Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books of the Second Half of 2021

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Rabbit wearing glasses and sitting next to an opened book

This isn’t my rabbit, but I love this bookish picture.

There are so many amazing books being published throughout the rest of 2021!

Toronto’s public library system is pretty good at getting new releases, so my fingers are crossed that I’ll be able to request, and probably even read, all of these books by the end of the year.

If nothing else, I hope to be in a comfortable position in the waitlist for the really popular ones on this list before Christmas rolls around.

 

So Many Beginnings- A Little Women Remix  by Bethany C. Morrow book cover. Image on cover shows four smiling black sisters.

1. So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix  by Bethany C. Morrow

Release Date: September 7

Why I Want to Read It: This will be my first retelling of Little Women. I can’t wait.

 

The Lost Girls  by Sonia Hartl book cover. Image on cover shows vampire with blood coming out of the corner of her mouth .

2. The Lost Girls  by Sonia Hartl 

Release Date: September 14

Why I Want to Read It: It’s a queer vampire romance that playfully acknowledges the creepiness of a 100+ year old vampire dating a teenage girl. I do enjoy this sort of thing on occasion and am not making fun of it or anything. It’s just nice to see some nuance in the trope.

 

The Hill We Climb and Other Poems by Amanda Gorman book cover. Image on cover shows title in red except for "and other poems" which is written in white

3. The Hill We Climb and Other Poems by Amanda Gorman

Release Date: September 21

Why I Want to Read It: I loved the poem she wrote for President Biden’s inauguration and can’t wait to read more.

 

The $16 Taco: Contested Geographies of Food, Ethnicity, and Gentrification  by Pascale Joassart-Marcelli  book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of people waiting to get into a small ethnic restaurant.

4. The $16 Taco: Contested Geographies of Food, Ethnicity, and Gentrification  by Pascale Joassart-Marcelli  

Release Date: October 5

Why I Want to Read It: There are many restaurants here in Toronto that will take an inexpensive dish from one ethnic group, add a few unusual ingredients, and jack up the price so much that only wealthy (and generally white) folks can buy it. I’m curious to see what this author has discovered about this practice in general.

 

Cackle  by Rachel Harrison book cover. Image on cover shows a porcelain cup decorated with a spider and spider webs. Something is releasing steam from it.

5. Cackle  by Rachel Harrison

Release Date: October 5

Why I Want to Read It: Most books about witches are not at all scary these days. The blurb hints that this won’t be a traditional “witches are terrifying” tale either, though, so I look forward to seeing what angle it does take.

 

Gastro Obscura- A Food Adventurer's Guide  by Cecily Wong book cover. Image on cover is a mishmash of various travel and food images,from an airplane to strawberries.

6. Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer’s Guide  by Cecily Wong

Release Date: October 12

Why I Want to Read It: I have some health conditions that limit my diet. I’m as adventurous as my body will allow, but I love reading about foods I can’t actually have just as much as I do the ones I can eat.

 

Bright Lights, Prarie Dust: A Memoir  by Karen Grassle 

7. Bright Lights, Prarie Dust: A Memoir  by Karen Grassle

Release Date: October 19

Why I Want to Read It: I grew up watching reruns of Little House on the Prairie and enjoy going back to that world.

 

Yummy- A History of Desserts  by Victoria Grace Elliott book cover. Image on cover is a drawing of a large ice cream sundae and three small characters adding more cookies to it.

8. Yummy: A History of Desserts  by Victoria Grace Elliott 

Release Date: October 19

Why I Want to Read It: As you’ve probably noticed, I love reading about food.

 

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor book cover. Image on cover shows african woman holding her head up high.

9. Noor by Nnedi Okorafor

Release Date: November 9

Why I Want to Read It:  Ms. Okorafor is on my shortlist of must-read authors.

 

Within These Wicked Walls  by Lauren Blackwood book cover. Imageon cover shows a woman's face superimposed over an imposing mansion

10. Within These Wicked Walls  by Lauren Blackwood   Jane Eyre retelling. Ethiopian 

Release Date: November 9

Why I Want to Read It: Jane Eyre is one of my all-time favourite classic novels. I can’t wait to read this retelling of it.

98 Comments

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98 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books of the Second Half of 2021

  1. Great list! I love the sound of Cackle, and I’d like to give The Lost Girls and So Many Beginnings a try, too.

  2. I’m excited for The Lost Girls too!

  3. Ooh I didn’t know about Noor. I’ve seen The Lost Girls on several lists today and it’s definitely going on my wishlist.

  4. Poinsettia

    I love reading about food too, so those books on your list definitely intrigue me. 🙂

  5. Ooo, great list! I’m also looking forward to The Lost Girls and So Many Beginnings!

  6. Cool stuff–both Foodie books are going straight to my TBR–thanks. The Little Women retelling sounds worth a look as well.

  7. I hope you love them all! I forgot about Amanda Gorman’s book. I really should have put that on my list.

  8. I am very curious about The Lost Girls!

  9. Oooh, I’d heard about Noor, but didn’t realize it was being published this year. And the $16 Taco sounds like a really interesting look at gentrification! Sounds like a neat read.

    My TTT this week

  10. I didn’t know about Noor! Adding it my TBR right now.. checking the library too. haha

    I hope you enjoy them!

  11. Great list. I don’t read much non-fiction but I’m curious about the food book.

  12. As someone who loves food and travel but has an array of ridiculous allergies that Gastro Obscura might be a ‘must-buy’.

  13. I love the $16 Tacos title! So catchy! I hope it’s good.

  14. Two of those look like books I’d enjoy. So Many Beginnings sounds fabulous, and I’d love to read Gastro Obscura, too.

  15. I hope you enjoy the books you have listed here. And hopefully that we can all find time to read all the books we’re anticipating!

  16. None of these are on my radar, Lydia, but I am going to check a couple of them out. I hope you enjoy them all.

  17. Oh, that rabbit is just so freakin’ precious!!!

    I’m totally adding “Yummy: A History of Desserts” by Victoria Grace Elliott to my TBR.

    Here’s my Top Ten Tuesday list this week.

  18. I’m interested in So Many Beginnings too! It looks really good

  19. I love the sound of The Lost Girls, added it to my TBR so thanks for the tip 🙂 Hope you’ll enjoy all of these!

  20. The Hill We Climb should be on my list, too. What a wonderful poem.

  21. When you visited my blog you mentioned the review your wrote of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary. I can’t find that review on your page. Can you send me the link? Thanks. My blog

  22. The Lost Girls sounds like an interesting spin on that trope!

  23. I just saw Cackle the other day and thought it looked like fun! Within These Wicked Walls has also been catching my eye lately.

  24. I have Within These Wicked Walls in my TBR as well. Great list!

  25. So Many Beginnings sounds fabulous!

  26. I really want to read So Many Beginnings! I think it looks amazing. And I love the cover for Cackle — will be looking forward to hearing more about the book!

  27. I love the foodie books on your list, especially the $16 Taco!

    I hope you enjoy your reads when you can read them.

    Here’s my post: https://readbakecreate.com/?p=441

  28. I think So Many Beginnings sounds great! I have not read a retelling of Little Women before either! Now I want to 🙂 Thanks for sharing.

  29. Great list – I hope you get to read and enjoy all of these.
    These are the books I am most excited about reading in the next few months!

  30. Within These Wicked Walls sounds so good, I also want to pick that one up. Hope you enjoy these!

  31. The Lost Girls looks amazing! Great list 🙂

  32. The Lost Girls is on my TBR as well, and I am really excited for Nnedi Okorafor’s new book:-) Awesome list!

  33. I’m really excited for Cackle too. I love those witchy reads. 🙂

  34. I’m intrigued by the LITTLE WOMEN reboot, but nervous, too. LITTLE WOMEN is one of my favorite all-time books. I’ll be interested to see what this author does with it. I hope we both love it!

    Happy TTT!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

  35. Noor sounds and looks incredible. So does The Lost Girls. I am adding them to my list.

  36. Some interesting books there. I hope you can read them all.

    Thanks for visiting my TTT earlier.

  37. Gastro Obscura and Yummy sound great! I like books that are about niche things like that. And I didn’t know Amanda Gorman had a book coming out! I’m going to add these to my TBR

  38. Looks like a great list! Hope you enjoy each one. 🙂

  39. The cover for Crackle looks intersting!

  40. Ahhhh so many I need to look into! Great list 😀

  41. I can’t wait for So Many Beginnings either!! And I hadn’t heard about Gastro Obscura, now I’m excited for that as well! Great list!

  42. Your list is awesome, partly because I am super excited for most of these too, but ALSO because I did not know of Noor and I added it to my TBR so fast, so THANK YOU! I hope you enjoy all of these!!

  43. I can’t wait for Noor and The Lost Girls – they sound so good!

  44. Cackle sounds really interesting and I love the cover of it, I hadn’t heard of it before!

  45. Aw, fun! I didn’t realize Karen had a book coming about Little House. That’s certainly going to be all the nostalgia for MANY people. 🙂 Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland last week, Lydia.

  46. Such great picks! I’m looking forward to that retelling of Little Women as well.

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