This week on Broke and the Bookish we’re looking ahead, sharing our Top Ten Most Anticipated Reads for the First Half of 2017. 2017! Can you believe it? This coming year, I’m looking forward to continuing my favorite series, including new-to-me series Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab, and hope to find a few new favorites!

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
January 10th

I was extremely lucky to get an advanced copy from Net Galley – this book is absolutely stunning! A magical debut following Russian fairy tales, Vasilisa lives at the edge of the wilderness where winter lasts almost the entire year and snowdrifts grow taller than houses. After her mother dies, her father brings a new wife home to care for his children, but from the very start, the new stepmother forbids the family from honoring tradition, bringing forth failed crops and misfortune. In order to save her family, Vasilisa will have to defy them all, calling on long lost magic just as an even greater threat emerges from the gravest tale of them all.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber
January 31st

Sisters Tella and Scarlett have long dreamt of leaving their cruel father and the tiny island in which they live, patiently waiting for their invitation to the yearly Caraval performance, but when the day finally arrives, they’ll find an elaborate performance worth far more in trouble than gold. As soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by the show’s master planner who’s mysteriously organized the entire show around her disappearance, bringing on a dramatic game of love, heartbreak and high stakes magic.

4 3 2 1 by Paul Austor
January 31st

Archibald Isaac Ferguson is born nearly two weeks early on March 3, 1947 in Newark, New Jersey, but from a simple beginning comes a story of four “simultaneous and independent” Fergusons as four copies of the young boy lead very different lives after leaving the hospital that fateful night. An entirely inventive work promising grandiose prose and an unforgettable story of love, heartbreak, and choice itself, 4 3 2 1 is one of my most anticipated reads of 2017.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
February 7th

Neil Gaiman! This time the master story teller is back in action, gifting us a chronological tale of well-known Norse mythology in his entirely unique and dazzling prose.

The Year of the Comet by Sergei Lebeder
February 14th

Following boyhood in Russia at the start of the Soviet Union’s collapse, an idyllic childhood scene turns perfectly sinister as rumors of a serial killer spread throughout the neighborhood. From the setting, to the changes in Russia’s political climate, to the terrors of childhood, The Year of the Comet is perfectly intriguing to say the least.

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
February 21st

I just finished reading the first book in the Shades of Magic series, and I can’t wait to read more! I absolutely loved reading This Savage Song earlier in the year, and while the story here is very different, I see many of the same elements at work. I haven’t read the synopsis to this one yet, or the second, but I’m still very much excited!

Domina by L.S. Hilton
March 23rd

“Everything you thought you knew about Maestra… You don’t.”

Whether you love or hate Hilton’s domineering heroine, Judith Rashleigh, her follow-up novel to Maestra is sure to be a thrilling adventure in the French Riviera, full of decadence and danger.

The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti
March 28th

Can you believe it, I actually won a Goodreads giveaway! After spending years on the run, Samuel Hawley moves back to his late wife’s hometown with his teenage daughter. There, he finds work on a fishing boat while his daughter Loo struggles to fit in at school, fighting rumors of her mother’s mysterious death. Both are haunted by the twelve scars on Samuel’s body, from twelve bullets in his criminal past, a past now spilling into their present. A thrilling father daughter epic, spanning across America, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley studies the choices we make and the cost we pay to protect our family.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas
May 2nd

YES! Returned to the Spring Court, Feyre plays a dangerous game of deceit, fully determined to gather intel on Tamlin and the invading king, but in a world full of glam and glitter, who will she be able to trust?

Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab
June 13th

The story continues six months later, after Kate and August were suddenly thrown center stage in a war between monsters and humans. August has become the leader of Verity while Kate, now in Prosperity, has become a ruthless hunter, but when a new kind of monster emerges from the shadows, one who feeds on your inner most demons, Kate follows the trail back to Verity.

What are your most anticipated releases?