I’ve seen a lot of people make lists of their most anticipated books coming out in 2019. I love seeing people all excited about new books! Some of them have me doing a happy dance as well (On the Come Up, anyone?), but I have to admit I’m not very up to speed on what books are coming out when. I’m still trying to get to books that came out in 2017 (and way before that).

In other words: I tend to be more of a backlist reader (backlist = books that haven’t come out recently). That doesn’t mean that I’m not excited about (finally) getting to read some of the books on my shelves, though, so I figured I’d share with you the ten books I’m most excited about reading in 2019.

Let me tell you; it was hard to keep it to just ten! There are easily twenty books on my shelves I would love to be reading right now. I also kind of told myself I need to read more of the books that are already on my shelves before I can go out and buy a ton of new ones. There are a couple exceptions, of course. Some books you just have to get, ya know? There’s no way I’m instating another book buying ban – that’s no fun!

Anyhow, let’s get to my list!

On my shelf

• The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker: I got this book as a gift from my parents on my birthday because I was reading Mythos by Stephen Fry at the time, and they felt like this fit with the theme. I hadn’t heard anything about this book at that point, but in the few months since, I’ve seen it everywhere! It sounds like an intriguing story, so I want to get to it asap.
• Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado: This is a collection of short stories that I cannot wait to pick up. I could quote the entire Goodreads description here to get you hyped, but that would be a lot, so I’ll just put this here: “In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women’s lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.”
• This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab: I have never read anything by V.E. Schwab, even though I (apparently) follow her on Twitter and I love her online personality. I’ve heard so many great things about her books and they sound perfect for me, yet I’ve never picked any of them up. TSS has been on my shelves for over a year, and I’m going to finally read it. SOON.
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: Everyone was so hyped about this book when it came out last year and so many people seem to love it! I was very excited about it too when I bought it months ago. So why haven’t I picked it up yet? No idea. It’s going to happen this year!

• Watchmen by Alan More and Dave Gibbons: Funny story – my boyfriend told me about this graphic novel and I thought I hadn’t heard about it before. Turns outs it’s been on my Goodreads TBR since 2015. Whoops! We bought a copy of it in Amsterdam a little over a year ago and my boyfriend has read it since, but I haven’t yet.
• The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë: Talking about backlist, am I right?! I’m fascinated by the Brontë family, but I haven’t read anything by Anne, my namesake, yet. I remember reading an article somewhere recently that praised this novel as being the most feminist out of all of the Brontë sisters’ books, which had me intrigued all over again.
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell: I’ve been wanting to read this for what seems like forever, but it’s a little bit of an intimidating book to me. Now that I’ve put it on this list, I will have to read it this year! No more excuses! It really does sound like something I will love, though, so I’m sure I’ll be fine.

 

New releases

• The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews: This is a special one! If you don’t know who Cait is: she’s a member of the book blogging community who’s worked her butt off to get published and she managed to do it! Her first book, A Thousand Perfect Notes, came out in 2018 and is such an amazing story. The Boy Who Steals Houses sounds like it’s going to be brilliant, too, so I can’t wait for it to come out in April!
• On the Come Up by Angie Thomas: Angie Thomas wrote one of the best and most important books I’ve ever read: The Hate U Give. I still think about that book on a weekly basis. While I’m beyond excited to read Thomas’ second book (which comes out in February), I’m also the tiniest bit apprehensive: how on earth is she going to follow up the tremendous success that was THUG? I can’t wait to find out!

 

One last book…

Those of you who’ve been keeping count will notice that those books only amount to nine, so there’s one book left on my list. It fits neither category, though, because I don’t own a copy of it and it’s definitely not a new release: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. I’ve never read The Lord of the Rings, and I think it’s about time I finally give it a go. Well, I say that, but I did once read the first 100 pages or so when I was, like, 13. I think I was a little bit too young, though, and I hardly remember any of it, so I’m trying again with fresh courage! I also kind of promised one of my best friends I’d read it this year, so there’s that. I will let you know my thoughts on it once I finally read it!

So, that’s my list! It’s going to be fun to look back on this at the end of the year – will I have read them all? We’re going to have to wait and see!

Do you see any of your favourites on here? What are some of the books you want to read in 2019? Let’s chat in the comments!