Besides seasonal TBR lists, my most favorite Top Ten Tuesday prompts are the ones about upcoming new releases. It's always fun to see what books loom on the publishing horizon and which titles everyone is excited about. This topic will be dangerous for my already overwhelming TBR pile mountain mountain chain, but I'm here for it!

My list is heavy on mysteries and thrillers, which is no surprise. Fall seems to be the time when lots of readers are in the mood for darker reads. I'm always up for a suspenseful novel and there seem to be many of them coming out soon. I've already mentioned a number of new releases I'm excited for in recent posts, so this list will be focused on ones I haven't talked about yet. 

As always, TTT is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Make sure you click over there and give her some love. 

1. Thicker Than Water by Megan Collins (available July 11)—Sienna and Julia are not just best friends, they're also business partners and sisters-in-law. Although they believe their unique bond can never be broken, it starts to bend when Jason—Sienna's beloved brother and Julia's imperfect husband—is accused of a brutal crime. Comatose Jason can't answer any questions, so it's up to the two women who love him most to clear his name. If he is, indeed, innocent, which is looking less and less likely...

2. Cutting Teeth by Chandler Baker (available July 18)—This one sounds a little zany, but still intriguing. It's about four moms who send their darling toddlers to the same preschool. When the pupils are overtaken by a strange medical condition that has them craving blood, their mothers are a bit...taken aback. Then, the kids' teacher is found dead. Suddenly, the moms and their adorable little bloodsuckers are all suspects in the murder.

3. Women of the Post by Joshunda Sanders (available July 18)—Inspired by the real story of the only all-Black battalion of women in the Women's Army Corps to serve overseas during World War II, this novel focuses on several American women who are sent to England with their unit to do the important task of sorting over one million pieces of mail for the troops. The assignment quickly becomes personal as the ladies get to know each other and discover a mysterious letter addressed to one of them. 

4. I'll Tell You No Lies by Amanda McCrina (available August 1)—After a devastating accident kills her mother, 18-year-old Shelby Blaine is wracked with grief. Adding insult to injury, her Air Force intelligence officer father receives a new assignment that requires them to move from West Germany to New York. It's 1955 and Shelby's dad is tasked with interrogating an escaped Soviet pilot. When Shelby meets the accused, she becomes hopelessly entangled in his story. As the stakes stack higher and higher against him, she must decide where her loyalties lie.

5. Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister (available August 1)—When a young woman is kidnapped, a detective starts searching for her. Then, the policewoman's family is threatened and she knows that solving the case will mean dooming everyone she loves most. Does she have the strength not to seek truth and justice? Can she really go through with framing an innocent person in order to save her family?

6. A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power (available August 8)—This triple-timeline novel tells the story of three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women in part through the eyes of the dolls they turned to for comfort in difficult times.

7. Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead (available October 5)—I'll read anything described as "Southern gothic" and this one sounds especially compelling. It's set in a small, God-fearing Louisana town that is steeped in eerie stories and superstition. When a skull is found in a swamp next to strange carved symbols, it puts the entire town on edge. Ruth, a librarian and the daughter of the town's charismatic preacher, soon realizes it's up to her and an old friend to confront their hometown's secrets in order to keep them all safe.

8. Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity by Elizabeth C. Bunce (available October 24)—I've mentioned how much I love this middle-grade mystery series before. It's super fun, especially on audio with the talented Bethan Rose Young narrating. This installment, #5, sees Myrtle accompanying Miss Judson to the estate the governess has just inherited on a remote Scottish island. Myrtle is thrilled to find out that not only is the old house rumored to be haunted, but also that it hides multiple mysteries. 

9. The Search for Us by Susan Azim Boyer (available October 24)—As a genealogist and an adoptive mother, I'm always intrigued by stories about DNA, adoption, long-lost family reunions, etc. This YA novel sounds right up my alley. It's about two half-siblings who are brought together through a DNA test. Together, they launch a search for the biological father neither of them has ever known, with whom they hope to reconnect for varying reasons. 

10. The Fiction Writer by Jillian Cantor (available November 28)—Nothing is going right for novelist Olivia Fitzgerald. Not only is her writing career in jeopardy, but her personal life is in tatters as well. When her publisher offers her a tantalizing and mysterious ghostwriting job, she jumps at the chance. Nothing is quite as it seems at the billionaire's estate where she will be working, nor is its owner...

There you go, ten new releases I can't wait to read. Which up-and-comers are you most excited for? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor. I also reply to TTT comments made here (although I'm still behind from last week).

Sometimes I have real trouble coming up with books to fit the Top Ten Tuesday topic du jour.  Then, a freebie comes along and I blank on that too! Yikes.  Since I don't want to tax my summer brain too much, I'm going to highlight more upcoming releases I'm eager to read.  I did a two-part TTT list on this topic back in March (here's Part One, here's Part Two) that focused on up-and-comers for the first part of the year.  Today's list will feature releases for the second half, although most of these titles come out this summer.    

If you want to join in the TTT fun, click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl for all the details.

(in order of release date)

1.  The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman (coming June 8, 2021)—I enjoyed Steadman's two previous thrillers, so I'm excited for her newest effort.  It concerns Mia Eliot, a British actress who comes to Hollywood for pilot season, hoping to land a lucrative, career-making job.  When a fellow actress, whom Mia met only briefly, disappears, Mia is questioned as the last person to see her.  Then, the missing woman reappears, but Mia's almost positive the two women are not the same.  Sounds intriguing!

2.  Eat Your Heart Out by Kelly deVos (coming June 29, 2021)—deVos is another author whose books I enjoy and the plot summary of her newest just makes me laugh.  It's a body-positive YA novel about a group of teens who are forced under mysterious circumstances to attend a weight-loss camp in Flagstaff, Arizona.  Nothing about the situation makes sense, especially not the other campers who seem...not quite alive.  As the teens try to uncover the camp's secrets, they find themselves in a surprising and desperate fight against rabid zombies. 

 

3.  A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe (coming July 20, 2021)—It's 1954 and Katharina Edgeworth is a wealthy, bored New York City housewife.  When she's recruited by the FBI to be an informant with the job of infiltrating the private world of a man from her past who has become a Soviet spy, it presents a tantalizing chance for Katharina to break free from her gilded cage and do something both exciting and important.

4.  Three Words for Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb (coming July 27, 2021)—Two estranged sisters set out on a trip across Europe to fulfill their grandmother's dying wish of delivering goodbye letters to people she once knew.  The duo must deal with their own strained relationship, confront family secrets, and travel in a time and place that feels increasingly dangerous.

5.  The Light of Luna Park by Addison Armstrong (coming August 10, 2021)—This historical novel revolves around a nurse who helps treat premature infants in 1937.  When she hears about Martin Couney's exhibit of the tiny babies at Coney Island, it changes her perspective, putting her in conflict with the doctors for whom she works.  As the mother of two babies born at 29 weeks gestation, I'm definitely interested in reading this dual-timeline novel, which sounds super interesting. 

6.  The Family Plot by Megan Collins (coming August 17, 2021)—Dahlia Lighthouse was raised on an isolated island under the strict guard of her true crime-obsessed parents.  Still haunted by the disappearance of her twin brother ten years ago, Dahlia returns to her childhood home where a gruesome discovery has been made: her brother's body has been buried in her father's plot.  How did his body end up there?  What really happened to Dahlia's brother?  Was he murdered by a serial killer or someone a lot closer to home?

7.  A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins (coming August 31, 2021)—When a man is found dead on a houseboat, three women who were close to him are investigated for murder.  There's not much of a plot summary for this one, but I like Hawkins so I'm in.

8.  Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (coming September 14, 2021)—Not gonna lie, I haven't been impressed with Moriarty's last couple novels.  I'm hoping her newest is as compelling as the older titles that I have loved by her.  Her latest is another family drama about a complicated family with some very intriguing secrets.

9.  Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan (coming October 19, 2021)—This historical novel is about a young woman who is grief-stricken over the impending death of her beloved younger brother.  George, who is captivated by a newly-published book called The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is desperate to know from whence Narnia came.  Despite her timidity about approaching C.S. Lewis, George's sister does it anyway.  The answer to George's question will change her life, even if it won't save her brother's. 

10.  The Pilot's Daughter by Meredith Jaeger (coming November 2, 2021)—Inspired by a real murder, this one revolves around a would-be reporter who is desperate to find her father, a pilot who goes missing during the waning days of World War II.  When she discovers love letters from a woman who is not her mother among her father's things, she's shocked—and even more desperate to find out where he is.  Can she figure out what happened to the father she loves, but apparently doesn't really know?   

There you go, ten upcoming releases I'm excited to read.  Do any catch your eye as well?  What new releases are you looking forward to bingeing on during the rest of 2021?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.