Roger's Reads

In this video, I’m chatting about 30 upcoming releases I’m looking forward to. Transcript is below.

Transcript

So today, I’m talking about 30 books that I can’t wait to read in 2021 so stick around to see what they are!

Well, hey friends! Roger here, and welcome to my channel Roger’s Reads. So today I’m talking about 30 books that are going to be released in 2021 that I’m looking forward to reading. So since there’s thirty of them, let’s get cracking!

So the first book is entitled Game Changer by Neil Schusterman. So I love Neil Schusterman’s writing, especially his Arc of a Sythe series, which I recently read. So this follows a boy named Ash, who, after being hit on the football field, is thrust into another dimension and then keeps falling into alternate universes, each weirder than the prior one. So it sounds like a lot of fun.

The next one is Under a Whispering Door by TJ Klune so given that this author is an autobuy for me. I was excited excited to read this one. And it follows a guy named Wallace Price who has died and is being collected at his funeral by a reaper. So the reaper takes him to a village where he meets a man named Hugo who is the owner of the tea shop and he’s a ferry man who crosses who takes the souls over to cross over. But wallace is not ready to abandon life yet quite yet and with Hugo’s help, he starts to learn about all the things that he missed. But the “Powers That Be” give Wallace one week to cross over. And so Wallace pretty much sets about living a lifetime in those seven days. So yeah. I’ve never been disappointed by anything this author has written so I’m looking forward to that one.

The next one is The Mysterious Disappearance of Aiden S by David Levithan. So David Levithan is another favorite author of mine and this book follows, I do believe, a high school boy named Aiden who disappeared for six days and then reappeared, telling quite a phenomenal story that nobody can quite believe. So he becomes an outcast and is taunted by others because of his outlandish story and of course we have to read the book to find out what that story is. And that’s going to be released on February 2nd. Well I do have the dates for the other ones. Yes, Game Changer February 9th and I don’t know when Under the Whispering Door is going to be released.

Next up is As Far as You’ll Take Me written by Phil Stamper. So this follows our main character Marty who arrives in London all excited to start his new life, where he is no longer the closeted shy kid who slips under the radar and is free to explore pretty much explore his sexuality without his parents disapproval. So from the outside, Marty’s life looks like the perfect fantasy. In a span of a few weeks, he’s made new friends, he’s getting closer with his first ever boyfriend, and he’s even traveling a bit around Europe. But marty knows that he cannot keep up the facade for much longer and I guess he hasn’t spoken to his parents at all since he’s arrived, and his savings are starting to run out. And he’s starting to get a little bit of a little bit homesick and experiencing some anxiety. So that’s about all I know about this story but I do enjoy — I did read the last book by this author and I did enjoy his work so I will reading this one as well. And this one will be released on a February 9th.

The next book is entitled The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer. So this follows two boys who are alone in space Ambrose and a Kodiak and they are sworn enemies and sent on the same rescue mission. So one of the boys, Ambrose, whose sister is the one that they’re being rescued or the sister is the one that they’re rescuing — has no memory of the launch. So I take it he has no idea how he ended up of this ship. And there’s some other weirdness going on as well. I guess there’s evidence that there’s strangers on board of the ship and the ship’s operating system is voiced by his mother. and his shipmate, the nemesis, has kind of barricaded himself away. So yeah, color me intrigued! And I guess that Ambrose and Kodak will then have to work together in order to survive, and learn to trust each other once they discover what it is if they’re truly up against. And I think this may have a romance aspect as well. This is going to be released on June 1st.

The next book is entitled Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo. And this book takes place in Chinatown in 1941 and it’s about two women, Lily and Kath who fell in love with each other. So the Telegraph Club is a lesbian bar and I’m not sure if it’s where they meet or where a pivotal event occurs. But this is a dangerous time to fall in love the 1950s, especially with the red scare paranoia, given that Lily is Chinese- American. So this is going to be released on January 19th, and I’m really looking forward to it.

Next up is Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan. And this follows a girl named Karina whose parents go abroad to Bangladesh for four weeks. I think now Karina is supposedly tutoring and fake dating a bad boy named Ace Clyde. I think that’s his name, but I imagine that real feelings begin to develop between the two of them as is often the case with the fake dating trope. And that’s really all I know about this. And given that I love the fake dating trope, I thought I’d check this book out. And it’s due out on May 4th.

So the next book on my list is entitled The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould. So the story takes place in Snakebite, Oregon where weird things are beginning to happen. Teenagers are showing up dead and are disappearing, and the weather is off-kilter, and there are those who believe that television’s most popular ghost hunters, who have just returned to town, may have something to do with it. So one of the characters here, Logan, is the daughter of the popular ghost hunters — her two dads. And the moment that they arrive, she gets the feeling that there’s more secrets buried here than they originally let on. So our teen in the town Ashley Barton’s boyfriend, was the first teen to go missing. But she’s felt his presence ever since. So now that the ghost hunters are in town, the ghost is following her and the only person Ashley can trust is the mysterious Logan, the daughter of the two ghost hunter dads. And I guess they team up to try to figure out what is haunting the town or what what is going on. And I guess their investigation ends up under unearthing some pretty dark secrets. So yeah, this one’s gonna be out on August 3rd.

The next book is entitled Every Vow You Break written by Peter Swanson, and you know, I typically enjoy thrillers by Peter Swanson and this one sounded really intriguing. And it follows a woman named Abigail whose life becomes a nightmare when a man with whom she’s had a regrettable one-night stand with shows up on her honeymoon. She has just married a millionaire. So right before her wedding, she kind of has a drunken one-night stand on her bachelorette party weekend and she started after that she put the incident behind her, and tries to forget that it ever happened. But the mysterious stranger suddenly appears and now supposedly her life and her happiness are put into jeopardy. He insists that their passionate night was just the beginning of something much much more — something special, something real, and he’s tracked her down to prove it. So she’s pretty much convinced that he’s a psychopath and even worse, she began seeing some strange things. There’s a terrified woman in the night shadows and supposedly, nobody at the resort believes her. So yes Peter Swanson, March 21st it’s due out.

The next book is entitled Later, by Stephen King. A new Stephen King novel, and this is coming out March 2nd. And this follows a boy named Jamie who is born with the ability to see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn — an ability that his mom urges him to keep secret. But then, supposedly a detective draws him into the pursuit of a killer who has, according to the synopsis, threatens to strike from beyond the grave. So sounds intriguing.

The next book is entitled The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker. So this is the long-awaited sequel to The Golem and the Jinni, a book that I’ve been patiently waiting for. So it follows Chava, a golem and Ahmad, the jinni, who supposedly encounter other beings of their own kind. So I absolutely adored the Golem and the Jinni. It was an immediate top favorite of mine. So I can’t wait to read the sequel, which will be due out on June 8th. So I hope that’s true.

Next up is a new book by Taylor Jenkins Reed entitled Malibu Rising. And this is the author of Daisy Jones and the Six. And all I know about this is that it follows four famous siblings who throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer and over the course of 24 hours, all their lives change forever. So sounds intriguing. Next up is the Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey. So I’ve read a couple of books by this author and this one sounds like a lot of fun. And it follows Martine who is a genetically cloned replica made from Evelyn Caldwell’s award-winning research. So the clone is supposedly patient and gentle and obedient — everything Evelyn is not. So things take a turn when Evelyn discovers that the clone is having an affair with Evelyn’s husband. So now he’s dead. Murdered, I assume? And both Caldwell wives have a mess to clean up. So sounds like a lot of fun.

Next up, number 14, is The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang. And this is the third book by Helen Huang, who writes romances. And I love the first two of her books and this is the third one in this series — The Kiss Quotient series, I do believe it’s called. And this book follows Quan, one of the characters in the other novels but this time he gets his own book. Now what’s different about this author’s work is that in each book, the main character is on the Autism spectrum, as is the author, I’m fairly certain. And I did absorb the other two books via audiobook so I and the narration was absolutely phenomenal so I will probably absorb this one in the same way. This is due out on August 17th.

Next up is You Have a Match by Emma Lord. And this is due out on January 12th. And this author is the author of Tweet Cute and follows Abby who signs up for a DNA service and discovers that she has an older sister that she didn’t know anything about — a sister who’s an instagram star named Savannah Tully. So they then decide to meet up at camp to figure out why Abby’s parents kept her sister a secret and all manner of complications ensue. Next book — One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite so let me read the synopsis of this one, as it just came to my attention. when teen socialist activist and history buff Kezi Smith is killed under mysterious circumstances after attending a social justice rally, her devastated sister Hapoi and her family are left reeling in the aftermath. As Kezi becomes another immortalized victim in the fight against police brutality, Happi begins to question the idealized way her sister is remembered — perfect…angelic…one of the good ones. Even as the phrase rings wrong in her mind—why are only certain people deemed worthy to be missed?—Happi and her sister Genny embark on a journey to honor Kezi in their own way, using an heirloom copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book as their guide. But there’s a twist to Kezi’s story that no one could’ve ever expected—one that will change everything all over again. And this one is due out on January 5th

So the next book is entitled Concrete Rose, written by Angie Thomas. So this is Angie Thomas’s third book and this one takes place again in Garden Heights but 17 years prior to the events that occurred in The Hate You Give. So this follows former gang legend seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter who is struggling to take care of his family and to earn money. To do so he deals for the King Lords. So things change when Maverick discovers that he’s a dad. So suddenly, he has a baby and he’s balancing trying to finish school raising a kid and of course fulfilling his duty to the King Lords. So when he’s offered a chance to go straight, he takes it. But you don’t just walk away from the King Lords, something Mav apparently learns, and according to the synopsis, loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. So yeah. I loved the first two books by Angie Thomas so I can’t wait to read this one. And again, when is this coming out? Did I mention it? January 12th.

So the next book is entitled Lore by Alexandra Bracken. So in this book — this world — every seven years as punishment for past rebellion, nine greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality. So this follows Lore Perseious whose family was murdered by a rival. So for years, she’s pushed away any thought of revenge against a man — now a god — responsible for their deaths. So when the next hunt begins, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore, believed long dead and gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods. So the goddess supposedly offers an alliance against their mutual enemy but Lore’s decision to bind her fate to Athena’s and rejoin the hunt, supposedly will come at a deadly cost. So I love stories about the greek gods so I can’t wait to read this one. Well, that is due out on January 5th.

So the next book is entitled The Wood Wife by Terry Windling. So this follows a woman named Maggie Black whose mentor and am acclaimed poet named Davis Cooper has mysteriously died in the canyons east of Tucson. He has bequeathed her his estate and the mystery of his life and death. So as she reads Cooper’s letters and learns the secret of his life, she supposedly comes face to face with some ancient spirits of the desert, and in the process, discovers the hidden power at its heart. And she ends up going on this amazing journey. So it sounds like a lot of fun. And that’s due out to January 19th.

The next book is entitled Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala. So I really enjoyed Ryan’s first book, Reverie, so I was really excited when I heard that he had a new one coming out. So this follows a boy named Raffy who is entering in, as an artist, into a cosplay competition and supposedly his main competition is his ex-boyfriend Luca. So supposedly, he has to juggle unresolved feelings about the boy who broke his heart. So that’s really all I know about this but idea of a cosplay competition sounds like a lot of fun. This one will be due out on January 5th.

Next up is the fourth volume in the Heartstopper series, written by Alice Oseman, and this is a graphic novel series. It is a super sweet romance series between two boys so I can’t wait for this one to come out.

The next book number 22, in fact, is entitled You’re the One That I Want by Simon James Green. This is due out on June 3rd. So I’m not sure if this is a gay Grease retelling or not but the synopsis sort of kind of interesting. So supposedly it is follows a guy named Freddy who goes from sweet, inoffensive, and kind to a kind of a bad boy — kind of like Sandra did in the movie Grease and that’s really all I know about this book. So I’m looking forward to it — You’re the One That I Want.

Next up is Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis. This is coming out on August 24th. So I love witchy books, as many of you know. This follows Katrell who earns a living talking to the dead. So things get weird when a ghost warns her to stop the summonings or she’ll burn everything down. But Katrell has no choice but to continue because she needs the money. This is how she earns her living. So when her next summoning accidentally raises someone from the dead, she learns that hey — raising the dead can make her a lot more money than ghostly apparitions can, so she has no intention of letting this lucrative new business go by. So naturally, dark forces began closing in on her and I imagine all hell breaks loose… perhaps in more ways than one. So another fun witchy book that I’m looking forward to.

So the next book is entitled Mina and the Undead. And this follows a seventeen-year-old girl named Mina who loves all things spooky — horror movies, vampire tours, spooky bars, spooky cemeteries, etc. So she arrives in New Orleans to visit her sister. So then she lands a part-time dream job at a horror movie mansion and meets Jared, a co-worker and fellow horror enthusiast. So things take a turn for the weird when Mina supposedly discovers a girl the body of a girl with puncture marks on her neck and a lock of hair which seems to resembles her sister’s hair. Whoops! So as it turns out, someone is replicating New Orleans’s most brutal supernatural killings and now Mina is on a quest to learn the truth, in order to prove her sister’s innocence. So yes, April 1st this one will be due out.

So the next book is entitled Survive the Night by Riley Sager. So yes, a new Riley Sager book. And I’ve read a couple other of his books that I’ve really enjoyed so I’m really happy to see that he’s coming up with a new one this year. And do I have a synopsis here. Yes, Josh Baxter, the man behind the wheel, is a virtual stranger to Charlie. They met at the campus ride board, each looking to share the long drive home to Ohio. Both have good reasons for wanting to get away. For Charlie, it’s guilt and grief over the murder of her best friend, who became the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer. For Josh, it’s to help care for his sick father. Or so he says. Like the Hitchcock heroine she’s named after, Charlie has her doubts. There’s something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn’t seem to want Charlie to see inside the car’s trunk. As they travel an empty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly worried Charlie begins to think she’s sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie’s suspicion merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination? And supposedly, what follows is a game of cat and mouse played on night-shrouded roads. So yes, sounds like a lot of fun. Can’t wait for this one.

Next up is local woman missing, by Mary Kubica. So this is another thriller and in this story, people go missing. The first is a woman named Shelby and shortly thereafter a woman named Meredith and her six-year-old daughter both vanished just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen. And the case goes cold it was never solved. So now 11 years later Delilah which was the first woman who went missing, shockingly returns and of course everybody wants to know what happened to her. And apparently some people will do whatever it takes to keep the truth buried. So that synopsis wants me and now Do I have a date on that one? I don’t. Oh, yes I do. May 18th.

Next up is another thriller by Samantha Downing called For Your Own Good. This follows Teddy Crutcher, a teacher at Belmont Academy who has won the teacher of the year award. But funny thing, is is nobody has seen his wife in a while. Then the death of a school parent begins to look a lot like murderer after a student begins digging — perhaps a little too deeply — into the teacher’s private life. Now the synopsis states that all Teddy wants is for his students to thrive in excellence and he wants the meddlesome parents to stay out of his way. And apparently, excellence in this case comes at a cost. So yes, Samantha Downing — looking forward to it.

Almost near the end. Twenty-eight is The Charmed Wife by Olga Grushin. And this is a modern retelling of the story of Cinderella and what happens after she marries Prince Charming. And comes to feel that he is not really quite so charming after all and rather, is creepy. So this is supposedly genre-bending and darkly comic. So sounds like a fun book. Next up is a new book by Casey McQuisten entitled One Last Stop. So I really loved Red, White and Royal Blue, so I was excited to hear that this author was coming out with a new novel. And this one actually has a female/female romance at its heart. So I don’t really know anything about this… I think one of the girls might be a psychic or have something to do with psychics. But given that I really enjoyed her last book , I’m definitely going to take a chance on this one.

And we are down to the last book, number 30: Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay. So this follows a student named Matt Pine who has just received the news that nearly his entire family has been found dead while on holiday in Mexico. So the local police claim it was an accident but the FBI are not convinced and they won’t tell Matt why. So this isn’t the first bit of trouble the family has had. Matt’s older brother Danny is serving a life sentence for murdering his teenage girlfriend, which was the subject of a true crime documentary, claiming Danny was wrongfully accused and wrongfully convicted. Yet Matt’s never been certain of his brother’s innocence. Now, his family’s murder is overlapping with Danny’s case and Matt is determined to uncover the truth behind the crime that sent his brother to prison, putting… and I think he ends up putting his own life in danger. So, sounds like a good book by Alex Finlay. So those are the 30 books that I have on my list, that I’m looking forward to reading in the coming year. And I’m sure more will come to light as the year begins.

So how about you? Are there any 2021 releases that you’re looking forward to? If so, let me know in the comments. And if you liked this video, please click the Like button below as that really helps my channel out. And that about does it. I will talk to you all in the next video. Roger and out!