It feels like only yesterday I was on my cousin’s rooftop, watching fireworks and fanush painting Dhaka in a beautiful kaleidoscope of blues, reds, and golds. And yet here we are now, already done with the first month of 2022.
And not for the first time, I am thinking that there are way too many books and too little time to read them all. In fact, this February 2022, there are tons of amazing books coming out, and while I am sure I won’t be able to read them all, I am still super excited for them to come out. Here are my top most anticipated book releases of February 2022.
1. Yerba Buena By Nina Lacour
I’d never really been a fan of romance novels in general, but in the past year I have read some amazingly well-written love stories featuring queer characters and BIPOC characters, like The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo and Hana Khan Carries On.
I have never read any book by Nina Lacour, but the moment I heard about Yerba Buena, hitting the shelves this February I knew I had to get my hands on it.
A love story about two women finding their own way in the world and dealing with previous tragedies? Count me in.
2. The Paris Apartment By Lucy Foley
A spine-tingling thriller mystery, The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley follows the story of Jess who comes to visit her half-brother Ben in Paris…only to find him curiously absent for days.
I haven’t read a lot of thrillers or mysteries, but 2022 seems like a good year to try out new genres and step out of my comfort zone. And The Paris Apartment seems like a good place to start. It comes out this February 22nd.
3. What My Bones Know By Stephanie Foo
Although I am adding this in my list of anticipated book releases of February, I’ll be perfectly honest: I am not really a big fan of memoirs.
However, What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo is an exception. Mainly because it explores C-PTSD, and the difficult, challenging journey of recovery from trauma.
As someone who was raised in a household where mental health issues were considered to be “imaginary” and “attention-seeking behaviors”, I had never really been able to speak about my traumas or understand how they were affecting me. It took me ages to forgive myself, and even now I struggle to be kind to myself when I am going through dark times.
In fact, just last year, after being diagnosed with PTSD myself, I ended up trying to self-treat myself instead of seeking professional help. If I am being perfectly honest, I am scared of what I will find out if I reached out to a therapist.
While What My Bones Know explores a different kind of PTSD, I am hoping that Foo’s courage and bravery to be willing to put her vulnerabilities on paper will help me find the courage to face my demons too. The book comes out on February 22nd of this year.
4. A River Enchanted By Rebecca Ross
Disappearing girls, enemies-to-lovers, wicked spells, and magic…I have recently read The River Has Teeth, a phenomenal book that had all of these elements with a good spoonful of feminist rage.
While A River Enchanted is a bit different, some of the themes are similar. Missing girls, small-town mysteries, rivalry blossoming into romance…all my favorite cliches packed into adult fantasy, one of my favorite genres.
5. Meet Me In The Margins By Melissa Ferguson
When I am not reading adult fantasies, I am reading cutesy fluffy romances, and what’s cuter than an aspiring novelist falling in love with a helpful, anonymous editor?
Sounds like the stuff of dreams, right?
That’s what Meet Me In The Margins is about: a struggling writer named Savannah who falls in love with a mysterious editor who keeps leaving her notes on how she can make her story better.
Cute, funny, and wholesome, this book comes out on February 15th.
6. This Woven Kingdom By Tahereh Mafi
If you have been following my book reviews or my blog for a while, then you probably already know that I am a HUGE fan of Tahereh Mafi. Her debut novel Shatter Me was one of the very first YA dystopian books I had read, and I was blown away by her poetic prose.
While I am not the greatest fan of her later books in the Shatter Me series (they feel too much like fan-service to me if I am being honest), I will definitely read anything Mafi writes just to lose myself in her beautifully crafted worlds and verses.
This Woven Kingdom, Tahereh Mafi’s latest upcoming fantasy novel based on Persian mythology about jinns and magic, comes out February 1st, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.
7. This Might Hurt By Stephanie Wrobel
I am not the biggest fan of movies or books featuring cult and cult magic, but I am making an exception for This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel.
A dark thriller mystery that follows the story of two sisters–one who is hiding dark secrets and another who is trapped by the rules of an unforgiving cult–This Might Hurt comes out on February 22nd and promises to be a spine-tingling novel that explores complicated sibling relationships and family secrets.
And that wraps up my list of the most anticipated book releases of February 2022. Which of these books are you looking forward to? Share your TBR list in the comments below and let me know which book I should add to my own TBR too!