Most Anticipated Book Releases | 1st Quarter of 2021

[@EGrace-pw2hv]

I read a lot of translated fiction! In the UK my favorite indie publishers for translated works are: Tilted Axis (of course!) Charco Press Periene Press Nordisk Books Istros Books Fitzcarraldo Editions And surely others that I'm forgetting as I type this out. Fixed Ideas from Nordisk coming this spring seems like it might be up your street!

[@echigbee]

Such good recommendations! I’ve added half to me to read list.

[@acaciairving]

Plain Bad Heroines is amazing! It blew me away. super gothic. I loved it

[@Liz86000]

Very excited about "All the Murmuring Bones" by Angela Slatter (Mer people ? I'm there !) & "Madam" by Phoebe Wynne (you had me at Scotland) !

[@TheQuietMidden]

This was great. Thanks so much for all the work!

[@CUBS83]

The Yield sounds amazing! Like you, I didn't connect with Homegoing as much as others. Sadly, I felt the same about TK but it was an improvement for me in terms of storytelling, even if less experimental/unique. I think this is about my preferring to get to know characters deeply which Homegoing could not allow for, for obvious reasons. Let us know if you read TK! Happy reading!

[@splitreads]

I’m curious about We Run the Tides. It was offered on Libro FM and I was researching trying to decide if it’s for me. I can’t wait to also try Bryan Washington this new year!

[@NS-ws5py]

A memoir translated from french by Vanessa Springora, I think it's called "Consent". Brilliant, heartily recommend :)

[@rebeccamtb]

On your last point, I am also continually trying to increase the proportion of translated books I'm reading. You asked for publisher suggestions - Titled Axis Press publish exclusively translated fiction from Asia; Peirene Press publish translated European novellas; Archipelago Books and And Other Stories publish lots of translated fiction but not exclusively I think. I've come across good reads from all of them!

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Thanks for the great recs - it's super helpful!

[@jadedacademic]

This was very helpful! Thank you!❤

[@alexiarichardson651]

Yes! I would add Edinburgh-based Charco Press for Latin American fiction, they've only been going a few years but are consistently excellent and with really vibrant covers.

[@rebeccamtb]

@@alexiarichardson651 Oh yes Charco are great!

[@andrewrussell2845]

Hi Mercedes. On the non-fiction front there is Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera, due for release on 21st Jan, that looks at Britain's colonial past, as well as A Shot In The Dark: How a freed slave and a Confederate soldier fought for justice in the Jim Crow South by Ben Montgomery due for publication on Jan 26.

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Ohhh, thanks so much for the recommendations. One of the things I want to learn more about is Britain's colonial history so that first one sounds perfect 👍

[@bookietracey8670]

So many great books there. I have already preordered a few of these

[@bettyreads222]

welp there i go adding 10 books to my future hope to read list. we run the tides, madam, skyward inn, how beautiful we were and the removed sound so great.

[@fmrobinson1]

Brown Baby by Nikesh Shukla sounds good. Although you probably don’t need any more suggestions!

[@RoisinsReading]

Our anticipated releases have really overlapped! Definitely looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them

[@zuzanatimulakova5041]

What a great list. I recently saw US edition of Plain Bad Heroines in a bookshop and it definetly caught my eye so I am really eager to read it! We Run the Tides looks great too - if you like the stories of female/girl friendships with some bad twists, try The Burning Girl by Claire Messud... I didn’t love it, but enjoyed it quite a lot ☺️

[@hannahmay11]

Thank you so much Mercedes for the shoutout, that’s so kind 😅💓 and so many of these am I looking forward to! Can’t wait for everyone to enjoy open water! Non fiction wise I’m looking forward to: aftershocks by Nadia owusu (memoir) a still life (memoir on chronic illness!!) raceless by Georgina Lawton. X

[@MercysBookishMusings]

No worries, I've loved watching all your videos these past few months ☺️ those all sound great, thanks for the recommendations xx

[@leeh4343]

Yay The Yield! Went down well at my bookgroup last year too 😊

[@kimswhims8435]

The Yield by Tara June Winch, it has such an original structure, definitely one of my most favourite books read over the past couple of years.

[@wendycayless]

One of my favourite books of 2020!

[@Tutankhamun18Reads]

One of my favourite ways to find out about awesome fiction and non fiction is to go on the foyles website and look at their monthly blogpost showing whats coming out that month. That has been my virtual bookshop experience in 2020 hahah

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Ohhh, thanks - I'll have to look into that!

[@pastorytime2683]

Nothing I love more than a most anticipated book list! Plain Bad Heroines is also on my TBR... Very excited! And love Vendela Vida. Bert Fancies Nightshift! Xx

[@marja2909]

Since you asked for translated fiction: "The Eighth Life (for Brilka)" by Nino Harashwili will be published in English at the end of January. It's massive and I still haven't finished it -- but I've seen it as a theatre production last year (the producer of the play is friends with the author/was consulted by the author). And it was brilliant! The novel follows a family all throughout the 20th century in Georgia. It's devided into ~8 sections, each following another family member's life (so you can also split up your reading should it feel too long...). We learn a lot about Georgia's history and that of the Soviet Union. But also the generational conflicts. There's also a newer release by this author which is (very well reasearched) about the Chechnyan war. But I don't know if that one has been translated already. + I heard great things about Olga Grjasnowa's books

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Thanks so much for the recommendations! I really love the sound of The Eighth Life 😊

[@FlyingElectra]

Yes 👍 another video, you did manage to film both. When you said 25, I got scared 😂 I have added 5 to my TBR. I loved Hobson’s previous book about that teenager in the foster care system. I am looking forward to reading his next book. I have seen great review about White Ivy. I am intrigued by Jenni Fagan’s next book too. Thanks for all the work you’ve done researching these books !

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Hahaha, yeah 25 is a ridiculous amount! Go big or go home, hahaha.

[@FlyingElectra]

@@MercysBookishMusings and you are tricking us because you only got two books for Christmas 😂

[@jenvcampbell]

Bestiary is pronounced 'Beast-iary' here; I checked with K-Ming as, like you say, you can pronounce either way. I'm so excited about it, it sounds brilliant. x

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Yay, I prefer that pronunciation :D Thanks for letting me know xx

[@TheNovelSanctuary]

Ohhh really want to read A Room Called Earth

[@FHMS97]

omg what an exciting list of books!!!! ☺ i have so much to say lol Small Beer Press is AMAZING. i love short story collections and i heard about At the Mouth of the River of Bees from you so i read it and i loved it so much. Another fantastical short story collection from Small Beer Press that i read and loved this year--and that i think youd really enjoy as well--is Tender by Sofia Samatar. her writing is just gorgeous. the first short story of that collection alone is worth 5 stars. also im so happy you mentioned The Yield and White Ivy. theyre both SO GOOD and i really hope you enjoy them once you get to them!! i highly recommend White Ivy on audio especially - its narrated by emily zoo weller whos just an audiobook legend in my eyes haha there are a bunch of 2021 nonfiction books im anticipating: Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton (an essay collection about her work translating japanese novels and living in japan), Seek You by Kristen Radtke (a graphic novel about the author's experiences w loneliness), Everybody by Olivia Laing, Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, and Speak Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki Brina ☺

[@FHMS97]

for translated fiction coming out in 2021: There's No Such Thing As An Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura, Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin, Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge 😎

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Oh my, I love this comment! Thank you so much for all the recommendations - I'm now going to completely geek out looking into them all :D I haven't read any of them!

[@sarafairchild2588]

Just a quick note about a book that sounded great to me when I heard of it, containing Native American characters. It is called Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden. It peaked my curiousity after big court decision about the Native American connection to state governments here in the US. Thanks for your off the wall recs of books that I wouldn’t find anywhere else!

[@MercysBookishMusings]

I so want to read that one but it isn't published in the UK yet and is so expensive to get sent here! I'm waiting for the paperback release in the hope that it's cheaper 🤓

[@icedteabuttermilkbiscuits7474]

Open Water sounds right up my alley.

[@Wolfhailstorm]

Heard praise for transcendent kingdom too! I follow a lady on Instagram called Bookofcinz and she talks a lot about carribean releases ^^ Oh I also have how beautiful we were on Netgalley! I'm getting super excited for all of these now x

[@MercysBookishMusings]

I love BookofCinz - she has such great recs 😊

[@tphipps7665]

Recommend: Tonto and the Lone Ranger Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie (Native American author/poet)

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

The Yield is a book I’ve been eagerly awaiting its U.K. release. I read Transcendent Kingdom. The writing is excellent but I didn’t understand the end. 📖☕️📚🦋🎄🤩❄️👋☘️

[@jarenka3335]

In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova is coming out soon. It's an autobiographical novel by a Russian poet. Also maybe you've already read it but Copenhagen trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen is super good. It's also an autobiographical book by a poet and it has an extremely beautiful prose.

[@MercysBookishMusings]

No, I haven't read the Copenhagen trilogy but I've had it on my radar so I'm glad to hear you recommend it ;)

[@andraste6746]

The Yield is excellent.

[@CuriousReader]

Me and a few other Booktube friends are doing a translated literature project starting in 2021 called #invisiblecitiesproject. In connection with that we'll also regularly be doing anticipated releases of translated books videos and blog posts which might be helpful if you are looking for more titles to check out. At the top of my head, aside from Europa, Fitzcarraldo and Charco Press are amazing publishers for translated lit worth checking out. :)

[@Eva-me2ik]

Hi! I have Madam on my anticipated list too! For non fiction, I have a few on my radar but I don't know if it's your jam? I have Incomparable World: Black Britain: Writing back by S. I Martin (I'm unsure if it's actually non fiction or not) The Good Girls by Sonia Faleiro (I don't like true crime but I hope that it'll educate me on the growing conversation about sexual assault and rape in India); Radiant: The dancer, the scientist, a friendship forged in light by Liz Heinecke and In The Garden, an essay collection by various authors. That's what I have saved on my phone for now :)

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Ohhh, those all sound really interesting! Thanks for the recommendations ☺️

[@Wolfhailstorm]

I've heard good things about luster and I have Memorial and I believe Open Water via netgalley

[@amyg8677]

White Ivy was amazing!

[@nl3237]

Thanks for these recs ! Where do you look to find your anticipated releases?

[@MercysBookishMusings]

I look on publishers websites and at their catalogues :)

[@nl3237]

Thank you ❤

[@braincabbage]

A translated book I'm excited for is Tower by Bae Myung-hoon, an interconnected short story collection coming out in February and published by Honford Star, which is a fairly new publishing house that focuses on East Asian literature. In a similar vein, I cannot recommend Tilted Axis Press enough for translated fiction. Some nonfiction books I'm looking forward to are: Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho, Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera (I really need to learn more about colonialism's effects on the here and now), Some Body to Love by Alexandra Heminsley (about her partner transitioning) and A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Thank you so much for so many amazing recs! I also want to learn more about the history of colonism so I'll defo pick that one up. And I'm going to look into the others now 🤓 I've only read one tilted axis book but so many of them sound interesting so I need to pick some up xxx

[@braincabbage]

@@MercysBookishMusings I picked up a book that was published by Tilted Axis the other day which totally sounds like your cup of tea. It's Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge, maybe you've seen it, Jen hauled it not too long ago. I haven't read it yet but it sounds fabulist and it is told in the form of a bestiary of strange creatures, and the main character is a cryptozoologist.

[@KayAmpersand]

Recommendation for Native American authors - Louise Erdrich, Linda LeGarde Grover, Susan Power, and Kelli Jo Ford. Recommendation for translated literature - World Literature Today magazine is an excellent resource and Open Letter Books is an excellent publishing house of translated fiction.

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Thanks so much for the great recommendations ☺️

[@rosegreensummer]

i loved elmet but i hate soho etc, i'm so torn

[@mjmajo]

"native american" authors vs "native canadian" authors made me think that maybe you were talking about the native peoples of the whole of the american continent and got me excited about a potential south american native perspective, but i guess it wasn't! i know everyone is used to calling the USA as "america", but America is actually more than just the USA and it can be incredibly misleading sometimes. not a criticism of you, Mercedes--just an observation, i guess.

[@MercysBookishMusings]

I understand your frustrations. I use terms most commonly used by own voices writers and native American is most commonly used to refer to native peoples of the USA. If I was talking about both the USA and Canada I would say North America and not just America 👍

[@rosegreensummer]

daphne du maurier have nothing in common, so that is worrying