1. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (available today!)—This adult contemporary novel features a pair of best friends who form an incredibly successful video game creation partnership. The story follows their lives over several decades. 

I can't tell exactly what the plot of this novel is, but I trust Zevin to deliver a powerful read. I'm looking forward to checking this one out soon.

2. Upgrade by Blake Crouch (available July 12)—I'm not much for sci-fi, but I do love Crouch's immersive, engrossing mind-benders. His newest concerns Logan Ramsay, an ordinary guy with a dark past, who's been chosen for a genome upgrade. As Logan feels himself changing into something a little more—and a little less—than human, he wonders if evolving in this way is really the only way to save his species.

3. We Made It All Up by Margot Harrison (available July 12)—Moving from Montreal to Montana leaves Celeste feeling lonely and out of place. She finds solace in writing a fan fiction love story between the school's most popular guy and its resident stoner. When, at the urging of her only friend, Celeste tries to create reality out of her fantasy, a boy ends up dead. Celeste can't remember what happened on that fateful night. Is she responsible for his death? 

This YA mystery/thriller sounds intriguing!

4. The Night Ship by Jess Kidd (available August 4)—Based on the real-life story of Batavia, a ship that wrecked on an Australian island in the 17th Century, this dual-timeline tale sounds epic. Can't wait. 

5. Madwoman by Louisa Treger (available August 23)—Nellie Bly's famous investigative sojourn in an insane asylum on Blackwell's Island, New York, is the subject of this historical novel. 

6. The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (available August 30)—I've enjoyed this Knives Out-ish YA series and am looking forward to seeing how the story ends in this finale to the trilogy.

7. The Winter Orphans by Kristin Beck (available September 13)—Based on the true story of young World War II refugees who fled over snow-covered French mountain passes to escape the Nazis, this historical novel features a group of children hiding in a crumbling castle overseen by Swiss nurses. When Germany invades southern France, their safe haven is no more. Can the children's protectors smuggle them over the dangerous passes to safety? Or will all of their lives be lost in the attempt?

8. Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (available September 20)—This twisty psychological thriller sounds unique and compelling. It's about a mother who is shocked when she witnesses her funny, good-natured 17-year-old son murder a man in cold blood. When he's taken into custody, she's shattered with no idea what to do next. Upon awakening the next morning, she's stunned to realize that she's reliving the day of the murder. The next morning, she rewinds another day, then another. With time moving backward, can she figure out a way to stop the murder she witnessed before it happens? 

9. In Myrtle Peril by Elizabeth C. Bunce (available October 4)—I adore this middle-grade mystery series, so I'm excited for the next installment. In this fourth book, an heiress who was presumed to be lost at sea returns to claim her fortune. Myrtle's father is hired to determine whether the young lady is truly who she says she is. When he is waylaid by tonsilitis, it's up to Myrtle to solve the mystery as well as a murder her father may—or may not—have witnessed while in the throes of a fever.

10. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (available October 4)—Ng's newest is hard to describe, but it sounds fresh and interesting. Here's the official plot summary:

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic—including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.
 
Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn’t know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn’t wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.
 
Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s a story about the power—and limitations—of art to create change, the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and how any of us can survive a broken world with our hearts intact.

There you go, ten up-and-comers I'm eager to read. What do you think of my list? Are you excited about any of these? What new releases are you most 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.

Happy TTT!

A.J. has never changed a diaper in his life, though he is a modestly skilled gift wrapper ... he figures diaper changing and gift-wrapping must be related proficiencies ... The whole thing takes about twenty minutes.  Babies move more than books and aren't as conveniently shaped (50).  

If Jenny were a book, she would be a paperback just out of the box—no dog ears, no waterlogging, no creases in her spine.  A.J. would prefer a social worker with some obvious wear.  He imagines the synopsis on the back of the Jenny story:  when plucky Jenny from Fairfield, Connecticut, took a job as a social worker in the big city, she had no idea what she was getting into (64-65).

How can you not love a voice as rich and droll as this one?  It captivated me.  Fikry's story, though not all that original, is also compelling.  As are those of the other characters.  In fact, the only thing that kept me from not outright adoring The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry was its R-rated elements (F-bombs, sexual content, etc.), which seemed out of place in a tale that otherwise brims with an old-fashioned, classic type of charm.  If it weren't for these "aberrations," I would be gushing about this book right and left, pushing it on every bibliophile I know.  As is, I can only recommend it with reservations.  The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry has such appeal, I just wish Zevin had stripped out all the "mature" elements and kept it clean enough for book lovers of all ages to enjoy this homage to reading—and to life.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

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