With 2018 winding down, it's time to start looking ahead to the books that will be at the top of your "to read" pile in 2019 [1]. The new year is already shaping up to be a major one for book fans. Whether you live for romance, crave bone-chilling thrillers [2], or just want a new fantasy series to dive into, the upcoming year has something for everyone. It's also full of new releases from authors that you already love, including Angie Thomas, Helen Hoang, and Ruth Ware. In other words, it's time to start making room on your nightstand for some fresh reads [3] now, because you're going to want to get your hands on these 2019 books the moment that they're released.
The Light Over London
Historical fiction fans won't be able to wait to get their hands on Julia Kelly's The Light Over London. Told across two different timelines, the book follows a modern day woman named Cara, who comes across relics from the past that tell the story of a young woman who defied her fate in World War II era London.
Release date: Jan. 8
The Au Pair
Emma Rous's The Au Pair has all the makings of the book world's next big thriller. Seraphine Mayes and her twin brother, Danny, are haunted by the death of their mother. Shortly after their birth, she threw herself from a cliff, leaving her children with a lifetime of questions. Now Seraphine is an adult, and in the aftermath of her father's passing, she discovers a photo seemingly taken on the day the twins were born, but in the picture her mother is smiling and only holding one baby.
Release date: Jan. 8
Freefall
Freefall is Jessica Barry's debut novel, but it's already garnering major buzz. Told from the alternating perspectives of an estranged mother and daughter, the novel chronicles their harrowing journey back to each other after a plane crash leaves one of them fighting for survival.
Release date: Jan. 8
Dream Sequence
In England, a British celebrity is eager to land a major movie role. In Philadelphia, a recently divorced woman becomes more and more certain that she's meant to be with the handsome man on her television screen. If you're guessing things get complicated fast in Adam Foulds's psychological thriller Dream Sequence, then you would be right.
Release date: Jan. 8
She Lies in Wait
Gytha Lodge's She Lies in Wait is the kind of book that will keep you up at night turning the pages to see what happens next. In 1983, six friends go on a camping trip in the forest with a young woman named Aurora Jackson. Thirty years later, Aurora's body is found in those same woods, and the old friends have to confront the truth that one of them is a killer.
Release date: Jan. 8
99 Percent Mine
First, bestselling author Sally Thorne brought you The Hating Game, and now she's back with 99 Percent Mine. Twins Darcy and Jamie inherit a rundown cottage that Darcy has little interest in until her brother's best friend and her secret crush shows up to help with the house flipping project.
Release date: Jan. 29
King of Scars
Master of young adult fantasy, Leigh Bardugo is continuing to expand her popular Grishaverse with the upcoming King of Scars. This time the action focuses on the young King Nikolai Lantsov, who must embark on a perilous journey to destroy the dark magic growing inside of him before he can properly rebuild his struggling country.
Release date: Jan. 29
On the Come Up
Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give became a bestselling novel and a powerful film. There's no reason to believe that the same fate doesn't await On the Come Up as well. The book tells the story of 16-year-old Bri, an aspiring rapper whose family is facing an eviction notice when her rap goes viral for the wrong reason.
Release date: Feb. 5
Under the Table
Stephanie Evanovich's novels are the book equivalent of a warm hug, and she's serving a new one up just in time to keep you cosy on those long Winter nights. Under the Table is a modern take on My Fair Lady, which finds a woman taking on the project of rehabilitating a reclusive millionaire's image only to find herself falling in love with him.
Release date: Feb. 5
The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
Anissa Gray's debut novel The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls sounds like one the literary world will be more than happy to sink their teeth into. The book follows a trio of sisters who must band together when one of them faces arrest and public disgrace in their small community.
Release date: Feb. 19
I Owe You One
The queen of women's fiction, Sophie Kinsella, is back with another heroine you're destined to way over-relate to in I Owe You One. Fixie Farr runs her father's homeware business alongside her flaky siblings, but it's not exactly her dream job. A chance encounter with a stranger might just challenge Fixie to put herself first for once, and maybe even find love in the process.
Release date: Feb. 19
No Exit
The premise of Taylor Adams's No Exit is not for the faint of heart. A college student is heading home on a snowy road when she discovers a child locked in the van next to her car. When she frees the child, she finds herself and the young girl in serious danger as they're pursued through the icy night by kidnappers.
Release date: Feb. 20
The Lost Girls of Paris
Female spies, World War II intrigue, and a nugget of truth fuel the action in Pam Jenoff's highly anticipated historical drama The Lost Girls of Paris. Anyone with a love of WWII stories featuring lead female characters needs to put this one at the top of their must list.
Release date: Feb. 2019
Daisy Jones and the Six
You loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, prepare to fall for Taylor Jenkins Reid's newest novel, Daisy Jones and the Six. Set in the '60s and '70s, the book is told as the oral history of one of the era's greatest bands — their rise, their fall, and everything that happened in between.
Release date: Mar. 5
In Another Time
It sounds like Jillian Cantor has penned a heartbreaking love story that will leave you sobbing in In Another Time. Set both before and after World War II, the novel follows a German bookstore owner, Max, and a violinist, Hanna, who fall in love. There's nothing Max won't do to protect Hanna, who is Jewish, from the rising Nazi regime, but when she wakes up 10 years later with no memory of what happened to her, readers will be left wondering exactly how far Max went to keep her safe.
Release date: Mar. 5
The DNA of You and Me
Andrea Rothman's The DNA of You and Me is garnering early comparisons to Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. The book follows an ambitious and bright young scientist who finds herself exploring whether she can follow her heart and succeed in her career at the same time.
Release date: Mar. 12
House on Fire
In Bonnie Kistler's House on Fire, a blended family is rocked to their core when a drunk-driving accident leaves one of their children dead and the other in prison. Parents Leigh and Pete find themselves torn apart as Leigh mourns her daughter and Pete tries to find evidence to exonerate his son.
Release date: Mar. 12
Beautiful Bad
Annie Ward invites readers to watch a marriage unfurl over the course of 16 nail-biting years in Beautiful Bad. The story of a woman who confronts her fears about her husband will end in murder, but the question is whose?
Release date: Mar. 19
Dig
Not every YA novel has crossover appeal, but A.S. King's work seems to resonate across generations. It's fitting then that Dig is a multi-generational tale about five teenagers' day-to-day struggles to survive as their grandparents sit atop a fortune they refuse to share no matter how dire things become for their adult children and grandchildren.
Release date: Mar. 26
The Better Sister
Alafair Burke is back for another domestic thriller that will explore the twisted web of family. Two estranged sisters unite after one of them loses her husband — who also happened to be the other sister's ex.
Release date: Apr. 2
The Mother-in-Law
In The Mother-in-Law, Sally Hepworth is set to weave a tale where even the narrator can't be trusted. When Lucy's mother-in-law is found dead, it seems as if she committed suicide, but there's definitely more going on beneath the surface.
Release date: Apr. 23
The Last House Guest
Megan Miranda made waves with All the Missing Girls, and now she's back with another thriller, The Last House Guest. Her new novel is rooted in a strong friendship between two women, and the drive the one left behind has to discover who murdered the other.
Release date: May 2
The Bride Test
Did you love The Kiss Quotient? Good, because Helen Hoang is back with another charming romance in 2019: The Bride Test. The book follows a man on the autism spectrum and his well-intentioned mother who is determined to find him a wife.
Release date: May 7
The Witches Are Coming
Lindy West is diving head first into the strange world of modern American culture to examine the things that divide us through a series of searing essays in The Witches Are Coming.
Release date: May 28
Red, White, and Royal Blue
Royal watchers, prepare yourselves, because this LGBTQ+ romance is destined to leave you swooning. Casey McQuiston's Red, White, and Royal Blue follows the son of the US president and the prince of England as their animosity toward each other turns into something more.
Release date: June 4
We Came Here to Forget
A skier's life changes forever after an accident forces her to start over in Andrea Dunlop's We Came Here to Forget. Her new life in Buenos Aires finds her forging new friendships and falling for a guy with some secrets of his own.
Release date: July 2
Keeping Lucy
T. Greenwood is just waiting to make you cry your heart out with Keeping Lucy. Based on a true story, the novel follows a mother's journey to keep her daughter, who was born with Down syndrome, with her in the early '70s.
Release date: Aug. 6
The Turn of the Key
Not many details about Ruth Ware's The Turn of the Key have been revealed just yet, but fans of the author are no doubt already excited about her next thriller.
Release date: Aug. 6
Pumpkin Heads
Rainbow Rowell — author of Fangirl and Eleanor and Park — is back with the graphic novel Pumpkin Heads. The story about two teens' last night working in their beloved pumpkin patch is sure to be an Autumn favourite.
Release date: Aug. 27