Okay, you know I have to say it, so let’s just get it out of the way now: WHERE HAS THE YEAR GONE??? Somehow, it’s already the end of June, which means we’ve had half a year to tuck amazing new books under our belts. I hope that you have been having a satisfying reading year so far. I certainly have! And now it’s time to share a whole bunch of upcoming titles for the rest of the year. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the TBR water, here’s a preview of 22 more great new books to read in 2022! Your reading list will thank you.
There’s a little bit of everything in this list to help you find those must-read books to read in 2022: debut novels, sci-fi for kids and adults, compelling nonfiction, fascinating memoirs. The categories go on and on. And of course, since I can’t help myself, I’ve added a few bonus titles to each recommendation in case you need more. Because I love to tell you about as many books as I can! So here are tons of great books coming out August–December of 2022. (Keep in mind that the release dates are still changing all the time.) Remember, this is just the teeniest tip of the upcoming book iceberg! You can find more ways to learn about more upcoming releases at the bottom of the post.
Strike the Zither by Joan He (October 25)
From the author of the amazing YA novels The Ones We’re Meant to Find and Descendant of the Crane comes a new fantasy that that reimagines the Chinese classic tale of the Three Kingdoms. More upcoming YA fantasy for your TBR: Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah (September 6), The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas (September 6), Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland (September 20).
The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson (September 6)
Jackson’s last book, White Smoke, was terrifying! And now she returns to horror with this Carrie-esque tale of racism and a Georgia high school’s first integrated prom. More upcoming YA mystery for your TBR: What’s Coming to Me by Francesca Padilla (August 2), Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson (December 27), The Lies We Tell by Katie Zhao (August 9).
Making Love with the Land: Essays by Joshua Whitehead (November 15)
Whitehead took the literary world by storm with his Lambda Literary Award-winning novel Jonny Appleseed. Now he returns with a personal exploration of Indigenous beauty and suffering in the body and in nature. More fantastic nonfiction for your TBR: Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis by Beth Macy (August 16), Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew by Michael W. Twitty (August 9), Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus by David Quammen (October 4).
How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow (November 1)
This romance starts with a bang — literally. Accidentally hitting someone with your car doesn’t sound like a great meet cute, but that’s exactly what happens to kick off this charming queer romance. More upcoming YA romance for your TBR: Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales (December 6), The Do-Over by Lynn Painter (November 15), Love from Mecca to Medina by S. K. Ali (October 18).
The Genesis of Misery Neon Yang (September 27)
This is an electrifying story of Misery Nomaki, who lives on a mining planet and begins exhibiting strange powers they definitely shouldn’t have. But nothing happens when you get powers, right? JK, Misery is thought to be the next Messiah. More upcoming sci-fi for your TBR: The Sleepless by Victor Manibo (August 23), Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell (November 1), Dwellers: Winner of the Philippine National Book Award by Eliza Victoria, Aldy Aguirre (August 16).
The Last Chairlift by John Irving (October 18)
It has been seven years since Irving published a new novel, but the wait is over! This hefty tome is about a single mother and her son growing up in a Colorado ski resort. More exciting upcoming novels for your TBR: People Person by Candice Carty-Williams (September 13), The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy (October 25) and the second half Stella Maris (December 6), The Furrows by Namwali Serpell (September 27).
Heart of the Sun Warrior (Celestial Kingdom Book 2) by Sue Lynn Tan (November 15)
The story of Xingyin’s thrilling adventures in the Celestial Kingdom come to an epic conclusion in this sequel to Daughter of the Moon Goddess. More upcoming anticipated sequels for your TBR: Into the Riverlands (The Singing Hills Cycle #3) by Nghi Vo (October 25), A Restless Truth (The Last Binding #2) by Freya Marske (November 1), Seasparrow (Graceling Realm) by Kristin Cashore (November 1).
The Revolutionary Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff (November 15)
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Schiff, whose most recent books included Cleopatra and The Witches, takes a deep dive into one of the more mysterious Founding Fathers. More anticipated history books for your TBR: The Fishermen and the Dragon: Fear, Greed, and a Fight for Justice on the Gulf Coast by Kirk Wallace Johnson (August 2), Requiem for the Massacre: A Black History on the Conflict, Hope, and Fallout of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre by RJ Young (November 1), Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss (August 9).
The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty (August 2)
This stunning debut is about four teenagers who have aged out the the Indiana foster care system. They are now trying to figure out their futures while living in a run-down apartment building known as the Rabbit Hutch. More upcoming debut novels for your TBR: Delphi by Clare Pollard (August 2), A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt (October 4), The Book of Everlasting Things by Aanchal Malhotra (December 27).
Toad by Katherine Dunn (November 1)
I bet no one had “release of previously unpublished Dunn novel” on their 2022 bingo card! This is an earlier novel from the author of the beloved classic Geek Love, about a reclusive young woman. Even more exciting upcoming novels for your TBR: Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson (November 8), The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken (October 5), Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah (August 23).
The Sevenfold Hunters by Rose Egal (October 25)
In this exciting debut YA novel, a young alien hunter must contend with a mysterious replacement at the Academy after aliens kill one of her elite squad mates. More upcoming YA sci-fi for your TBR: In the City of Time by Gwendolyn Clare (November 29), The Q by Amy Tintera (November 8), The Stars Between Us by Cristin Terrill (August 2).
Fruit Punch: A Memoir by Kendra Allen (August 9)
Allen discusses her life growing up Black in Texas in the nineties and early 2000s in this stunning work of nonfiction. More upcoming memoirs for your TBR: Private Equity: A Memoir by Carrie Sun (November 15), Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry (November 1), The Tiger and the Cage: A Memoir of a Body in Crisis by Emma Bolden (October 18).
In the Mouth of the Wolf: A Murder, a Coverup, and the True Cost of Silencing the Press by Katherine Corcoran (October 18)
Former AP Mexico bureau chief Katherine Corcoran tells the story of murdered Mexican journalist Regina Martínez and her work to expose corruption. More upcoming true crime books for your TBR: The Forever Witness: How DNA and Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder by Edward Humes (November 29), Blood & Ink: The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder That Hooked America on True Crime by Joe Pompeo (September 15), The Ransomware Hunting Team: A Band of Misfits’ Improbable Crusade to Save the World from Cybercrime by Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden (October 25).
We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds (November 29)
A young Black girl’s life is in upheaval when her family moves to the South for her senior year and she is confronted with the the town’s racist past and present. More upcoming YA for your TBR: Azar on Fire by Olivia Abtahi (August 23), This is Our Place by Vitor Martins, Larissa Helena (translator) (November 1), I Miss You, I Hate This by Sara Saedi (October 11).
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood (August 23)
Hazelwood, author of the wildly popular The Love Hypothesis, returns with another “STEMinist romcom” about a scientist forced to work with her nemesis. More upcoming romances for your TBR: Mr. Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer (August 9), Heartbreaker: A Hell’s Belles Novel by Sarah MacLean (August 23), The Stand-Up Groomsman by Jackie Lau (October 25).
White Horse by Erika T. Wurth (November 1)
In one of the most buzzed about mysteries of the year, an Indigenous woman who is haunted by her past when she receives a bracelet belonging to her long-dead mother. More upcoming mysteries for your TBR: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney (August 30), Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (September 6); The Cloisters by Katy Hays (November 1).
House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson (September 27)
In Henderson’s first book, The Year of Witching, she tackled witches. This time, she takes us back in time to a place where a young woman gets drawn into high society and becomes a bloodmaid. What is a bloodmaid? You’ll have to read it to find out. More upcoming horror for your TBR: The Wild Hunt by Emma Seckel (August 2), Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison (October 5); Leech by Hiron Ennes (September 27).
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (October 4)
And this is easily one of the most anticipated novels of the year! This time, Ng gets a little speculative in this powerful look at a future society consumed with xenophobia and the young child of a dissident. More upcoming speculative fiction for your TBR: The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton (December 6), The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings (August 9), Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight (November 8).
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell (September 6)
Fresh off her award-winning success with Hamnet, O’Farrell is delivering another marvelous historical novel. This one is about the third daughter of a grand duke in Renaissance Italy. More upcoming historical fiction for your TBR: Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra (September 6), Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson (September 27), Ithaca by Claire North (September 6).
Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin, Megan McDowell (translator) (October 18)
Fever Dream is one of my all-time favorite books, so I could not be more excited for this collection. Each of the seven stories is about an empty house, whether literally or metaphorically. More upcoming story collections for your TBR: Stories from The Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana (August 16), Bliss Montage: Stories by Ling Ma (September 13), The Islands: Stories by Dionne Irving (November 1).
Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse (November 15)
A young card sharp must defend her sister in the mystical West of 1880s Colorado in this dark fantasy from the bestselling author of Black Sun. More upcoming fantasy books for your TBR: The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang (November 15), High Times in the Low Parliament by Kelly Robson (August 9), Babel by R.F. Kuang (August 23).
Alive At The End of the World by Saeed Jones (September 13)
Jones, the award-winning author of Prelude to Bruise and How We Fight for Our Lives, offers poems of humor and strength about our ever-increasing traumas of daily life. More upcoming poetry collections for your TBR: And Yet: Poems by Kate Baer (November 8), The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On by Franny Choi (November 1), Brother Sleep by Aldo Amparan (September 13).
For more recommendations, you can check out the first post, 22 Great New Books To Read in 2022. And if you’d like to learn more about upcoming books, we have fun ways for you to do that! Book Riot has our weekly New Books! newsletter, and be sure to check out All the Books!, a weekly podcast where we discuss our favorite new releases of the week. It’s available wherever you get your podcasts! Still want to learn more? Come sit next to me! Here are more great ways to keep up with new book releases.
