Traditionally, January and February are slow months for me as far as scheduled reviews go.  Not so in 2019!  My winter calendar is already bulging with books that need to be read and reviewed.  All of these are new (and new-ish)  releases and yet, there are still more bright, shiny 2019 books that I'd like to get to in the near future.  I'm going to hit you with a list of 10 (okay, 12) in just a sec, but first ... If you want to join in this week's Top Ten Tuesday fun (and you totally do), click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl, read up on a few TTT guidelines, make your own list, and spend some happy hours visiting other people's blogs to peruse their lists.  It's a good time!  Not to mention a great way to discover new blogs, drop in on old favorites, and of course, add great-looking books to your TBR list. 

Okay, here we go with my Top Ten (Ahem, 12) Most Anticipated Book Releases for the First Half of 2019:


1.  The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner (available March 19)—I'm actually almost finished with this dual timeline novel about an 81-year-old woman with Alzheimer's who's desperate to find and thank an old friend she met at the Crystal City, Texas, internment camp during World War II before her disease erases all her memories for good.  It's an intriguing novel, although it actually reads more like a memoir.


2.  Within These Lines by Stephanie Morrill (available March 5)—In the same vein as Meissner's WWII novel is this one about an Italian-American teen who falls in love with a Japanese-American boy.  A romance between them would be scandalous, not to mention illegal.  When the boy is sent to an internment camp, his hope is kept alive by letters from his secret girlfriend, whose not so subtle support of Japanese-Americans could get her into some big trouble.


3.  Lovely War by Julie Berry (available March 5)—I enjoy Julie Berry's books, so I'm excited about her newest which concerns four young people torn apart by World War I.


4.  The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff (available February 5)—Jenoff's World War II novels are excellent.  This based-on-a-true-story novel about a ring of female secret agents who operated during the war sounds thrilling.


5.  Inheritance by Dani Shapiro (available January 15)—As a genealogy buff, I'm intrigued by stories like Shapiro's and the questions they raise.  This memoir is about the shock Shapiro receives when a DNA test she takes on a whim reveals that her father is not her biological parent and her subsequent search for her true identity. 


6.  The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker (available January 15)—This novel, about a troubling sleeping disease that descends on a California college town and the chaos that follows in its wake, sounds riveting.


7.  The Bell Rang by James E. Ransome (available January 15)—I love historical MG novels and this one, about a slave family whose son runs away from the plantation, sounds intriguing.


8.  Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams (available January 15)—As the adoptive mother of a bi-racial child, I'm always interested in books like this one.  It's about a young girl who struggles with her chaotic family life, the fact that her skin's not as light as she would like it to be, and her own journey to find out who she really is. 


9.  The Storm Keeper's Island by Catherine Doyle (January 22)—Another MG novel, this one concerns a magical island and the brewing fight over who will inherit the power to control it.


10.  The Current by Tim Johnston (available January 22)—I'm always up for a good murder mystery/small town secrets novel and this one sounds like just the ticket.  The story revolves around an "accident" that kills a young college student.  The incident bears an uncanny resemblance to another murderous event from the past, which propels a young woman to investigate both—to her own peril.


11.  The Lost Man by Jane Harper (available February 5)—I enjoyed both of the books in Harper's Aaron Falk series.  Her newest is a standalone, which is a little disappointing but still intriguing.  The plot summary on this one doesn't give away much, but it looks like another murder mystery set in the Australian outback.  I'm in!


12.  The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye (available January 8)—This historical thriller centers around a white woman from New York City who is on the run after an illicit deal gone wrong.  When she befriends a Pullman porter, who helps her find refuge at a blacks-only hotel in Portland, Oregon, she finds herself in the middle of a dangerous, racially-charged situation that will leave her smack in the middle of another tangled mess.

There you go, twelve new releases I'm excited to read.  What about you?  Which 2019 books are you looking forward to?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor.

Happy TTT!   

I've been so busy trying to catch up on reviews of books I read LAST year plus keeping up with those I'm scheduled to review THIS year that I haven't done Top Ten Tuesday in awhile.  I miss it!  This week's topic looks fun and easy, so I'm joining in.  You should, too.  All you have to do is click on over to The Broke and the Bookish, follow the directions, and you're in.  Easy cheesy.

Without further ado, here are the Top Ten Books on My Spring TBR List (ten I'm really looking forward to reading, anyway):


1.  Silence by Deborah Lytton—I'm hoping to get to this one really, really soon as I was supposed to have reviewed it a few days back.  It's about a girl with a golden voice whose greatest dream is to sing on Broadway.  Then, a tragic accident renders her deaf.  Sounds compelling, no?


2.  Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng—After a long wait, I've finally got this family drama/murder mystery out from the library.  I'm excited to see if it lives up to all the hype.


3.  Kiss Kill Vanish by Jessica Martinez—I'm intrigued by this YA novel about a girl trying to shed her old identity in a new country, only to have someone from her past show up to complicate things.


4.  Descent by Tim Johnston—I'm on the waiting list at the library for this one, which looks fantastic.  It's about a family vacationing in the Rocky Mountains when one of their children goes missing.


5.  The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty—I loved Big Little Lies and I've heard that Moriarty's other books are even better.  Can't wait to read this one.


6.  On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee—This dystopian sounds different, therefore I must check it out!


7.  The Hollow Ground by Natalie S. Harnett—I'm actually in the middle of this family drama/murder mystery set in Pennsylvania's coal mining country.  It's about a girl who finds a body in an abandoned monkey hole, a find that uncovers family secrets long buried.  So far, it's excellent.


8.  Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen—I've only read a couple of Dessen's books.  This one looks like a bit of a departure for her, so I'm interested to see what it's all about.


9.  Dead Wake by Erik Larson—I don't read a lot of non-fiction (a problem I need to remedy), but this book about the Lusitania sounds fascinating.


10.  Chestnut Street by Maeve Binchy—Several of my favorite authors, including Binchy, have died in the last few years, which makes me super sad.  I love Binchy's novels about everyday families in Ireland.  At the time of her death, she was working on a collection of stories about people living on an ordinary Dublin street.  Although I'm not big on short stories, I'll read anything by Binchy.

So, there you have it.  Kind of an eclectic list, but all ten are books I'm excited about.  Hopefully, I'll get to them this Spring.  How about you?  What's on your list?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  And, as always, happy reading :)