Top 10 Books I Can't Wait to Read

As we approach the new year, I want to wrap up this year, look forward to the next, and then look beyond even that - because, yes, I'm a greedy bookslut when it comes to stuffing my shelves!

This year I read 124 books, the shortest being 24 pages and the longest 1,232 pages. During the year I read some stinkers (Tell Me I’m Worthless comes to mind) and some disappointments (The Dragons of Deepwood Fen tops that list), but I also had my hand in proofreading or editing some absolutely amazing titles (but I won't play favorites there).

Anyway, to keep things going, here are the Top 10 Books I Can't Wait to Read next year, in order of (expected) publication:

1. Faebound by Saara El-Arifi - the first in a new trilogy that turns convention on its head and explores a queer high fantasy world where elves thrive and humans are legend.
2. A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks by David Gibbins - the king of underwater adventure stories steps out of fiction to explore the archaeological discoveries of twelve shipwrecks across time.
3. Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff - picks up where the first left off, thrusts us into increasingly deadly battles with the undead, and twists the silver blade just a bit deeper into Gabriel's heart.
4. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer - a provocative, thoughtful story about the relationship between a female robot and her human owner, exploring questions of intimacy, power, autonomy, and control.
5. You Like it Darker by Stephen King - a gift to we Faithful Readers who prefer the King of Horror at his darkest, with 12 short stories, many of which have never been published.
6. The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller - the “the queer Zombieland you didn’t know you needed,” packed with action, humor, sex, drag queens, lesbians, and zombies!
7. The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond - Dragons, ill-fated knights, scheming squires, and sapphic love, with deceptions and double-crosses. Fabulous!.
8. A Change of Place by Julie E. Czerneda - a long-awaited return to the cozy romantic fantasy of Marrowdell that takes us to the Verge, the magical realm of dragons and sei, for spring equinox.
9. The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst - a cosy fantasy following a woman's unexpected journey through the low-stakes market of illegal spell-selling and the high-risk business of starting over.
10. Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson - is the long-awaited climax to the first arc of the Stormlight Archive, with Dalinar Kholin challenging Odium to a contest of champions while the fate of the Cosmere hangs in the balance.