It’s almost the new year, so I’ve been hunting around the Internet to find out what books are coming out in 2009. I didn’t find a lot that got me enthused. I’ll highlight a few of the books I am excited about and then give you a list of books expected to hit shelves next year. Of course, release dates can change so don’t take this list as gospel. If I let a couple of rereleases slip in, I apologize. I’m just trying to get a little something for everyone. Please feel free to add the books you’re looking forward to in the comments section. I couldn’t find a lot of information on books coming out in the fall, so if you know of anything, please share!
OK, the book I’m most looking forward to this year, as I was last year, is George R.R. Martin’s “A Dance With Dragons.” The book was supposed to be released this year but was postponed until April.
“Dance with Dragons” is the fifth in the “Song of Ice and Fire” series. There are supposed to be seven. These huge epic fantasies by Martin are as good as the genre gets. Martin isn’t afraid of killing off main characters, so you never know what’s coming.
In the same genre, I’m greatly anticipating the release of the second in Patrick Rothfuss’ “Kingkiller Chronicle.” “The Wise Man’s Fear” is slated for April. The “Kingkiller Chronicle” tells the story of Kvothe, an innkeeper with a mysterious past. The story is told in flashbacks that reveal Kvothe’s life as a homeless youth whose parents are murdered. “The Name of the Wind” is the first book in the trilogy. Fans of epic fantasy should love it.
The third book I’m waiting on is “Pygmy” by Chuck Palahniuk and it is due out in May. I don’t know much about it except that it’s supposed to be a comedy about terrorism and racism. According to the product description from Amazon, Pygmy is “one of a handful of young adults from a totalitarian state sent to the United States, disguised as exchange students, to live with typical American families and blend in, all the while planning an unspecified act of massive terrorism. Palahniuk depicts Midwestern life through the eyes of this thoroughly indoctrinated little killer, who hates us with a passion, in this cunning double-edged satire of an American xenophobia that might, in fact, be completely justified. For Pygmy and his fellow operatives are cooking up something big, something truly awful, that will bring this big dumb country and its fat dumb inhabitants to their knees. It’s a comedy.”
Two other books expected next year are the historical romance “An Echo in the Bone” by Diana Gabaldon, due out in September, and “Under the Dome” by Stephen King, due out sometime in the fall. Both of those should be best-sellers. I know I’ll be picking up "An Echo in the Bone" in hardback as soon as it hits shelves.
Here are some other releases for early in the year:
JANUARY
“Plum Spooky (Stephanie Plum Series)” by Janet Evanovich
“Becoming Enlightened” by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
“Bones of the Dragon (Dragonships of Vindras Series No. 1)” by Margaret Weis
“Daemon” by Daniel Suarez
“Eclipse” by Richard North Patterson
“Mounting Fears (Will Lee Series No. 7)” by Stuart Woods
“3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows” by Ann Brashares
“The Best of Everything” by Kimberla Lawson Roby
“Last Straw (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series No. 3)” by Jeff Kinney
“A Long Time Coming: The Inspiring, Combative 2008 Campaign and the Historic Election of Barack Obama” by Evan Thomas
“The Devil’s Punchbowl” by Greg Iles
“Agincourt” by Bernard Cornwell
“Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama” by Gwen Ifill
“The Temptation of the Night Jasmine” by Lauren Willig
“We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work” by Jimmy Carter
“Dark of Night (Troubleshooters Series No. 14)” by Suzanne Brockmann
“A Darker Place” by Jack Higgins
“Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster” by Alison Weir
“The Associate” by John Grisham
“Basketball Jones” by E. Lynn Harris
“Scat” by Carl Hiaasen
“The Infinity Affair” by James H. Cobb and Robert Ludlum
“Living Dead in Dallas” by Charlaine Harris
“The Painter, the Creature, and the Father of Lies” collection of stories by Clive Barker
“The Red Convertible: Selected and New Stories” collection of stories by Louise Erdrich
“The World According to Bertie” by Alexander McCall Smith
FEBRUARY
“Run for Your Life” by James Patterson
“Fool” by Christopher Moore
“The Silent Man” by Alex Berenson
“The Renegades” by T. Jefferson Parker
“The Women” by T.C. Boyle
“All the Colors of Darkness (Inspector Alan Banks Series No. 18)” by Peter Robinson
“Night and Day” by Robert B. Parker
“One Day at a Time” by Danielle Steel
“Promises in Death (In Death Series No. 28)” by J.D. Robb
“White Witch, Black Curse” by Kim Harrison
“Terminal Freeze” by Lincoln Child
“Luke’s Story” by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye
“A Mad Desire to Dance” by Elie Wiesel
“Heart and Soul” by Maeve Binchy
“Drood” by Dan Simmons
“Before the Scandal” by Suzanne Enoch
“Nuclear Jellyfish” by Tim Dorsey
MARCH
“Handle with Care” by Jodi Picoult
“Corsair” by Clive Cussler
“Hunted (House of Night Series No. 5)” by P.C. Cast
“True Detectives: A Novel” by Jonathan Kellerman
“Long Lost” by Harlan Coben
“The Composer Is Dead” by Lemony Snicket
“Life Sentences” by Laura Lippman
APRIL
“The Geometry of Sisters” by Luanne Rice
“B Is for Beer” by Tom Robbins
