Happy New Year! I hope 2025 is off to a good start for everyone. My first week of the year has mostly been spent in packing away Christmas decorations, cleaning my house, and trying to get myself organized for the year to come. The beginning of a new year always feels like a fresh start full of possibilities. We'll see what the year brings.

The first TTT prompt of the year is all about new releases we're excited about: Top Ten Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2025. There are a lot of great-looking books coming out and, honestly, I could have done a whole list of just those coming out in January. Or just sequels. I decided to leave out the sequels and choose a variety of titles I haven't talked about before that have been or will be released between January and May.

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

1. Radiant by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (published January 7)—Set in 1963, this middle-grade verse novel is about a young Black girl who's navigating life in a predominantly white Pennsylvania community. Amid Beatlemania, race riots, and the assassination of JFK, she struggles to find herself and her place in a confusing, chaotic world.

2. Freeze by Chris Priestley (available January 14)—Another middle-grade title, this one is a spooky tale about a girl whose class is given the assignment to write shivery stories with a winter theme. At first, it's fun to hear everyone's creepy ideas read aloud, but when Maya realizes that she features in all of them, she starts to feel a little...uneasy. As snow piles up outside the school, it becomes increasingly obvious that she and her classmates are going to be trapped inside for the forseeable future. Why does it suddenly seem like she's the star of a terrifying horror flick?

3. Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove (available January 21)—Carrie Starr, formerly a Chicago detective, fell apart after her daughter was murdered. In search of purpose, she accepts a job as the tribal marshal on the reservation where her father was raised. An unnerving amount of young women have disappeared from the rez and Carrie is tasked with finding the latest one. The investigation is taking its toll on the still-fragile detective, especially when she sees a mythological creature she recognizes from her father's fantastical tales. Either she's going crazy or something truly unimaginable is happening in her new home.

4. The Crash by Freida McFadden (available January 28)—All the mystery/thriller lovers I know seem to be raving about McFadden's books. I haven't tried her out yet, but her upcoming novel definitely sounds intriguing. The story revolves around a woman who is eight months pregnant and desperate to start a new life. She's driving to Maine to stay with her brother while she figures things out when she's trapped by a surprise blizzard. When a couple offers her a place to stay while she rides out the storm, she thinks she's saved. Then, things take a dangerous turn that will put both her life and that of her unborn child at grave risk.

5. The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths (available February 13)—The first in a new series, this novel stars police officer Ali Dawson, who works on cases so cold, they're practically frozen. Unbeknownst to most, Ali's team is able to travel back in time to investigate old mysteries. When Ali is tasked with clearing the name of an eccentric old man in Victorian England, she finds herself investigating a woman's murder. Things get complicated when Ali gets stuck in the 1850s with no way to get home.

6. Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister (available February 25)—McAllister's newest mystery/thriller has a simple, but very intriguing premise. A literary agent wakes up on the morning she's supposed to return to work after months of maternity leave only to find her husband gone, with only a cryptic note left in his place. Breaking news informs her that her missing spouse is involved in an escalating hostage situation—as the gunman.

7. The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn (available February 27)—This historical novel is about a wealthy English woman trapped in a loveless marriage, who is pushed into letting her young son be raised mostly by a nanny. When she is gifted tickets to sail to America onboard the Titanic, she jumps at the chance to get away with her son. The ship's sinking gives her a chance to shed her identity, fleeing a life she doesn't want. With nothing to her name but another woman's identity papers, can she survive on the streets of New York City? What will she do when someone threatens to expose her secret to her husband in England?

8. The Filling Station by Vanessa Miller (available March 11)—In the 1920s, there are few places Black Americans can safely stop to gas up while traveling. The Threatt Filling Station is one of them. It's not just a place to fill up on fuel, but a place to gather for support, community, and strength. After the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, it's where two sisters find refuge. What they really need is the courage to return to their hometown and rebuild their lives. Can they find what they need at the filling station?

9. Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson (available April 1)—Anderson's newest is a middle-grade historical novel centering around Elspeth Culpepper, a 13-year-old who's desperate to avoid being sent to an orphanage after her father disappears. Alone and scared, the young woman must deal with not just the Siege of Boston but also a smallpox outbreak that has the city in a panic. Can Elspeth safely navigate the chaos to find her missing father?

10. The River Knows Your Name by Kelly Mustian (available April 1)—I loved Mustian's debut novel, The Girls in the Stilt House, so I'm eager to read her second book. It concerns 42-year-old Nell, who was raised, along with her younger sister, by a reclusive mother who never spoke about her past. Nell promised her sister she wouldn't confront their mother about the birth certificate they found—the one that identifies a different woman as Evie's mother—but Nell can't shake the disturbing memories that still linger in her memory that hint at long-buried secrets and dangerous lies. 

11. Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala (available May 13)—Manansala's YA debut, this mystery stars Danika Dizon, a mystery lover who runs a tarot card reading business between classes. When one of her clients disappears after receiving a death card, Danika takes on the case, eager to prove to her parents that she deserves to be part of her family's detective agency. The more she digs into the missing girl's background, though, the darker—and more dangerous—the case becomes.

There you go, eleven upcoming releases I'm excited to read. How about you? Which 2025 books are you looking forward to? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I'll gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are settling into the new year with hope and resolve.  I've yet to make any resolutions, but I've definitely been thinking about what I want to accomplish this year, both on the blog and off.  What have you come up with?  Any big goals or plans?  Whatever you're shooting for, I wish you the very best of luck with it.

Today's Top Ten Tuesday concerns our Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2021.  I feel like I've talked a lot already about the new releases I'm most looking forward to, but I'll go ahead and give you ten more.  There are tons of great-sounding books coming out this year—I can't wait!

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

Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2021:  

1.  What You Never Knew by Jessica Hamilton (available April 13)—June Bennett is shocked when she inherits her family's ancestral home and island, which she thought had been sold after her father's mysterious disappearance thirty years ago.  When she returns to the island, she learns that her former neighbors believe her dad was murdered.  As June looks into the past, she's taunted by strange happenings in the present.  What is going on in her 100-year-old cottage?  And what really happened to her father?  Sounds compelling!

2.  Survive the Night by Riley Sager (available June 29)—This thriller features a student who uses his college's ride board to hitch a ride home to Ohio.  He's never met the driver and the longer the two are on the road together, the more frightened he becomes about who the man behind the wheel really is.  It's Sager, so I'm definitely in for this one.

3.  Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (available May 4, 2021)—The first installment in a new cozy culinary mystery series, this novel features a woman who is tasked with saving her Tita Rosie's struggling restaurant.  When her food critic ex-boyfriend is found dead, she finds herself playing Nancy Drew in order to save her own neck.  This one sounds similar to the Noodle House Mystery series by Vivien Chien, which I love, so I'm excited to check out this series debut.

4.  Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto (available April 27)—This mystery/rom-com sounds like a lot of fun.  It's all about a woman who accidentally kills her blind date.  When she calls her mother for help, her mother calls in her squad of sisters.  The aunties must help hide a corpse while trying to keep their wedding planning business afloat.  

5.  War and Millie McGonigle by Karen Cushman (available April 6)—This middle grade novel concerns a California girl who's life is changed irrevocably both by a faraway war and problems closer to home.  I'm always up for a World War II novel, so I'm curious to see what this one's all about.

6.  Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh (available February 23)—Ten years ago, a wealthy socialite disappeared with a whole lot of money.  When her body is found buried in the elite neighborhood where she lived, it becomes apparent that she didn't just skip town.  What really happened?  Color me intrigued!

7.  Starfish by Lisa Fipps (available March 9)—This body-positive MG novel revolves around a girl who is bullied because of her weight.  She finds solace in the swimming pool and with supportive people, who help her thrive in spite of her mother's constant criticism.

8.  Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson (available March 2)—I enjoyed A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, so I'm excited for this sequel.  This time around, Pip is on the hunt for a missing teenager.

9.  When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain (available April 13)—When a seasoned missing persons detective returns to her California hometown to grieve, she discovers that a local teen has vanished under mysterious circumstances.  The incident is eerily similar to one that occurred when she was a child.  Can she figure out what happened then and what is going on now?  Sounds compelling, no?

10.  The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. by David Levithan (available February 2)—When Aidan goes missing for almost a week, everyone wondered where he was.  He returns with an impossible story.  His brother, Lucas, wants to believe Aidan's wild story, but how can he?  With a vague premise like that, I'm definitely interested to see where this story goes ...

There you go, ten 2021 releases I'm looking forward to reading.  Which are on your list?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on yours.

Happy TTT!