Happy new year! Without further ado, here is a selection of 20 upcoming titles I will be looking out for in 2018 (publication dates where known apply to the UK):
Among non-fiction titles, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari will be out in August as the historian turns his attention to issues in the present day following the success of Sapiens and Homo Deus. I have a particular interest in non-fiction concerning healthcare and medicine and two books I will be looking out for are Shapeshifters: On Medicine and Human Change by Gavin Francis and Brainstorm: Detective Stories from the World of Neurology by Suzanne O’Sullivan. Elsewhere, Feel Free by Zadie Smith is a collection of the celebrated author’s essays on a variety of subjects due in February.
The translated fiction title causing the most buzz right now is Lullaby by Leila Slimani (translated from the French by Sam Taylor), which is out later this month and is said to be a disturbing thriller set in Paris about a murderous babysitter. Another title which looks like it could have a big impact is The End of Loneliness by Benedict Wells (translated from the German by Charlotte Collins), a contemporary literary novel which won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2016 and is due in March. Elsewhere, The Fruits of My Labour by Karl Ove Knausgaard (translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett and Martin Aitken) will be released in August and is the final volume of his epic six-book cycle of autobiographical novels. I am also hopeful that Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami will be out this autumn. Although no publication date or translator(s) have been officially confirmed yet, the Amazon listing page suggests it could be out in the UK around September.
The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton are two of the most talked-about debut novels due to be published in the next few weeks. The former is a historical fiction novel set in the 18th century while Turton’s first book is a mind-bending high concept murder mystery. Due in March, Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday also sounds very promising, in which two seemingly unrelated stories concerning an American editor’s relationship with an older author and an Iraqi-American economist being detained at Heathrow Airport turn out to have surprising connections.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh is out in July and I hope the Man Booker Prize-shortlisted author’s second full-length novel about a young woman in hibernation is as darkly funny as Eileen. Another book which will hopefully avoid the Difficult Second Novel label is Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey due in April which sees a teenage girl return home safely after going missing for four days but refuses to tell anyone what happened to her. 2018 also looks like it could be a strong year for short story collections with Property by Lionel Shriver and You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld both due in April.
New books by established authors tend to be published later in the year in the run up to Christmas so I expect details of other titles will be released over the next few months. Of the books which have already been announced, I expect Melmoth by Sarah Perry will be one of the most highly anticipated. Her third novel due in October is inspired by the 1820 Charles Maturin gothic work ‘Melmoth the Wanderer’. Transcription by Kate Atkinson is due in September and is about a young woman who is recruited by an obscure department of the Secret Service during the Second World War and later works at the BBC when her life begins to unravel. However, there isn’t so long to wait for The Only Story by Julian Barnes which will be published in February. It tells the story of a nineteen-year-old student who falls in love with a much older woman and sounds like it is in a similar vein to the Man Booker Prize-winning The Sense of an Ending.
The second part of the Book of Dust trilogy, The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman, has already been completed and will be published in the autumn. Finally, I mentioned in my New Books Coming Soon in 2017 post that the fourth book in the Cormoran Strike series, Lethal White by Robert Galbraith, should be on its way soon. It didn’t arrive last year, and there is still no confirmation of a publication date, but I would love to see it make an appearance later this year (hopefully I haven’t just jinxed this again for another 12 months).
Which new books are you looking forward to reading this year?
A Little Blog of Books 
Some great books on here. Quite a few are on my most-anticipated list too, especially ‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’.
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Yes, it seems like that one is going to be very popular – hope it’s as good as others say it is!
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I have my eye on The End of Loneliness, too, partly because of its premise but also because of the excellent Charlotte Collins who translated The Tobacconist and A Whole Life so beautifully.
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Yes, I enjoyed both of those so I hope Wells meets my expectations too.
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I’ve read Lullaby by Slimani. This book disappointed me : I don’t really love the end… But this story is bloodcurdling!
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It sounds divisive but I’m still intrigued!
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Ah, I hadn’t heard about a new O’Sullivan book. That sounds appealing. I’ve been less than enthralled with a lot of Julian Barnes’ recent work, but I’m sure I’ll end up reading The Only Story some time. I’m very much looking forward to the third Sarah Perry novel already.
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Yes, I thought It’s All In Your Head was brilliant – such an important area of medicine which needs to be talked about more.
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I keep looking at lists and nothing is really catching my eye, although there are some interesting books on women’s suffrage coming up. However, this needs to be the year I get my TBR down, so this isn’t necessarily a bad thing!
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Yes, I think that will be a significant theme this year. Good luck with the TBR pile!
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I’ve added a few of these to my list to read over the coming year. Particularly looking forward to the Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – sounds like it good be a really great book!
Another I’m impatiently waiting for is The Last Mrs Parrish by Liv Constantine
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Yes, Seven Deaths sounds very intriguing – hope it lives up to the hype.
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I hope The Killing Commendatore also gets a translation in 2018!
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Fingers crossed – hoping it will be out by the end of the year!
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Ooo I didn’t know Kate Atkinson was releasing a new book this year! A great list!
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Yes, it’s definitely one of the highlights!
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of wow, a new Murakami!! Looking forward to the last book of the Wolf Hall trilogy, should be out this year
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Hope so – that one’s not officially confirmed either yet but fingers crossed!
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I really hope Lethal White makes it this year as well. I do enjoy her writing style quite a bit. Wasn’t aware of the Shriver! Great post
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Thanks, yes I hope so too, I love the characters!
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Holding out hope that Cormac McCarthy’s The Passenger will finally be released.
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Zadie Smith’s ‘Feel Free’ is on my wishlist. I have heard of the other ones you have listed here, but haven’t been as intrigued as I am with ‘Feel Free’. Will check out the other books you have mentioned.
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Hope you enjoy it!
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