Books
These 16 Authors You Already Love Have New Books Coming Out In 2018
Book-lovers, it’s that time of year again: our 2017 TBR piles are starting to look a little low (…well, maybe) and we’re getting busy looking forward to all the can’t-miss books that 2018 has to offer — especially those brand new books by authors you love. Stumbling across a new title by one of my favorite authors is like running into an old friend (you know, the kind who you actually want to run into unexpectedly): I'm totally surprised but oh-so-glad to see them, I'm eager to hear all the new stories they have to share with me, and I can’t wait to invite them over so we can catch up over a glass of wine. Or coffee. Or both.
The authors on this list, all of whom have new books coming out in 2018, are bestsellers and award-winners, must-reads and fan favorites, and they’ve been keeping us in reading material for years — even decades. And from first adventures into nonfiction, to eagerly-awaited second novels, to final titles by authors we’ll miss, the books on this list are some of the can’t-miss titles of 2018.
Here are 16 new books from popular authors to look out for in 2018 — so get ready, readers. I can’t wait to dive in with you.
'Feel Free: Essays' by Zadie Smith
From the author of On Beauty, Swing Time, and others, Feel Free by Zadie Smith is a forthcoming essay collection that tackles some of the pressing questions, inquiries, and interests of our immediate moment: social media, global warming, humanity’s eternal love of the printed book (no matter how much technology develops), and more. Keep an eye out for it in early February.
'The Female Persuasion' by Meg Wolitzer
From the bestselling author of the novels The Interestings, The Uncoupling, and more, The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer will land on bookstore shelves in April. Wolitzer’s latest novel tells the coming-of-age story of just-graduated Greer Kadetsky, and tackles ideas about ambition, power, friendship, mentorship, identity, and plenty else.
'Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture' edited by Roxane Gay
Yes, Roxane Gay does, in fact, do everything. Yet another title from the writer who gave us Bad Feminist, the recent memoir Hunger and the story collection Difficult Women, Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture, edited by Gay, is a timely anthology of original and previously published essays about rape and rape culture, misogyny, and more. Look for it in May.
'Still Me' by Jojo Moyes
Chances are, you’ve cried over a Jojo Moyes title or two. Coming out in January, Still Me by Jojo Moyes brings the beloved Louisa Clark back to your bookshelves, this time as she struggles to find a place for herself in New York City, while maintaining her long-distance relationship and trying not to lose herself in it all.
'The Largesse of the Sea Maiden: Stories' by Denis Johnson
As the last collection from novelist and short story writer Denis Johnson — who passed away in May — The Largesse of the Sea Maiden is definitely a title you’ll want to add to your TBR pile when it comes out in January. Like all of Johnson’s writing, this collection will be spiritual and surreal, beautiful and inquisitive, darkly funny and wise.
'Look Alive Out There: Essays' by Sloane Crosley
Coming out in April from the author of the essay collection I Was Told There'd Be Cake, the novel The Clasp, and more, Look Alive Out There by Sloane Crosley is an essay collection filled with even more of the writer's misadventures, marked by the Crosley’s signature wit, humor, irony, and relatable self-awareness.
'What Are We Doing Here: Essays' by Marilynne Robinson
The unparalleled writer of thoughtful and complex novels like Lila, Home, Gilead, and Housekeeping — as well as a handful of nonfiction collections — What Are We Doing Here? by Marilynne Robinson is slotted to appear in February, and tackles a series of current political concerns and theological musings.
'Force of Nature' by Jane Harper
Anticipating its US release this February, Force of Nature by Jane Harper — author of one of 2017’s favorite thrillers, The Dry — is a thriller that takes five female coworkers deep into the woods on an ill-conceived corporate retreat. When only four women make it out of the woods, Harper’s already-recognized character of Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk returns to solve the mystery.
'The Monk of Mokha' by Dave Eggers
Author of The Circle, What Is The What, and plenty of other titles, Dave Eggers's The Monk of Mokha is another nonfiction book to add to your TBR pile this January. The Monk of Mokha takes readers from San Francisco to Yemen, introducing Mokhtar Alkhanshali, who finds himself trapped between his passion for coffee and the Yemeni civil war.
'The Broken Girls' by Simone St. James
The author of five other celebrated mystery thrillers, Simone St. James has another spine-tingling title for you, coming in March. The Broken Girls will transport you to a boarding school for “broken” (read: outcast) girls in Vermont — reported to be haunted and suddenly plagued with the disappearance of one of their young residents.
'The Pisces' by Melissa Broder
From the hilariously relatable genius behind So Sad Today, The Pisces by Melissa Broder is a funny, surprising, and strange love story about a PhD candidate named Lucy and the merman she discovers while house-sitting for her sister in Venice Beach. Keep an eye out for it in May.
'How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays' by Alexander Chee
Out in April from the author of titles like Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night, Alexander Chee’s How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays is the first nonfiction title from the author, taking readers through a series of moments in the writer’s life, starting at age 15.
'Surprise Me' by Sophie Kinsella
From the author of last year’s My Not So Perfect Life and a whopping 27 other titles, comes Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella, out in February. Surprise Me dives headfirst into the marriage of one couple, Sylvie and Dan, who are trying to spice up their relationship through a project called Project Surprise Me — one that leads not only to fun surprises, but to a past scandal that will leave them wondering how well they really know each other at all.
'The House of Broken Angels' by Luis Alberto Urrea
An author of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, Luis Alberto Urrea is best known for taking readers deep inside the Mexican-American migrant experience, from his staggering account of U.S./Mexico border crossings in The Devil's Highway to the fictional journey of 19-year-old Nayeli in Into the Beautiful North. Landing on bookstore shelves in March, The House of Broken Angels is another complex and multilayered American immigrant story, centered around a birthday party and a funeral.
'The Elizas' by Sara Shepard
New in April from the New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars, Sara Shepard’s The Elizas begins when debut novelist Eliza Fontaine is found at the bottom of a hotel pool — alive — and she’s discredited with a failed suicide attempt. But Eliza claims she was pushed, and in her pursuit to find out who did it, she discovers the events of her novel might not be as fictional as she once thought.
'Barracoon: The Story of the Last Slave' by Zora Neale Hurston
Published 58 years after her death, a new book by author Zora Neale Hurston will make an appearance in 2018 as well, and for anyone who loved her best-known novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, a new Hurston title is an epic event. Barracoon: The Story of the Last Slave tells the story of Cudjo Lewis, the last known survivor of the transatlantic slave trade. In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston interviewed then then 95-year-old Cudjo Lewis, returning four years later to spend three months with him, discussing his young life in Africa, his capture, and life during and post-slavery, in-depth. Barracoon is based on those interviews, and will take readers inside the horrors of the slave trade like few other books have before.
