11 Books We’re Excited For in 2020

2020 is here and we are *so* ready for a year of new books. Here’s a round-up of a few titles we’re most looking forward to.

1. The Night Country: A Hazel Wood Novel, Melissa Albert (pub date: January 7, Flatiron Books) We’ve been on the edge of our seats waiting to learn the fate of the folks from the Hinterland in this sequel to Albert’s bestselling debut The Hazel Wood. In The Night Country, Alice Proserpine dives back into a menacing, mesmerizing world of dark fairy tales and hidden doors.

2. Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick: Stories from the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston (pub date: January 14, Amistad Press) A collection of stories about love and migration, gender and class, racism and sexism, brought together for the first time in one volume, including eight of Hurston’s “lost” Harlem stories. A century may have passed since her writing, but these tales are timeless and more important than ever.

3. A Long Petal of the Sea, Isabelle Allende (pub date: January 21, Ballantine Books) Fans of historical fiction, buckle up. Chilean powerhouse Isabelle Allende is back with a tale of hope, exile, and belonging. This epic novel spans decades and crosses continents following two young people as they flee the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War in search of a place to call home.

4. American Dirt, Janine Cummings (pub date: January 21, Flatiron Books) One of the most anticipated novels of the year, American Dirt follows a mother and her son who are forced to flee Mexico and soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. It’s poignant yet the action is sure to have you up late turning the pages.

5. Homie, Danez Smith (pub date: January 21, Graywolf Press) Danez Smith, author of the award-winning Don’t Call Us Dead, is back with a magnificent anthem about the saving grace of friendship. Rooted in the loss of one of Smith’s close friends, this book comes out of the search for joy and intimacy within a nation where both can seem scarce and getting scarcer.

6. The Glass Hotel, Emily St. John Mandel (pub date: March 24, Knopf Publishing Group) The arc of this book made its rounds among our staff and we all loved it. The Glass Hotel is an exhilarating novel set at the glittering intersection of two seemingly disparate events-a massive Ponzi scheme collapse and the mysterious disappearance of a woman from a ship at sea.

7. The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (pub date: March 24, Orbit) Jemisin departs from other world-making in her latest novel, which is set in New York City. Five New Yorkers must come together to defend the city from an ancient evil in a tale that will delight fantasy readers and curious newcomers alike.

8. Wow, No Thank You: Essays, Samantha Irby (pub date: March 31, Vintage) Samantha Irby moved to Kalamazoo, MI in 2016 and is now living the life of a midwest housewife, which she chronicles in hilarious detail in her new collection. Irby’s long been giving us ROFL material but now that there’s a familiar setting, we’re all the more excited.

9. Death in Her Hands, Otessa Moshfegh (pub date: April 21, Penguin Press) Imagine walking in the woods and finding a note that says, “Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn’t me. Here is her dead body.” That’s exactly what happens in this cerebral suspense drama written by the queen of unreliable narrators. This novel’s, a 72-year-old widow, might infuriate you but you’ll also love being inside her head.

10. A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, Hank Green (pub date: July 7, Dutton Books) April May and the Carls are back in the much-anticipated sequel to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. It’s a fast-paced adventure that is also a biting social commentary, asking hard, urgent questions. How will we live online? What powers over our lives are we giving away for free? Who has the right to change the world forever? And how do we find comfort in an increasingly isolated world?

11. Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close, Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman (pub date: July 14, Simon and Schuster) Another work that takes a look at friendship, this time from hosts of the popular “Call Your Girlfriend” podcast. The friends elaborate on their equally messy and life-affirming Big Friendship in this honest and hilarious book that chronicles their first ten years in one another’s lives.

See something you like that’s not out yet? Remember, pre-orders are super important! They help authors, presses, and yes, bookstores. You can pre-order by stopping into the shop, giving us a call, or online 24/7 at pagesbkshop.com.