Some of the most anticipated books of 2024

2024 is almost here, and that means another year of great books ahead!

While we can’t share every exciting release of 2024, there are a few that already have quite a bit of buzz around them. Whether you’re a fan of spine-chilling thrillers, sweet romances or immersive fantasy reads, there’s something for every type of reader on this list.

Add these to your ‘to read’ list – and keep an eye out for more exciting announcements in the coming year.  

The most anticipated books of 2024

January

The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns

What’s on the horizon for Australia’s bestselling romance writer in 2024? Fans of Rachael Johns will delight in her upcoming novel, The Other Bridget. Named after the fictional Bridget Jones, a young librarian with the same name can’t help but believe that she’s cursed in love. But when a handsome barista joins her book club, she’s unsure whether he might actually be interested. No matter how hard she tries though, Bridget can’t stop thinking about her cranky neighbour instead. With a cast of colourful friends, she tests the two men by finding the perfect books to capture their very different hearts.

Follow the author: @rachaeljohnsisanauthor

The Fury by Alex Michaelides

From the bestselling author of The Silent Patient comes this gripping love-story-meets-thriller. One spring morning, a reclusive ex-movie star invites a group of friends to a getaway on her private island off the coast of Mykonos. But beneath the old friendship bubbles violent passion and resentment. Within forty-eight hours, one of them will be dead. If you think you know what happens, think again.

Follow the author: @alex.michaelides

Februrary

Joy Moody is Out of Time by Kerryn Mayne

Kerryn Mayne’s new novel follows the proprietor of a premier laundromat, Joy Moody, whose secrets are even more unusual than her bright pink shop. For most of her twin daughters’ lives, Joy has been telling them a big fat lie. Claiming that the girls are from the future, she’s always promised them that once they turn twenty-one, they’ll travel back to the year 2050. Unable to face the reality of how the two girls came to live with her, Joy has even started to believe her own colourful story. But with the twins’ twenty-first birthday fast approaching, time is running out for Joy – in more ways than one.

Follow the author: @kerrynmayneauthor

March

Until August by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Until August is the extraordinary lost novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, author of One Hundred Years of Solitude. The posthumously published book is a stunning example of the Nobel Prize-winning author’s talent at work. Ana Magdalena Bach is happily married with no reason to escape the world she’s made with her husband and children. Yet every August, she travels to the island where her mother was buried and takes a new lover for one night. Constantly surprising and wonderfully sensual, this book is a meditation on freedom, regret and the mysteries of love. 

Devil’s Kitchen by Candice Fox

The best criminals are the ones you’d least expect. For years, the firefighters of New York’s Engine 99 have rushed fearlessly into hot zones to save lives and put out blazes. They’ve also stolen millions from banks, jewellery stores and galleries while doing it. With their insider knowledge and specialist equipment, it’s almost too easy to pull off heist after heist. Their newest crew member Andy Nearland isn’t all that she seems either. Unbeknownst to the other firefighters, she’s an undercover operative, hunting her fellow crew members for a host of crimes.

Follow the author: @candicefoxauthor

What I Would Do to You by Georgia Harper

In near-future Australia, the death penalty is back. But if the victim’s family wants the perpetrator to die, they have to do it themselves. What I Would Do to You follows one family through the court-sanctioned process, but as we learn each family member’s story, it becomes clear that killing the criminal just might destroy them too.

April

The Cryptic Clue by Amanda Hampson

In a follow-up to Amanda Hampson’s bestselling mystery, The Tea Ladies, comes the next book in the series: The Cryptic Clue. In the heart of Sydney’s rag-trade district, three crime-solving 1960s tea ladies have proved themselves useful resources to a local police officer. Now he needs their help . . . A coded message, a security threat, a bank robbery – what could go wrong?

Follow the author: @amandahampsonauthor

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

You might know Leigh Bardugo as the creator of the Grishaverse, which Netflix has recently adapted into a series: Shadow & Bone. In 2024, she’s coming out with a fantastical historical romance that is just as addictive as her previous books. In The Familiar, Luzia is a servant in the household of a Spanish nobleman. When the mistress of the house discovers her gift for magic, Luzia’s skills become increasingly exploited (and dangerous) as the king seeks any edge in his ongoing war with England.

Follow the author: @lbardugo

Funny Story by Emily Henry

Emily Henry’s next book follows two total strangers with one thing in common. When Daphne moves to her fiancé’s hometown to begin their life together, it’s fair to say she’s shocked when he cheats on her with his childhood best friend, Petra. Because she feels sorry for Petra’s ex-boyfriend, Daphne invites him to live with her as a (temporary) roommate. But when he convinces her to give the town a second chance, she just might fall for the place – and him.

Follow the author: @emilyhenrywrites

My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes

Anna Walsh had a dream life (according to everyone else). A long-term boyfriend, a high-flying PR job in New York City . . . so why did she decide to burn it all down? Back in Dublin, she's now living with her parents and trying to figure out how to fall in love with life again. When the opportunity to solve a PR crisis in a tiny town arises, she can’t help but jump at the opportunity. When an old love interest resurfaces, will it derail her plans?

Follow the author: @marian_keyes

May

Table for Two by Amor Towles

From the author of The Gentleman in Moscow, Rules of Civility and The Lincoln Highway comes a collection of short stories based in New York City and a novella set in Golden Age Hollywood.

The New York Stories all take place around the year 2000 and consider the consequences of brief encounters and the delicate mechanics that make up (and uphold) modern marriage.

The novella, Eve in Hollywood, describes the future that Evelyn Ross (from Rules of Civility) crafts for herself fate roving to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, it’s a magnificent journey through movie sets, bungalows and the dive bars of LA.

Follow the author: @amortowles

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan

From the multimillion-copy bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians comes this new romance follows the debt-ridden future Earl of Greshambury as he attempts to seduce a wealthy woman to help pay his bills. Luckily, his sister’s wedding provides the perfect opportunity. Will he woo the French hotel heiress? Maybe he’ll go for the venture capital genius. But when a hot mic exposes a secret tryst, the Gresham family plans – and reputation – go up in flames.

Follow the author: @kevinkwanbooks

Psykhe by Kate Forsyth

In this new retelling of the story of Psykhe, Kate Forsyth masterfully gives agency to the much-loved myth. Psykhe has always been different, but when she unwittingly provokes Venus, she and her sisters lose everything. When she falls in love with a man whose face she is forbidden to see, it will take everything she has to save him – even if it means travelling into the realm of the dead. But while getting there is easy, it’s the return journey she’ll have to worry about.

Follow the author: @kate_forsyth_

June 

Love Unleashed by Melanie Saward

Bec Wallace is a Wakka Wakka woman who dreams of leaving her Brisbane life behind for a fabulous career in the New York City publishing scene. When her mum passes away from cancer, she leaves Bec with one last gift: a plane ticket and instruction to go chase her dreams. But finding the perfect job in NYC isn’t easy, and Bec finds herself wearing jeans and walking dogs instead of strutting around Manhattan in Louboutins. When she meets the handsome Louis, who happens to be a commissioning editor at a big publishing house, it seems like all her dreams might finally come true.  

Follow the author: @littleredwrites

The Creeper by Margaret Hickey

Victim . . . or killer? For the last decade, the small town of Edenville has been haunted by a horrific incident in which five hikers were killed. Found dead near the scene was Bill ‘Creeper’ Durant and the police ruled the crime murder-suicide. Case closed. But as the tenth anniversary of the crime draws near, Detective Constable Sally White begins uncovering a bigger picture. It turns out that each of the hikers might have had something to hide. So what really happened?

Follow the author: @margaret.hickey.35

November

This Kingdom of Dust by David Dyer

 Do you ever ask yourself: ‘What if history had gone differently?’ In This Kingdom of Dust, author David Dyer projects this thought experiment onto the 1969 moon landing. The lunar spacecraft’s ascent engine was a ‘spof’ – a single point of failure. If something had gone wrong, the astronauts would have been stranded without hope. Most horrifying of all, they would have remained in contact with Earth until they were dead. This thought-provoking novel imagines what it would have been like if NASA’s deepest fear came true. What would Buzz have thought while fighting for his life? What would everyone back home think, feel and believe? How might a horror like that have impacted our perspective on life, the world and space travel?

Follow the author: https://www.facebook.com/DavidDyerAuthor  

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