January 2015: What’s New?

There’s no denying that 2014 has been an epic year for books, however I can’t help but feel that 2015 is going to be even better. There. I said it. The sheer amount of books hitting our shelves this year that I’m looking forward to is probably bigger than it’s ever been, so it’s with great difficulty that I’ve whittled the list down and broken it up month by month (otherwise we really would be here all day and possibly all night…) So grab those all important ‘To-Be-Read’ lists and start adding… January. It may be cold but it’s the start of a brand new year and what better way to celebrate than with a Lucy Diamond novel? The Year of Taking Chances is released on 1st January 2015 by Pan and is guaranteed to get your reading year off to a fabulous start. As well as Lucy Diamond some of my other favourite-authors-in-the-whole-world-ever make a return to our bookshelves and eReaders this month too. First up, forget the January diet with The Cake Shop In The Garden by Carole Matthews which is released in eBook format on the 8th by the lovely people at Sphere, swiftly followed by Jill Mansell who releases Three Amazing Things About You on 15th January with Headline Review. Then, just in case that wasn’t enough for you, Harriet Evans returns with the AMAZING A Place For Us, also on the 15th with Headline Review. Having read this novel in serialisations I honestly think it’s Harriet’s most gripping, exciting story yet. You’ll love it. Talking of love – Michele Gorman’s latest novel, The Curvy Girl’s Club, released on the 15th January by Avon, is all about loving yourself and saying ‘paaah!’ to our body image obsession. I love everything that this novel stands for and think it should be compulsory reading for all women. Another novel I’m really excited about reading is The Girl in The Photograph by Kate Riordan which is released on 15th January by Penguin. Kate Riordan is a new author to me but I’m hooked from the synopsis for this novel alone and I can’t wait to get stuck in. It sounds beautiful, haunting and utterly compelling. Now let’s talk debuts. There are SO many fantastic sounding debuts heading our way this year, many of which are actually released in January. (I thought Christmas was in December…? We’re being spoilt rotten by all those fabulous publishers!) Summertime by Vanessa Lafaye is top of my list, set for release 15th January by Orion. I’m also really excited to discover Alice and The Fly by James Rice which is also published on the 15th January by Hodder and Stroughton. I’ve also been completely enchanted by The Book of Lost and Found by Lucy Foley, published by Harper Collins on 15th January…that cover is simply magical. Sigh… Talking of beautiful covers, I also adore Fleur Smithwick’s How To Make A Friend which we can get hold of 29th January and is brought to us by Bantam Press. I’ve also become a fan of thrillers in a big way lately and the one I’m really, really excited about is The Ice Twins by S. K. Tremayne which will hit shelves on 29th January and is published by Harper. Another book which I think is going to be HUGE in 2015 is The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins. Everyone is talking about this book already and it’s not even officially out until 15th January and brought to us by Transworld. Lastly for the debuts…I’m sure you all know by now that I love dogs – therefore I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’m looking forward to getting a copy of House Broken by Sonja Yoerg which is released on the 6th January. LOOK. AT. THAT. COVER. 2014 was a big year for Young Adult and there looks to be some more brilliant titles heading our way for 2015 too, kicking off with the Red Eye series from Stripes Publishing. January 5th sees the release of the first two paperbacks in the series, Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell and Sleepless by Lou Morgan. I’ve talked about these books a lot on my blog and I’m really looking forward to sharing my reviews on 8th January as part of the Red Eye tour. So, as you can see January is a quiet old month really… Excuse me whilst I go CRAZY with excitement! Let me know which books you’re most looking forward to reading this month in the comments, on Twitter @BookaholicHolly or drop me an email holly.bookaholic@gmail.com