Besides the seasonal Top Ten Tuesday prompts, my favorite ones are those that focus on new releases. Even though I have THOUSANDS of older titles on my TBR lists, my head is always turned by these bright, shiny up-and-comers. I love knowing what titles are forthcoming so I can get excited about reading them! So, yay for today's TTT topic: Top Ten Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2025. 

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.

Thanks to ARCs, I've already read a few of the July-December titles I was looking forward to most, including:

The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware (available July 8)

That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White (available July 22)

Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell (available July 29)

You Belong Here by Megan Miranda (available July 29)

Last Light Over Galveston by Jennifer L. Wright (available August 1)

Where Only Storms Grow by Alyssa Colman (available August 19)

Murder in Miniature by Katie Tietjen (available September 23)

Outside by Jennifer L. Holm (available October 7)

The Burning Library by Gilly Macmillan (available November 18)

(The title hyperlinks will take you to my review of the book on Goodreads.)

Here are ten I haven't read yet, in order of publication:

1. The View From Lake Como by Adriana Trigiani (available July 8)—It's been a hot minute since I've read anything by Trigiani, but I've enjoyed many of her books in the past. This one centers around a woman whose heart has been broken by her recent divorce. When another tragedy hits, she retreats to her ancestral home in Italy, where she uncovers secrets about her family's past. As she learns more about her kin, she also learns more about herself and her place in the world, all of which might be exactly what she needs to heal and begin her life anew.

2. Everyone Is Lying to You by Jo Piazza (available July 15)—Although they were best friends in college, Bex and Lizzie haven't seen each other in years. Bex disappeared after graduation, eventually transforming herself into a trad wife who shows off her perfect family life to her millions of Instagram followers. When Bex reaches out, offering a struggling Lizzie an opportunity to share some of the limelight, Lizzie can't refuse. When Bex disappears again and her husband is found dead at their ranch, Lizzie is left with a million questions. Who is Bex now? What has she done to get where she is? Did she kill her husband or is she the one who's become a victim? It's up to Lizzie to find out.

3. D.J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T. by Abby White (available August 5)—This YA novel stars the titular character, a teenage girl who is prepping for her bat mitzvah while also trying to figure out what really happened to her cousin. Everyone says Rachel took her own life; D.J. is convinced she was murdered.

4. The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols (available August 19)—Mrs. B is the landlady of a series of bungalows near the beach in Santa Barbara, California. She's careful about renters, letting only to people she cares about. As a result, she's surrounded by an eclectic group of lovable misfits. When an ex-con who maybe has the potential to be violent moves in and a dead body is soon found in the neighborhood, the police naturally suspect the former prisoner. Mrs. B is so sure he's not a murderer that she confesses to the crime herself. Her arrest prompts her tenants to form an investigation club to find the real killer and free their beloved landlady.

5. The Book of Lost Hours by Hayley Gelfuso (available August 26)—The time space is a library of books filled with the memories of the dead, one that can be accessed only by special timepieces that were passed down from father-to-son, although they're now mostly possessed by the government. Lisavet Levy is an 11-year-old girl who was hidden in the time space in 1938 by her watchmaker father, who never returned. When she discovers that government agents are destroying books in the time space, she sets out to save them. 

The premise of this one sounds complicated (I'm not sure if I've described it correctly), but intriguing. I'm in! 

6. The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown (available September 9)—I'm probably going to have to reread the first five books in the Robert Langdon series before I move on to this sixth installment, but that's okay. In this newest book, the symbology professor is in Prague attending a lecture given by his new girlfriend, Katherine Solomon. She is about to publish an explosive new book that could shatter long-held beliefs about human consciousness. When a murder occurs and Katherine vanishes along with her manuscript, Langdon finds himself on a desperate, dangerous search for answers and for his missing girlfriend.

7. The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (available September 16)—Since I'm not totally sure I understand what this one is about, here's the official plot summary:

8. You Are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder by Maureen Johnson (available September 16)—This short YA novel is supposed to be an "interactive" murder mystery, although I'm not quite sure on the details. At any rate, it's about a group of people, each of whom is hiding a guilty secret, who are invited by an anonymous source to a posh house party. When one of them is killed, seemingly without anyone seeing a thing, Scotland Yard is completely flummoxed. Needing a fresh pair of eyes, they call in, well, you, to solve the murder. 

Sounds fun!

9. The Whisper Place by Mindy Mejia (available September 16)—I reread the first book in Mejia's Iowa Mysteries series earlier this year, then read the second installment right after. Since I enjoyed both so much, I was thrilled to discover that a third one is coming out soon. Fortunately, I was able to secure an e-ARC, so I'm already a few chapters into this engrossing mystery.

Old friends Max Summelin (a longtime police officer) and Jonah Kendrick (a tortured psychic) have formed a private detective agency that is doing well, but not well enough to turn away business. So, when a scruffy young man drops $20,000 in cash on their desk, begging the duo to do anything necessary to find his missing girlfriend, they can't really refuse, no matter how sketchy the whole thing seems. Turns out, the young man doesn't even know his girlfriend's real name. Max and Jonah have their work cut out for them. Who is the young woman, really? Did she run away when her boyfriend started asking too many questions or did someone else cause her disappearance? 

10. 6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk (available September 23)— This murder mystery gets a low overall rating on Goodreads, but I don't care, I'm going to read it anyway! I love a locked room mystery and trains make such compelling settings for them. In this one, a writer is using the six-hour train ride from Toronto to Montreal to get some much-needed work done on her book. All of her plans go awry when her fellow passenger suddenly dies. Soon, the peaceful journey becomes a desperate race for survival against a vicious killer. 

There you are, ten upcoming titles that I'm excited to read. How about you? Which ones are you looking forward to? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.