Since it’s the start of the year, and the reading slate has been wiped clean, and the Goodreads count reset to a big fat “0”, and everyone keeps posting about the 2016 releases they are just DYING TO READ, my TBR list just keeps growing and growing. (Seriously though, keep posting those lists and links to lists, because I really want to know what’s out there. You know, without having to scan through publishers catalogues and whatnot on Edelweiss.)

 

 

French Concession: A Novel – Xiao Bai

An acclaimed Chinese writer makes his English language debut with this heart-stopping literary noir, a richly atmospheric tale of espionage and international intrigue, set in Shanghai in 1931—an electrifying, decadent world of love, violence, and betrayal filled with femme fatales, criminals, revolutionaries, and spies

They had me at ‘femme fatales’

Sofia Khan is Not Obliged – Ayisha Malik

“Brilliant idea! Excellent! Muslim dating? Well, I had no idea you were allowed to date.’ Then he leaned towards me and looked at me sympathetically. ‘Are your parents quite disappointed?’

Also, I am particularly fond of her author description on Goodreads

LaRose – Louise Erdrich
Because it is Louise Erdrich.

Louise Erdrich, the author of the National Book Award-winning The Round House and the Pulitzer Prize nominee The Plague of Doves wields her breathtaking narrative magic in an emotionally haunting contemporary tale of a tragic accident, a demand for justice, and a profound act of atonement with ancient roots in indigenous culture.

The Obelisk Gate – NK Jemisin
Jemisin! Jemisin!
(in case you need more than just me chanting her name, this is the second book in the Broken Earth series).

The Kindness of Enemies – Leila Aboulela
Aboulela’s Minaret and The Translator were great reads. I’m looking forward to this one

It’s 2010 and Natasha, a half Russian, half Sudanese professor of history, is researching the life of Imam Shamil, the 19th century Muslim leader who led the anti-Russian resistance in the Caucasian War. When shy, single Natasha discovers that her star student, Oz, is not only descended from the warrior but also possesses Shamil’s priceless sword, the Imam’s story comes vividly to life. As Natasha’s relationship with Oz and his alluring actress mother intensifies, Natasha is forced to confront issues she had long tried to avoid—that of her Muslim heritage. When Oz is suddenly arrested at his home one morning, Natasha realizes that everything she values stands in jeopardy.

 

Monterey Bay – Lindsay Hatton
I love reading books set in Northern California. We always enjoy our visits to the aquarium, even when it was a ridiculously crowded Father’s Day one time.

A beautiful debut set around the creation of the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium—and the last days of John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row

Shelter: A Novel – Jung Yun
One of the many books I added thanks to the Millions’ list of most anticipated releases

Girl Through Glass – Sari Wilson

I’m a sucker for stories about dance.

An enthralling literary debut that tells the story of a young girl’s coming of age in the cutthroat world of New York City ballet—a story of obsession and the quest for perfection, trust and betrayal, beauty and lost innocence.

Eligible: A modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice – Curtis Sittenfeld
I have a soft spot for Sittenfeld’s works so while I am a bit concerned about a retelling of one of my most beloved books (I first read it for my A Levels in Singapore, oh, ages ago), I am dying to read it. I had to put in most of the synopsis here just so you can see what it’s about.

This version of the Bennet family—and Mr. Darcy—is one that you have and haven’t met before: Liz is a magazine writer in her late thirties who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help—and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray.

Youngest sisters Kitty and Lydia are too busy with their CrossFit workouts and Paleo diets to get jobs. Mary, the middle sister, is earning her third online master’s degree and barely leaves her room, except for those mysterious Tuesday-night outings she won’t discuss. And Mrs. Bennet has one thing on her mind: how to marry off her daughters, especially as Jane’s fortieth birthday fast approaches.

Enter Chip Bingley, a handsome new-in-town doctor who recently appeared on the juggernaut reality TV dating show Eligible. At a Fourth of July barbecue, Chip takes an immediate interest in Jane, but Chip’s friend neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy reveals himself to Liz to be much less charming. . . .

And yet, first impressions can be deceiving.

Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist – Sunil Yapa
Partly because of the title. And also because of this great Lit Hub interview with Lee Boudreaux, editor of her new namesake imprint at Little, Brown:
“Last January Sunil’s book came in. I got it on a Thursday night and I was home editing that Friday and I just thought, I’m going to dip into this thing that kind of sounds cool. I knew nothing about the Seattle riots. I started reading and I gobbled it down and finished it the next morning. It was so energetic, so propulsive—the language, the voice. And it was unbelievably economical. He’s doing seven characters in something I read in an evening and a morning. It was so fast and furious and taut and he breathed so much life into so many characters.”