Hello,

I can’t believe that June is nearly over. It just feels like yesterday that I was jotting down my reading goals for 2021. Have I managed to stick to any of them? Well, that’s a tale for another day.

Anyways, it has been a while since I posted anything on this blog and even longer since I posted a Top Ten Tuesday post (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl now). But the moment I saw what the topic for this Tuesday was, I knew I wanted to write this post as I am super excited about some of the books releasing this year and wanted to share them with you all (of course there are more than 10 here). So, without any further ado, here are my Most Anticipated Books of second half of 2021 –

Kunti by Koral Dasgupta

This is second book in Koral Dasgupta’s Sati series. I have neither read the first book nor any works of Koral Dasgupta before but I am very eager to read this book. Mahabharata is an epic I grew up loving and I find reading about this epic through different lens extremely fascinating. Kunti isn’t one of my favourite characters from the epic, I grew up questioning her choices and I am very curious to see what the author does with this character. Will my opinion on Kunti change after this book? Let’s see.

Release Date – 7 July 2021

Blue: In Search of Nature's Rarest Color by Kai Kupferschmidt

I have never been a big non-fiction reader but off late I have come to a realization that I have started to enjoy non-fiction. One of the genres of non-fiction that I relish reading is nature writing especially books that deal with animal kingdom. Though this book isn’t completely about animal kingdom, it is nature writing where the author explores the world of plants, animals and environment in search of nature’s most beautiful and rarest colour Blue. I can’t wait to read this one. Hopefully it releases in India.

Release Date – 20 July 2021

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

The title and the name of the series, Monk & Robot, had me intrigued. Then I read the synopsis of the book and since then I have been eagerly waiting to get my hands on this one. I mean, who doesn’t want to read about Robots who have gained self-awareness and retreated into wilderness for the sake of humanity? I have high expectations from this one as I have heard nothing but great things about Becky Chambers.

Release Date – 13 July 2021

Ghost Forest by Pik-Shuen Fung

This is a debut book by an author who was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Canada. This is a book about immigrants and it sounds wonderful. The story is of a daughter who revisits memories of her ‘Hong Kong “astronaut” father’ after his demise. How do you mourn a father who was absent for most part of your life? This book about immigrants, grief and struggles with unresolved questions should be on everyone’s radar if you ask me. And also look at that cover!!!

Release Date – 13 July 2021

A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam

One of my reading goals for this year was to diversify my reading but, unfortunately, I don’t think I succeeded in doing it. I wanted to read literature from the countries I haven’t read much from before and Sri Lanka was on top of that list. I visited this beautiful country in 2019 and fell in love with it but, unfortunately, I know little to nothing about the political turmoil the country faced for years. Set during the thirty-year civil war that led to the annihilation of the Tamils, this book tells the story of Krishnan as he makes the long journey by train from Colombo into the war-torn Northern Province for the funeral of his grandmother’s caretaker, Rani. I haven’t read Anuk Arudpragasam’s previous book ‘The Story of a Brief Marriage’ but I have heard great things about it.

Release Date – 13 July 2021

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

This book is one of those books that’s pretty much on everyone’s list. Even the early reviews of this book have been nothing but high praises. Written by an Asian-Australian, this book is being pitched as ‘Mulan meets The Song of Achilles’ and who wouldn’t find that intriguing? Also, the fact that this book is set in an alternate China which is ruled by Mongols, has bandits in it, is queer and is an epic fantasy just makes this book more appealing. I hope to read it soon.

Release Date – 20 July 2021

The Luminous Novel by Mario Levrero, Annie McDermott (Translator)

Translated from Spanish, this book is about a writer struggling to finish a book. He does everything he can think of – getting an electrician to rewire his living room so he can reposition his computer, buying an armchair, or two etc to help him write but all he succeeds in doing is procrastinate. This book sounds right up my alley because a) I am struggling from a massive writer’s block since 2020 and b) I can extremely relate to everything in the synopsis. So, I feel like this book was written for me.

Release Date – 3 August 2021

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

This novel combines my love for wolves, climate change and mystery. A story of two sisters reintroducing grey wolves into the remote Highlands of Scotland, while trying to mend their own lives sounds amazing. On top of that there is an added mystery when a farmer dies and wolves are blamed for it. I can’t wait to read this one.

Release Date – 3 August 2021

Orienting: An Indian in Japan by Pallavi Aiyar

A travel memoir of Pallavi Aiyar’s time in Japan. I enjoy reading travel memoirs and Japan is a country that fascinates me. My husband, who has already been there, can’t stop talking about how incredible the country is. So, I can’t wait to see this country through lens of someone else. Also, I have heard great things about Pallavi Aiyar and her wit.

Release Date – 3 August 2021

Hao: Stories by Ye Chun

This is a collection of short stories about Chinese women both in China and USA. According to the blurb the stories will deal with the themes of racism, sexism, motherhood and importance of language. I don’t know anything further about the book but it sounds very interesting.

Release Date – 7 September 2021

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

I haven’t read a single book by Colson Whitehead, though I have owned ‘The Underground Railroad’ for a while now. So, my goal is to read that one before this one comes out. The book sounds incredible and Colson Whitehead is a beloved author… I mean he has own two Pulitzer Prices for his two books. So, expectations from this book are super high.

Release Date – 14 September 2021

Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

‘The House in the Cerulean Sea’ is one of my favourite books of this year. It felt like a warm hug on cold winter night. Ever since then I have been very curious to read more works by the author and this new book sounds amazing. The book is about Wallace Price who is visited by a reaper after his death. Instead of taking him to afterlife, reaper takes him to a small tea shop in a small town run by Hugo, who is also a ferryman to souls who need to cross over. Wallace is not ready to cross over but when he is given seven days’ time to cross over, he decides to live decades worth of life in seven days. Doesn’t this sound amazing?

Release Date – 21 September 2021

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

A book about libraries set during the 1453 siege of Constantinople… what’s not to like? I haven’t yet read ‘All the Lights We Cannot See’, though I own it (seems like a theme here), yet but I am sure I will read it before this new book comes out. There hasn’t been a single person who had anything bad to say about his previous work, so my expectations from both of these books are super high.

Release Date – 28 September 2021

Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid: The Fraught and Fascinating Biology of Climate Change by Thor Hanson

Again, this book combines my love for animal world and my interest in climate change. The impact that climate change is having on the different species on our planet is something that I am very interested in and this book seems like a perfect fit for me. The incredible title makes the book even more intriguing.

Release Date – 28 September 2021

Other than these I am also eagerly looking forward to ‘The Loves of Yuri’ by Jerry Pinto, ‘ In the Language of Remembering: Generational Memories of the Partition’ by Aanchal Malhotra and the third book in Beartown series by Fredrick Backman but unfortunately none of these books have release dates yet.

So, what are the books that you are excited about? Let’s chat down in the comments.