There is a never-ending onslaught of past and new books that make their way onto my TBR (to be read) list each year. With such a dazzling past year of book releases and a phenomenal new lineup for the upcoming 2023, I thought I would lay out a few of the books from this year and the next that are making their way onto my 2023 TBR list.
Beginning with new releases from the final few months of 2022, these books earned a spot on my radar as they were published, even if I wasn’t able to get around to them this year. The novels following me from 2022 into the new year are, in order of release, Naomi Novik’s The Golden Enclaves, Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, and Marissa Meyer’s Cursed. The Golden Enclaves is the third installment of Novik’s Scholomance series, an edgy, entertaining dive into the hidden world of magic through the eyes of a teenage girl destined for great evil, trying to survive the perils of an elite magical boarding school without killing or being killed. I picked up this series when it was initially released and finally had time over the summer to let it consume me. The third novel awaits me on my bedside table as I write this article, and I can’t wait to continue the story. Demon Copperhead, Kingsolver’s most recent release, organizes itself in the narrative style of Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield. As a lover of older literature, I am thrilled to hear nothing but rave reviews for how well Kingsolver has handled her inventive re-imagination. Finally, Cursed is the final novel in Meyer’s fairytale reimaginings, preceded by her previous novel, Gilded. Inspired by the tale of Rumplestiltskin, this dark duology has become one of my most anticipated fantasy releases.
As for books that I am anticipating in the new year, Natalie Haynes’s Stone Blind, Margaret Atwood’s Old Babes in the Wood, and R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface make the top of my list. Though technically published in September of 2022, Haynes’ Stone Blind will not be available for public purchase, at least where I live, until February of 2023. This year I read Haynes’s novel, Pandora’s Jar, a comprehensive look at ten different women of Greek mythology, and fell in love with her writing. Her new novel focuses entirely on the story of Medusa, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. Atwood’s newest collection of short stories, Old Babes in the Wood, promises fantastic stories of fantasy, including a conversation between herself and the famed George Orwell. And Finally, R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface unpacks some of the ways white privilege and cultural appropriation fit together when a white novelist steals the work of her Asian American friend, trying to pass it off as her own. If any of these novels pique your interest, I hope you support these authors in the upcoming year.