A new year means a new year of books. 2021 was one of my most productive years for reading yet and a big thanks to that is this website. Writing about books and browsing the new releases each month allows me to know what’s coming and discover books that I had previously not considered or known about.
A good example of that is this month’s releases. There is so many books coming out that I am just learning about now. Whether that is a new story by Hanya Yanagihara, the latest series from Linda Reilly, or a collection from Cherie Priest, the list of upcoming books is always a treat to discover new works.
One of the books I am looking forward to this month is Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan, a new fantasy series inspired by the Chinese moon goddess. Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester looks to be a good scare about a killer that is focusing on young women who are troublemakers. There are also some great mysteries and thrillers this month like Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner and A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham.
There are a lot of great books coming out this month. Below you will find my list of the best upcoming books for January 2022.
Best Upcoming Cozy Mystery Books: January 2022
Up to No Gouda by Linda Reilly: A brand new series from Linda Reilly begins. The series is called the Grilled Cheese Mysteries and if you know what I have for lunch twice a week, you know I will be definitely be checking this out. Up to No Gouda introduces us to Carly Hale who has just opened her dream restaurant, Carly’s Grilled Cheese Eatery. Her landlord is the town bully and things get complicated when one of her employees is accused of killing him. Carly sets out to find the killer before she finds herself as their next victim.
Magic in the Weave by Alys Clare: This will be the fourth book in the Gabriel Tavener Mystery series. The historical series sees the latest novel taking place in 1604 as the plague hits London and the theatres are closed down. A London threatre troupe heads to Plymouth on their Plague Tour. Gabriel is unnerved by the company’s staging of Othello and ready for them to leave town, but then one of the actors collapses and he must investigate who is after this troupe and why.
A Three Book Problem by Vicki Delany: The latest book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery sees Gemma Doyle on the case of poisoned dart that came through the library window to take a life.
The Librarian Always Rings Twice by Marty Wingate: Hayley Burke works at her local library as the curator of Lady Georgiana Fowling’s collection of Golden Age of Mystery writers’ first editions. She has just convinced her boss to let her open up the collection to the public when a man shows up who says that he is Lady Georgiana Fowling’s grandson. One of his associates sets out to prove it when he turns up dead. Lady Fowling’s unscrupulous nephew is accused of the crime and as much as Hayley can’t stand him, she knows he’s innocent.
Crimes and Covers by Amanda Flower: The fifth book in the Magical Bookshop Mystery takes place at Christmas time in Cascade Springs as the wedding of Violet Waverly is on the horizon. At the reception, Violet sees a dead woman that she had previously seen in her shop just days before. She was selling a book that was worth thousands, but she is found without it and on her hand she has written that it has been stolen. Violet decides to help by drawing on her bookshop’s magical consciousness.
Best Upcoming Fantasy/Sci-Fi Books: January 2022
The Starless Crown by James Rollins: When a gifted student foretells of the apocalypse she doesn’t realize that it will be her death sentence. She ends up fleeing and meeting up with a team of outcasts that includes a broken soldier, drunken prince, and imprisoned thief. The group must learn to trust each other to survive in this world.
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara : This story takes place in an alternate version of 1893 America. New York is part of the Free States where people are allowed to live and love however they please. The young scion of a distinguished family is drawn to a charming music teacher from a poor upbringing. It also takes place in 1993 as Manhattan deals with an AIDS epidemic while a young Hawaiian man lives with his older, wealthier partner. Then in 2093, a young girl tries to navigate life in a world riven by plagues and totalitarian rule. The three stories feature recurring notes and themes that deepen and enrich one another.
Anatomy by Dana Schwartz: Hazel is a lady who wants to be a surgeon at a time when women don’t do that sort of thing. Jack is a resurrection man trying to survive in a city. The two of them meet at the Edinburgh Anatomist’s Society and Hazel quickly realizes that she needs him. Surgeon Dr. Beecham will allow her to continue her medical career if she can pass the medical examination, but she won’t be allowed official lessons. She’ll work with Jack to improve her career, but what she’ll find is something much bigger: strange men in the cemeteries, friends going missing, and the return of the Roman Fever. The two must work together to uncover the secrets in Edinburgh society.
Quicksilver by Dean Koontz: Quinn Quicksilver never knew his parents, abandoned at just three days old, and has gone on to live an unexceptional life. Then the “strange magnetism” happens which draws him to the middle of nowhere where he finds some money. It also puts two government agents on his tail who send him fleeing for his life. He meets up with Bridget Rainking and her grandpa Sparky who are also on the run. As they run, they find something sinister in their rearview and Quinn discovers something sinister in himself.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan: This fantasy debut is inspired by the Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e. Xingyin grew up on the moon and is used to the solitude, but she is unaware that her reason for being here is to hide from the powerful Celestial Emperor. However, her magic flares and existence is discovered and she is forced to leave her home. She heads to the Celestial Kingdom where she gets an opportunity to learn alongside the Crown Prince, learning archery and the ways of magic. Passions ignite between her and her sister, but saving her mother is her ultimate quest and she’ll change the ruthless Celestial Emperor to do it.
Best Upcoming Horror Books: January 2022
Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester: Something known as The Cur is killing people. It leaves no traces outside of the torn bodies of the young troublemaker girls that it hunts. In 2019, a thirteen-year-old named Lila feels haunted from within by an evil that teachers her how to use her voice and then punishes her for it. In 2004, Caroline hears dogs everywhere she goes that no one else notices. She tries to get help for what she believes to be delusions, but they are beginning to take shape in her life. The two women, in two different generations, will chase the source of this power to its core.
Falconspeare by Mike Mignola: I normally don’t include graphic novels on this list, but when I see the name Mike Mignola I just have to. The creator of Hellboy is always great for a scare and his latest looks no different. Professor Meinhardt, Mr. Knox, and Ms. Van Sloan are monster hunters who are going to tackle their biggest question yet: What happened to their friend and vampire slayer extraordinaire, James Falconspeare?
Holy Terror by Cherie Priest: This collection of short fiction from the Queen of Horror, Cherie Priest features a series of haunting stories from Priest that showcase her range as a storyteller.
The Phantom Circuit by Austin C. Farmer: A twenty-eight-year-old woman learns her popstar sister has died. Now, a hacker is threatening to delete her sister’s Facebook and brings up Bloody Mary. Erica and her sister played this game as children and she has been haunted by it ever since. The hacker turns out to know a lot about them, but this hacker is no hacker at all: it’s the lost spirit of a girl who perished on the Oregon Trail. The spirit was sentenced by Bloody Mary to relieve the traumatic moments of her life forever and only Erica can help her.
Mestiza Blood by V. Castro: Another horror short story collection, this one focusing on the Chicana experience. Vastro mixes urban legend, folklore, life experience and heartache in stories both terrifying and personal.
Best Upcoming Mystery/Thriller Books: January 2022
Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner: This looks like it might be this month’s selection for “Janice’s unputdownable book of the month”. Helen has an idyllic life and a baby on the way. She starts to attend pre-natal classes where she meets a single mother named Rachel who is not maternal whatsoever. She smokes, drinks, and has little interested in parenthood. The two become friends as both are a bit lonely, but Rachel’s increasingly erratic behavior is worrisome. Helen soon realizes that her new friend may be linked to their shared history in unexpected ways and she’ll threaten to destroy her.
One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner: Missing persons expert Frankie Elkin heads to Wyoming where a young man has disappeared without a trace. The search team finds a threat to their survival and Frankie is put up against something very dark without much time to stop it.
The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis:: This mystery takes begins eight months after Lillian Carter lost her mother to the Spanish Flu in 1919. She has been one of the most popular artists’ models in New York City over the past six years, but now she is left grieving and desperate. She finds employment at the Frick Mansion for the demanding Helen Frick. She finds her life getting deeply entwined with the family and their drama. Fifty years later, an English model named Veronica gets a job at the former Frick mansion, now a museum. She finds a number of hidden messages in the Frick Collection that will send her on a hunt that could lead to a fortune and the solving of a decades-old murder.
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham: Six girls went missing when Chloe Davis was twelve. Her father confessed to the crimes and went away for life as the family was left to deal with the aftermath. Twenty years later, Chloe is a psychologist in Baton Rouge who is about to get married. She works with troubled teens, but finds her own life starting to spin out of control as well. When local girls start going missing, she starts to see parallels from her past. Or does she?
Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson: A man named Jeff Cook is in the airport telling the story of his adult life. His life changed for good when he rescued a drowning man years before. The man was an art dealer and Jeff starts to visit his gallery after the event. The art dealer doesn’t recognize him, but he ends up taking him under his wing as he sees something in him. He takes him into a world where value is shifting and what is real, and what matters is called into question.
Best Upcoming Romance Books: January 2022
Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon: Ari Abrams loves her job as a meteorologist. She was excited to work under the legendary weatherwoman Torrance Hale, but she is too distracted by her ex-relationship with the station’s news director to be the mentor that Ari wants her to be. She finds that the sports reporter Russell feels the same way and teams with him to solve their bosses’ relationship problems. As they start nudging their bosses back together, the two find themselves as the two who are getting closer.
Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall: The Duke of Malvern is Valentine Layton and he has twin problems. His father wanted him to marry Miss Arabella Tarleton, but she is romantic in a way that a marriage of convenience won’t do. Her twin brother Bonaventure “Bonny” Tarleton is also this way and expects him to prove himself to her. He ends up encouraging Valentine to do it and the two go together after her, but instead of falling Arabella, Valentine starts to fall for Bonny.
The Summer Proposal by Vi Keeland: A new standalone novel from Vi Keeland? Yes, please! This book sees a woman going on a blind date when she meets Max. Their chemistry is off the charts, but he wasn’t her true blind date. He only pretended to be. When her real date didn’t work out she decided to go to the hockey game he invited her to. Only to find out that he wasn’t going to the game, he was playing in it. When Max signs with a new team three-thousand miles away, he invites her to come with to forget her ex. She agrees, thinking that things can’t get too serious if they have an expiration date.
Juniper Hill by Devney Perry: Memphis Ward has just done the craziest thing she’s ever done by moving across the coutnry with her baby. She arrives in Quincy, Montana to start afresh and soon meets the most handsome man that she has ever seen. His name is Knox Eden and he is her temporary landlord, but she soon starts to believe that her new life will require giving up on her dreams and that includes Knox Eden.
On the Sweet Side by Audrey Carlan: Isabeau Collins loves baking and she has just returned home with a culinary degree in hand. She is ready to follow her dream of opening up her own cake shop, but life gets in the way. Two women show up claiming to be her half sisters and they have letters to Izzy from her late mother. She decides to put her plans aside and head to Colorado to connect with her sisters. She ends up finding the perfect location for her dream bakery and the dream man in the form of her contractor, Kyson. She worries that she is making a mistake, but also can’t help but wonder if this risky move could have the payoff of a lifetime.
January looks to be a great start to the year in reading. These are the books that I’m looking forward to reading this month. Let me know in the comments below any that I missed or books that you are reading this month.
