At The Times and The Sunday Times books desks we’re already looking ahead to what is coming up in 2022. We’ve put together some of the highlights of the next six months.
There’s always something exciting about this time of the year in the book world, even for jaded spirits like us. Lots of possibility, lots of potential. Here’s hoping for a bumper literary year. And a year of happy reading for you.
FICTION
January
The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett
Janice Hallett’s crime fiction debut, The Appeal, the story of a murder in a cosy village all related in texts, emails and documents, was one of the cleverest of 2021. This follow-up, about a former prisoner out to solve a 40-year-old crime, sounds equally promising. Viper
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
Hanya Yanagihara’s previous novel, A Little Life, divided the critics but had an army of passionate fans. This one, a dystopian novel set in an independent New York that looks ahead to a pandemic-ravaged future, should cause just as much of a rumpus. Picador
Free Love by Tessa Hadley
It’s sex in the 1960s! The award-winning novelist Tessa Hadley’s latest novel is about one young woman’s sexual and intellectual awakening in that boomertastic swinging decade. Beware, there is always a cost to free love. Jonathan Cape
Hare House by Sally Hinchcliffe
The British folk-horror revival continues. A woman moves to rural Scotland, having left her teaching job in mysterious circumstances. But life soon becomes sinister in this slow-burn debut — there are weird rumours about Hare House, the local stately home, and tales of witchery. A tale humming with suppressed hysteria and madness. Mantle
The Second Cut by Louise Welsh
A tale of antiques dealers, gangsters and chemsex parties set in the sleazy side of Glasgow. A terrific bit of crime storytelling, written with panache and wit. Canongate
The Anomaly by Hervé le Tellier
This high-concept literary thriller (with a dash of sci-fi big thinking) won the Prix Goncourt in 2020. When Air France Flight 006 flies into a terrifying storm, the plane duplicates. Every passenger now has a double with the same memories and personality. What could possibly go wrong? Mind-bending fun and a higher class of hokum. Michael Joseph
February
Love Marriage by Monica Ali
It’s been a decade since Monica Ali, the author of Brick Lane, last published a novel. This new book focuses on two people from different cultures, about to get married, and the tensions within their families. Virago
House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas
Female-friendly fantasy novels, with a dash of romance, have become hugely popular. Sarah J Maas had a No 1 New York Times bestseller with House of Earth and Blood, the first in her Crescent City sequence. This is the sequel. Steamy! Bloomsbury
March
Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson
James Patterson is promiscuous with his charms. He has co-written thrillers with Bill Clinton, now he has snuggled up to another Southern institution, Dolly Parton. In this thriller a young singer-songwriter in Nashville is determined to make it big, but — surprise, surprise — she’s on the run from her deadly past . . . It’s going to be big. Century
French Braid by Anne Tyler
A family saga by the popular American author, following the Garretts from the 1950s to today. It all starts with a holiday to a cabin by a lake. Chatto & Windus
The Slowworm’s Song by Andrew Miller
A former soldier and recovering alcoholic is trying to form a bond with his daughter when he receives a summons to an inquiry into an incident in 1982 during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. He fears it could jeopardise their relationship, so he writes her an account of his life; a confession, a defence and also a love letter. Andrew Miller is a Costa prizewinning author. Sceptre
Moon Witch, Spider King (Dark Star Trilogy 2) by Marlon James
African mythology, fantasy and history merge once again in this second volume of a science fiction sequence from the Booker-winning author of A Brief History of Seven Killings. Hamish Hamilton
Sundial by Catriona Ward
An upmarket psychological thriller that gives most literary novels a run for its money. Overwrought mother Rob has two daughters — sweet little Annie and her odd big sister, Callie, who collects the bones of animals (did she kill a puppy?). Rob — who, it becomes apparent, is a touch unhinged too; something dark happened in her childhood — is worried that Callie will harm Annie, so she takes her to her childhood home deep in the Mojave Desert. Will they both return? Viper
Vinegar Hill by Colm Tóibín
Sex, religion, belonging, Covid, mortality — it’s all here in the Brooklyn author’s first collection of poetry. Carcanet
April
The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
Characters from Jennifer Egan’s influential 2011 Pulitzer winner A Visit from the Goon Squad return in this new novel about a seductive technology that allows us to swap memories. Corsair
Companion Piece by Ali Smith
A follow-up to Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet, written again “as close as possible to real time” and aiming to reflect on the politics of our daily lives. Hamish Hamilton
People Person by Candice Carty-Williams
The Queenie author returns with a new novel. Dimple Pennington has never had much in common with her half-siblings — except faint childhood memories — but a dramatic event brings them crashing back into her life, along with the father they never knew. “A propulsive story of heart, humour, homecoming and the truest meaning of family you can get when your dad loves his Jeep more than his children,” says the blurb. Trapeze
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
The Shuggie Bain author is back with a new novel, a tale of young gay love across the sectarian divide in macho, working-class Glasgow. Picador
One Day I Shall Astonish the World by Nina Stibbe
Nina Stibbe is one of our funniest novelists. This new title follows the trials and tribulations of a 30-year friendship. Viking
City on Fire by Don Winslow
Don Winslow rightly won plaudits for his Cartel trilogy of impressive and epic narco-thrillers. In City on Fire, a loose riff on The Iliad, a Rhode Island docker is drawn into gang warfare over a “modern-day Helen of Troy”. The first in a new trilogy. HarperCollins
Elizabeth Finch by Julian Barnes
A student goes through the ideas-filled notebooks of his inspirational former teacher, Elizabeth Finch. The Booker winner’s publisher says: “This is more than a novel. It’s a loving tribute to philosophy.” That’ll be one of those novels of ideas, then. Jonathan Cape
Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka
Suzuki seeks revenge after his wife is murdered, secretly joining the gang of assassins responsible. But this is a thriller by the author of Bullet Train, so it has a kooky cast of characters. Meet the Whale, a killer who whispers bleak aphorisms to his victims until they kill themselves. Harvill Secker
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
The Northern Irish writer made quite an impact this year with her debut collection of stories, The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac. Her first novel tells the story of a young woman drawn into a relationship with an older married man. Bloomsbury
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel
The Station Eleven author’s new novel sounds intriguing — a tale of parallel worlds, space travel and upended lives that starts on Vancouver Island in 1912 and hurtles forwards two centuries to a moon colony. Picador
Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo
This is Animal Farm set in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. In a bountiful land not so far away, the animal denizens, led by a charismatic horse, fought a bloody War of Liberation to drive away the colonisers. For 40 years the Horse clung on to power, protected by his violent pack of Defenders and his ambitious donkey wife, Marvellous . Then one day. Chatto & Windus
May
Fight Night by Miriam Toews
From the bestselling author of All My Puny Sorrows, the story of three generations of women — spirited grandmother, pregnant daughter and nine-year-old granddaughter — all cramped together in one Toronto home. Faber
Here Goes Nothing by Steve Toltz
The Aussie-in-LA writer Steve Toltz is touched with comic genius. His last novel, Quicksand, a funny work of existential angst, was about the unluckiest man to ever live. In this one, Angus Mooney is murdered by an admirer of his girlfriend. The afterlife, he soon discovers, is not all it’s cracked up to be. Worse, a global pandemic is making overstretched Heaven ever so crowded. Sceptre
The Sanctuary by Andrew Hunter Murray
A dystopian thriller from one of the QI “Elves”. Britain is a disintegrating, lawless place. Cara is living on a remote island, Sanctuary Rock, home of a millionaire philanthropist, when she breaks off her engagement with painter Ben. Ben sets off to win her back, but a terrible shock awaits. Hutchinson Heinemann
Bad Relations by Cressida Connolly
A family drama about three generations. In the 1850s, on a Crimean battlefield, William Gale cradles his brother’s body; in the 1970s William’s bohemian descendants invite a distant cousin to stay in their Cornish house — there is a dramatic fall from grace. Five decades on there is an awful reckoning. Viking
JUNE
Murder Before Evensong by Richard Coles
The heavy-footed vicar of Finedon and BBC broadcaster Richard Coles makes his first foray into fiction. Someone is found dead at the back of a sleepy parish church, stabbed in the neck with a pair of secateurs. Canon Daniel Clement, helped by his dachshunds, investigates in the first of a cosy comic series. Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Godmersham Park by Gill Hornby
Gill Hornby’s previous novel, Miss Austen, took us inside the family of the novelist. This new one does so again, through the figure of a governess looking after one of the Austen children. Century
Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
The publisher promises “a rollercoaster ride of depravity and perversion”. Fingers crossed. In this satire of the fairytale genre, the quirky, subversive American writer tells the story of Lapvona, a land of murder, cannibalism and incest. Jonathan Cape
Yoga by Emmanuel Carrère
A story about yoga and the Charlie Hebdo terror attack, of yin and yang, life and death, featuring the author Emmanuel Carrère. His previous non-fiction novels Limonov and The Adversary were top-notch, so this ought to be at the very least intriguing. Jonathan Cape
NON-FICTION
January
Accidental Gods: On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine by Anna Della Subin
A fascinating slice of history that looks at men who have been worshipped as gods, from Spanish conquistadors who awed conquered tribes in South America to the “cargo cults” of the Pacific who took their enthusiasm for Prince Philip a little too far. Granta
February
Outside the Sky Is Blue: A Family Memoir by Christina Patterson
There has been lots of advance praise already for this memoir by the Sunday Times book reviewer, who looks back, as the last surviving member of her family, on the joys and the tragedies that have marked her life. Tinder
One Party After Another: The Disruptive Life of Nigel Farage by Michael Crick
It’s hard to believe that Nigel Farage managed to shape Britain’s politics so effectively without once being elected to parliament. The veteran TV reporter Michael Crick gives his attention to “arguably one of the most influential politicians of the 21st century”. Simon & Schuster
The Gift of a Radio: My Childhood and Other Train Wrecks by Justin Webb
BBC broadcaster Justin Webb always seems a cheerful chap, surprisingly so once you’ve read his memoir of childhood: his homelife was dysfunctional — his mother had undiagnosed psychological problems — and time away at boarding school was no better. Doubleday
This Mortal Coil: A History of Death by Andrew Doig
It’s such a universal experience, you’d think there would be more histories of death. The biochemist Andrew Doig sets out to show how causes of death have changed over time — and will be profoundly different in the future. Bloomsbury
Constable: A Portrait by James Hamilton
The lively art historian James Hamilton reveals the “complex, troubled man” in this biography of the landscape painter John Constable. Weidenfeld & Nicolson
March
A Life of Picasso Volume IV: The Minotaur Years: 1933-43 by John Richardson
We’ve been waiting a long time for the fourth volume of this masterwork of biography by the art historian and friend of Picasso. John Richardson died in 2019, but reportedly left a finished manuscript behind. Jonathan Cape
Sins of My Father: A Daughter, a Cult, a Wild Unravelling by Lily Dunn
A daughter attempts to understand her father, a compulsive liar, sex addict and problem boozer who dumped his family to join the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s cult. They eff you up. Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Liberalism and Its Discontents by Francis Fukuyama
Liberalism is “no obsolete doctrine”, Francis Fukuyama says. The “End of History” political theorist defends the liberal virtues of tolerance and respect for the rule of law from enemies on the left and right. Profile
Not Far from Brideshead: Oxford Between the Wars by Daisy Dunn
Daisy Dunn chronicles the Oxford that we recognise in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. TS Eliot, Virginia Woolf, WH Auden, CS Lewis, Edith Sitwell: all have walk-on roles. Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Butler to the World: How Britain Became the Servant of Tycoons, Tax Dodgers, Kleptocrats and Criminals by Oliver Bullough
Expect this work of reportage to take few prisoners as it “reveals how the UK took up its position at the elbow of the worst people on Earth: the oligarchs, kleptocrats and gangsters”. Profile
The Greatest Raid: St Nazaire, 1942: The Heroic Story of Operation Chariot by Giles Whittell
A tale of derring-do about “The Greatest Raid of All”, 80 years on. Five Victoria Crosses were awarded to the commandos who undertook Operation Chariot, a suicide mission on the dry dock of Nazi-occupied St Nazaire. Viking
Burning Questions: Essays and Occasional Pieces 2004-2021 by Margaret Atwood
Fifty non-fiction pieces from the past 20 years, from one of the most incisive and original minds around. Chatto & Windus
Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire by Caroline Elkins
A thumping great study by a heavyweight academic historian, which shows how violence underpinned and was central to British imperialism. Let’s file this under “controversial”. Bodley Head
Comedy, Comedy, Comedy, Drama by Bob Odenkirk
The Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul actor and comedy writer Bob Odenkirk reflects on his life in showbusiness. “Hilarious” and “heartfelt” is how the publisher describes this memoir. We live in hope. Hodder Studio
Mother’s Boy: A Writer’s Beginnings by Howard Jacobson
Booker winner Howard Jacobson will turn 80 in 2022. This “exploration of belonging and not-belonging, of being an insider and outsider, both English and Jewish” looks at how he became a writer. Jonathan Cape
The Red of My Blood: A Death and Life Story by Clover Stroud
From the author of The Wild Other and My Wild & Sleepless Nights, a memoir about her sister’s death from cancer and how it tore Clover Stroud’s life apart. Doubleday
April
In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss by Amy Bloom
The American novelist turns to memoir in this look at her life with her husband, Brian, and how it was changed by his descent into Alzheimer’s. Granta
The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor — the Truth and the Turmoil by Tina Brown
The former editor of Tatler, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, and author of The Diana Chronicles, on the story of the royal family since Diana’s death. Century
The Age of the Strongman: How the Cult of the Leader Threatens Democracy Around the World by Gideon Rachman
From Trump and Putin to Erdogan and Xi, the Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman examines the rise of the strongman. He has seen some of them up close, so he should bring more than a dash of insight. Bodley Head
Gathering Blossoms Under Fire by Alice Walker
The journals of the author of The Color Purple, from her early civil rights days to winning the Pulitzer and burying her mother. Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Hunting Ghislaine by John Sweeney
The dogged investigative journalist’s journey inside the life of Ghislaine Maxwell. The publisher claims it will be “one of the darkest [stories] you will ever read”. Hodder & Stoughton
May
This Is Not a Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan
From the award-winning screenwriter and playwright, a memoir about “what happens when the person you love most no longer recognises you”. Her partner suffered brain damage that made him think she was an impostor. John Murray
An Accidental Icon: How I Dodged a Bullet, Spoke Truth to Power and Lived to Tell the Tale by Norman Scott
Norman Scott, the man at the heart of the Jeremy Thorpe trial and owner of poor old Rinka, tells his side of the story. Hodder & Stoughton
The Siege of Loyalty House: A Civil War Story by Jessie Childs
The stories of the participants in the siege of Basing House, a bastion of royalism during the English Civil War. Its owner refused all terms of surrender and for more than two years those inside were battered, bombarded, starved and gassed by Roundheads. Bodley Head
Good Pop, Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker
“This is not a life story. It’s a loft story,” Jarvis Cocker says of this book, which uses some of the objects found at the top of his house to look back on his career. Jonathan Cape
Back in the Day: A Memoir by Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg’s first memoir takes us back to his early years, growing up in postwar Cumbria. Sceptre
June
Chums: How a Tiny Group of Oxford Tories Took Over Britain by Simon Kuper
A look at how the rarefied atmosphere of Oxford University — and the friendships and world views it created — helped to give us today’s Britain. Profile
The Last Days of Roger Federer: And Other Endings by Geoff Dyer
Geoff Dyer can be a wonderfully original writer. Here he uses the last days of Roger Federer’s tennis career as a jumping-off point for an examination of late style and last works, ranging from JMW Turner and Jean Rhys to Bob Dylan and John Coltrane. Canongate