Books on the Horizon for 2012

With a new kitten in the house, little has been done to anticipate the upcoming books. I will rectify that.

But first, a picture of the kitten.

Now we may continue.

Many of the books I am looking forward to reading are sequels, including:

• Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness, the sequel to the delightful and suspenseful A Discovery of Witches (due out in the summer). (I apologize for not offering a review of the first novel, but I urge you to read it right away.)
• The Return of Shandar, the third in Jasper Fforde's Dragonslayer series, is due out in November. (I have been remiss in the second installment published in 2011. Please don't tell Mr. Fforde. The Last Dragonslayer, the first in the series, was amazing.)
• The as-yet untitled sequel to Miss Peregrin's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (publication date yet to be announced)

Other novels I anticipate that are not sequels include:

• Gold by Chris Cleave, author of Little Bee, whose story about the friendship between female athletes on the eve of a competition will be on my shelves as soon as it is avai
• What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander — I read his short story by the same name and found it was all I could talk about for days.
• The Odds by Stewart O'Nan — his books resonate with me and I can't wait to read about a story of a married couple on the edge who go for broke at Niagara Falls one weekend (it sounds like On Chesil Beach, another slim, powerful tome).
• Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon, about a real street in Northern California — and whose novel The Yiddish Policemen's Union stung and moved me

I also can't wait to see what new (or "new to me") authors I meet this year. I didn't expect Deborah Harkness, Nathan Englander, Chris Cleave or Jeffrey Eugenides (author of The Marriage Plot, which I can't wait to read) — so how many others will I be meet this year?

Every year is a discovery, so hang on to your bookmarks and let's get ready to read!