Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
I missed this topic a few weeks back, but there are SO MANY amazing books to be released this year. I keep finding new ones to gawk at and feeling overwhelmed at the amount of reading I have to do to catch up.
The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett (Sept 15, 2020)- This is the prequel I never knew I needed. It’s a Kingsbridge novel set during the Viking Age. A KINGSBRIDGE NOVEL SET IN THE VIKING AGE!!! A favorite series by a beloved author during my favorite time period. It’s like Follett wrote it just for me.
War Lord by Bernard Cornwell (Nov 24, 2020) – I’m sorry to start this list with two pieces mostly unrelated to my blog content- but when I found out about this title just a couple weeks after Follett’s, it felt like Christmas was coming early. I’ll probably sob my whole way through this book because I know it’s the last but I have never loved any fictional character as much as I love Uhtred. I cannot wait to get my hands on it.
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (Oct 13, 2020) – I’ve been eager for this too, since I first heard about it in spring. Although her Sixth World series (that starts with Trail of Lightning) wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, I loved her short story, Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience and I’m hoping to see more of what drew me in about that story here.
The Trials of Koli by M.R. Carey (Sept. 15, 2020) – The Book of Koli has undoubtedly been my favorite read so far this year, so I can’t leave it’s sequel off the list.
The Tower of Fools by Andrzej Sapkowski (Oct 27, 2020) – I can’t tell if this is set in the same world as The Witcher, but regardless I’m thrilled to see this. It’s been around for quite some time, but it’s never been translated before. I’ve seen some reviews that said this is Sapkowski’s best, so even though there’s no Geralt, I’ll be there with bells on.
The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher (Oct 6, 2020) – We all know how much I love horror, and while I still haven’t had a chance to try Kingfisher, I’m super excited for this. The blurb reminded me of House of Leaves and also like the Horror version of Ten Thousand Doors of January. No idea how that would work exactly but I’m there for it.
Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones (Sep 1, 2020) – After the most excellent Mapping the Interior, and the even more excellent The Only Good Indians (RTC), consider me an official fan of Stephen Graham Jones. This is what I think of when I hear the term literary horror and it’s brilliant.
Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley (Aug 25, 2020) – According to the author’s twitter, the first word of this book is “Bro” and Grendel’s mother “is a warrior woman, not an ugly troll woman”. I was thrilled with her modern contemporary retelling- The Mere Wife, and I am so excited for this modern feminist translation of Beowulf.
Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger (Oct 6, 2020) – I’m in love with the premise of this – two strangers confess their problems to each other on a train. A few days later, one of those problems mysteriously disappears…
The Relentless Moon (The Lady Astronaut #3) by Mary Robinette Kowal (Jul 14, 2020) – Okay, so this one is cheating, since it’s already been released, but I haven’t read it yet. It is on hold at my library though! If you haven’t read this series yet, I highly recommend checking it out (starting with the short story The Lady Astronaut of Mars).
I’ve been out of the loop – so I’m curious, which new releases are you most looking forward to?
Hamlets & Hyperspace 
The Pillars of the Earth was an amazing read – I’ve been curious about the Viking Age exploration as well – and Black Sun is high on my most-anticipated list as well.
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Pillars of the Earth is probably one of my all time favorites. Have you read the others? World Without End and A Column of Fire? WWE is probably my favorite of the bunch while I think ACoF is pretty safe to skip.
And Black Sun is probably my most anticipated Fantasy read of the year so far.
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I did read World Without End but haven’t picked up Column of Fire…yet. 😉
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Well I hope you love it!
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The Only Good Indians is currently in the top spot for my favorite book of the year, so I’m thrilled to hear you loved it too. Awesome list, I’m also very excited about Black Sun! Oh and The Trials of Koli and The Hollow Places!
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I am so glad you loved it. I think he’s starting to get more attention, but I really do think he’s one of the more underrated authors out there right now. He’s not getting enough credit lol. Will you try some of his older things also? He has a couple short story collections I’m excited about.
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Well, I definitely need to read The Evening and the Morning now!
My TTT .
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Its probably my most anticipated new release of the year. Already got declined for the ARC though- which bummed me out since they approved me for A Column of Fire last year.
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Some great books. War Lord is right up my alley as are a number of the others. https://pmprescott.blogspot.com/2020/08/ttt-081120.html
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Thanks for stopping by Patrick! I agree- the Saxon Stories is one of the best series out there right now. I’m sad it’s coming to an end but eager to see where Cornwall goes next also.
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Yikes, I still need to read the Lady Astronaut books! I own the first one, so I have no excuse. 😦 Soon!
I’m looking forward to Burning Roses by S.L. Huang (Little Red Ridinghood and Hou Yi the Archer fairy tale mashup retelling); These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (Romeo & Juliet retelling set in 1926 Shanghai); and Seven of Infinities by Aliette de Bodard (space opera featuring a sentient spaceship and a poor scholar who appears to be hiding a secret).
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Is that what These Violent Delights is about?! I had no idea. I think I would love that. Thanks for sharing!
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You’re welcome! I’m really hopeful for These Violent Delights — I was first drawn to it because of the pretty cover, but the blurb sounds good too.
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I have a thing for Shakespearean retellings. I’m not smart enough to understand Shakespeare- so pretending like the retellings are a good substitute makes me feel classy. LOL
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The retellings are totally a good substitute! I mean, Shakespeare was essentially writing in a different language, but because Early Modern English is so similar to our own Modern English, we forget that it can take WORK to understand it.
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I’d love to read everything by Shakespeare- but it’s absolutely a TON of work to get it. I also think that Shakespeare is very much meant to be experienced on stage rather than read but that’s a whole other issue.
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100% agree about the best way to experience Shakespeare. I have found, though, that when I watch Shakespeare’s plays it does help to have read the text (or at least a good summary) of it beforehand. And while ideally I would love to have read everything by Shakespeare (or at least all the plays) I really don’t think I have the dedication to actually sit down and read it all. 😉
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Yeah I don’t think I do either but reading it all is a nice goal to have I think. I was always in honors classes so I was relegated to reading some of his (now) more obscure stuff which sucked (Like Julius Caesar… et tu Brute?) No Midsummer Nights dream for me. Did I ever recommend you Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell? I’d love to find more historical fiction about Shakespeare. Seems like being exposed without the extra work 😂
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I know you’ve mentioned Cornwell, but I don’t remember if Fools and Mortals was the specific book. I’ll go check out its GR page. 🙂 I did read Midsummer Night’s Dream in school, as well as Romeo and Juliet, but we also studied some of the middle-popular stuff. Looking back at it now, I’m wondering which years I studied which plays, because I remember reading a lot more Shakespeare than is logical for any single class (since it wasn’t a college course on Shakespeare specifically).
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Fools and Mortals is about the writing of Midsummer Nights Dream. Fair warning, Will Shakespeare is a jerk in that one. In 8th grade I think I read one that I do not remember (Tempest? Something in Italy? Maybe not Shakespeare at all?). In 9th grade we read Romeo and Juliet. In tenth grade I read Julius Caesar. And that’s it! I want to say I might have read some of his other historical plays also in 10th grade but I think I blocked them out.
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Well, who knows what Shakespeare was really like? We watched the stage play “Something Rotten” a year or two ago, and Shakespeare’s a jerk in that one, too. 😉 I like The Tempest a lot. It’s one that I’ve re-read recently, too. I know I also read Hamlet in school, but I don’t remember now if my friends and I read it *for* school or just because we liked the Mel Gibson movie. Hmmm.
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HA!! I still need to read Hamlet. Sigh. So much to do.
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Honestly, I’d say just watch one of the (many) productions of Hamlet. You’ll probably get more out of it than reading it. That one is usually adapted really well.
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Nice! Thanks. Maybe I’ll even watch the Mel Gibson one. Although I sort of can’t stand him now.
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Yeah… I’d probably find a different version now. There are lots to choose from.
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Black Sun is also one of my most anticipated releases – it has a setting we rarely see in SFF and I haven’t read anything by Roanhorse so far but short stories.
Great list!
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I hope we aren’t let down. Her short stories are outstanding.
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That Lisa Unger book sounds exactly like a remake of Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith. You might want to check out Highsmith’s excellent thriller noir first. I didn’t realize that Carey had a sequel coming out for the Koli book. In fact, I feel like the first Koli novel just came out! With Stephen Graham Jones, I’m not surprised. He writes and publishes really fast, sometimes to his detriment (he could use a solid editor for content in some of his books, especially ones that come out with much smaller presses). I will say that the Mannequin book has caught my attention. The last books of Jones’s that I’ve enjoyed were After the People Lights Have Gone Off and The Last Final Girl.
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I’ll check out the Highsmith novel- thank you! Both of those books from SGJ are high on my list of next-to-read by him. I would recommend in return The Only Good Indians and Mapping the Interior. Loved them both. And I agree- I do think he needs some editing, but his stories are great.
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It’s always nice to have books to look forward to. I hope you enjoy all of them.
My TTT.
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It is! I think sometimes I get carried away with new releases though.
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OH YAYYYYY!! YOU ARE BACKKKK!! I was wondering what happened BUT I AM SOOO GLAD!! You were missed, Sarah!! 🥺❤️
And I am looking forward to reading Night of the Mannequins TOOOO!! 😍😍😍😍
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The new Roanhorse novel is high on my list of expected “new entries”, while I have not forgotten my promise to start reading Bernard Cornwell’s saga… 😉
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Haha- I know our reading lives are so busy. I’m envious of anyone who gets to read them for the first time lol.
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I’m totally hooked on the Last Kingdom series, thanks to you! 😀
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I’m glad you like it! It’s probably my all time favorite.
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I’m also SUPER looking forward to Black Sun–really love Roanhorse’s writing. I also want to read Relentless Moon but I have to read The Fated Sky first (for some reason I haven’t read that yet, whoops!)
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