Want to know what exciting new book releases to watch out for in the coming months? The following titles are not quite released yet, but they are worth keeping an eye out for. Fortunately, you can reserve them today by visiting our catalogue and placing a hold.

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding, which will be released at the end of April, was the book to help me break my reading rut! It a domestic thriller with a bit of a paranormal/horror thread, something which brought some freshness into a genre that otherwise feels like it is going a bit stale. The story follows a woman named Lauren, a new mother to twin boys. She’s struggling with sleep deprivation and has little in the way of support, especially since her husband isn’t terribly helpful. One night in the hospital, she is visited by a bedraggled homeless woman who appears to have her own set of twins. The mysterious woman wants to make a baby trade and becomes irate when Lauren refuses. Was this bizarre incident real or imagined? Lauren is unsure, but weeks later, when she discovers that her babies are suddenly not her own, she is certain that something sinister occurred. As the reader, you have to decide -- is this post-partum psychosis or is a creepy folktale come to life?

Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis is the author’s follow up to the insanely popular Girl, Wash Your Face. At first, I was I hesitant to read Girl, Wash Your Face because I assumed it would be a cringe-worthy self-help book. Ultimately, however, I found Hollis to be very likable, engaging and motivating. It’s not really about one thing in particular, but rather the general concept that only YOU are responsible for determining how you live your life and what you make of it. When I received the chance to read Hollis’ follow-up, which will released March 2019, I jumped. I think it was even stronger than the first because it includes so many practical tips and frameworks for goal-setting and goal-reaching, not just amusing anecdotes – although there are plenty of those too. It’s definitely worth a read if you are in the mood for a motivation boost.

Normal People by Sally Rooney was released in the UK last August and received plenty of critical acclaim, including Man Booker Prizes and Costa Award nominations. It’s getting its chance to shine for a North American market starting in mid-April. It follows the complicated on-again-off-again, friends-with-benefits relationship of two young people as they transition from their teen years to university to adulthood. The novel explores themes of love, class and the messy nature of relationships. The writing is fantastic and the characters are so believable. It is well deserving of its acclaim.  

In The Lost Night by Andrea Bartz a close-knit group of twenty-somethings’ lives are upended when their best friend Edie commits suicide. Nearly a decade later, the group has disbanded but Lindsay, the book’s central character, is still stuck living in the past. Lindsay, as unreliable of a narrator as they come, has begun questioning Edie's death. Was it really a suicide or has this been a conspiracy the entire time?  This novel didn’t blow me away, but its well-developed setting of 2009 hipster Brooklyn is its selling point and will probably inspire some nostalgia in readers approximately ten years out of young adulthood. It will be released later this month.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with Advance Reader Copies of these titles in exchange for honest reviews. If you wish to reserve one of these titles, visit our catalogue and place a hold today.

Originally published in the Napanee Beaver.