—prom queen and Chloe’s main rival. But things get really strange when Shara suddenly disappears.
Release date: May 3
Release date: May 3
Find even more anticipated young adult novels here!
After a tragic mistake leads to a stretch in prison, Kenna Rowan returns to her hometown with one fading hope: to do right by her four-year-old daughter. Local bar owner Ledger Ward knows a little something himself about regret and redemption. Author Colleen Hoover never met a genre she didn’t love, and here she presents a thoughtful romance about first impressions and second chances.
Release date: January 18
Release date: January 18
New York City photographer Delilah Green is not interested in returning to her oppressive hometown of Bright Falls. But a successful guilt trip from her sister Astrid brings her back anyway, where she is reacquainted with Astrid’s stuck-up bestie Claire Sutherland. Probably it’s a bad idea, but when sparks fly, sparks fly. What are you going to do?
Release date: February 22
Release date: February 22
Veteran romance author Emily Henry (Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation) is back with the story of blossoming romance between a cutthroat literary agent and a brooding book editor. Doesn’t seem promising, does it? But the vibe changes drastically when Nora Stephens and Charlie Lastra trade the big city for the rolling meadows of North Carolina. Location, location, location!
Release date: May 3
Release date: May 3
It was inevitable, really. Alexis Hall’s Husband Material is a direct sequel to the 2020 hit Boyfriend Material and continues the story of Luc and Oliver, whose unlikely romance is moving to the next phase. With everyone they know marching down the aisle, Luc is feeling pressure to propose to Oliver. What will happen? No spoilers here, but apparently a bowl of special curry is involved.
Release date: August 2
Release date: August 2
Which books are you most excited to read this season? Let us know in the comments!
Check out more recent articles, including:
A Mystery Master's Favorite Whodunits of 2021
A Speculative Fiction Fanatic's Take on 2021 Reading
Announcing the Winners of the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards!
Check out more recent articles, including:
A Mystery Master's Favorite Whodunits of 2021
A Speculative Fiction Fanatic's Take on 2021 Reading
Announcing the Winners of the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards!
Comments Showing 251-300 of 585 (585 new)
message 251:
by
Kelsey
(new)
Dec 30, 2021 09:30AM
Would have been nice if they had included some horror books on the list...
flag
I guess there are no horror books coming out in 2022 then?!
Meh, nothing caught my eye. Maybe Memphis.Also, where are horror book recommendations?
Cathy wrote: "And I wouldn‘t mind to know how this list was assembled. Are these books with the highest count of „want to read“ for 2022 or how was it done?"Check the beginning of this article. It is explained how this list was determined.
Saskiasauce wrote: "I’m hoping for a new Gamache from Louise Penny."oh yes!
Looking forward to Portrait of a Thief.Also, these:
Anatomy: A Love Story (goth) - coming out Jan 18
Siren Queen (for those who loved The Chosen and the Beautiful)
Together We Burn
Random list?? I don't see anything I've heard of, nor care to read.
I am HIGHLY anticipating these books:1. The War of Two Queens by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
2. House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas.
3. Chain of Thornes by Cassandra Clare.
I am looking forward to reading The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain
Can we get a section for horror added, please?
Yasaman wrote: "no history/historical fiction? :|" I agree! Also, I am disappointed in no middle grade fiction! This list clearly is disappointing more than it is satisfying. Goodreads better take note. I also was disappointed the picture books list got dropped from the "Best of" awards.
Brandon wrote: "Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse in April. Really surprised it's not mentioned yet." Because I hadn't heard of it! I loved the first book!
I saved 13 books from this list! I was already looking forward to The Mushroom Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu (waiting for the Kindle edition to be available for pre-order so I can add it to my library from there) and Tokyo Dreaming by Emiko Jean.
Sara wrote: "I'm DYING to get my hands on Portrait of a Thief, Gallant, and Daughter of the Moon Goddess!"Added Portrait of a Thief and Daughter of the Moon Goddess to my Want to Read list!
I'm with Cathy, because I don't see any of my favorite authors on here, but ok🧐
Sarah wrote: "Misty The Redhead wrote: "Hmmm where is the horror books? Always left out of the party."Came here looking for the horror books, left disappointed :("
Agree!!!
Darrell wrote: "Cathy wrote: "And I wouldn‘t mind to know how this list was assembled. Are these books with the highest count of „want to read“ for 2022 or how was it done?"At the end of each calendar year, the G..."
And looking at the list it is apparent that curators were more "Social Justice Warriors" more concerned with "virtue signaling" than they were about compiling an honest list of "READERS'" most anticipated books.
Seriously, Goodreads, when was the last time an actual action/thriller made any of your lists???
A War of Two Queens by Jennifer L. Armentrout.
I already had "The Diamond Eye" on my WTR list. I now want to read "Spells for Forgetting", thank you for sharing.
I too am curious why the horror category seems to always be overlooked. If the editors at Goodreads "crunch the numbers" as they say, I am sure there are a lot of readers who have added horror books to their "Want To Read" list. Unless, of course Goodreads doesn't consider horror as a viable genre? If so, SHAME ON THEM!
What about Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham coming out in January? Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes Sci-fi / horror and Mickey 7 also sci-fi by Edward Ashton both due out in February. The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne in April. These books have been hyped and I've been hearing non-stop. I've even pre-ordered these titles.
What about "Ink Black Heart" by Robert Galbraith!!!!!
Not a great list. One I'm mildly interested in. As others have said, where's the horror?
I vote for "My Famous Frenemy" by Piper Rayne in the Romance group.
Misty The Redhead wrote: "Hmmm where are the horror books? Always left out of the party."Agreed! Appreciate the list, but horror is my fav genre too so I'm pretty disappointed.
These books look good but they could have added more categories.
I only had one of these books in my WTR list. But, I had a lot of fun reading for further recommendations in the comments. I have added 4 more titles!
Kate Quinn's The Diamond Eye should really be on this list!!
Katherine wrote: "I truly hope there are others coming, if not the year seems a little underwhelming" this is only the MOST anticipated not all the books coming out this year lol
I can honestly say I'm not looking forward to any of these books listed. Who are the elitists who make up these lists? No one has ever solicited my opinion.
I didn't see the books I'm anticipating. . .there's a new Ann Tyler book and although I've read SO MANY by her. . .I'll look forward to that. . .and a new book by Jacqueline Mitchard. . .so far that's all I know about. I still have plenty of books that just arrived in 2021 to read.
Keeper of the lost cities book 9 - november 8, 2022
No mention of The Lost Metal (Mistborn 7: Wax & Wayne 4) by Brandon Sanderson? Really? Sanderson not making a "Most anticipated" list? That had to have been a conscious decision. This post is very, very biased towards emotional introspective people drama even in the SFF category, and tries its very best to avoid all epic scifi, hard scifi, epic fantasy and high fantasy.... Shame. At least there's something by Scalzi, but even that isn't one of his usual galaxy spanning epics.
Misty The Redhead wrote: "Hmmm where are the horror books? Always left out of the party."Same thought!
I’m excited for Rivals - the third book in the American Royals series!
The only one that is on my list is: Violeta
Also on my list are:
Joan Is Okay
The Intangible
Woman Last Seen
Nine Lives
Yonder
The Diamond Eye
Calder Brand
The Magnolia Palace
In the Shadow of the Mountain: A Memoir of Courage
And added to my list from others comments on this thread:
Spells for Forgetting
Bloomsbury Girls
The Unknown Beloved
A Flicker in the Dark
None of these are on my list. Some that are:Something to Hide
Lauren Elliott's newest
Laurien Berenson's new Peg and Rose novel
Rita Mae Brown's new Sister Jane Novel
I Kissed Shara Wheeler looks really really good. Can’t wait. However, no Horror on this list. 🥺
French Braid by Anne Tyler - release date March 22.
Who thought up this list? No Historical RomanceSarah Maclean (Heartbreaker 8/23/22), Eloisa James (How to Be a Wallflower 3/29/22). and Julia Quinn (Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron 5/22/22) all have books coming out this year.
