22 books to look out for in 2022: January to June

It took the team at National Book Tokens hours to narrow down this list because there are so many brilliant books out this year, from astonishing fiction to bold non-fiction.

Don't forget to bookmark this and head to your local bookshop with your National Book Token (plus you can ask booksellers for even more recommendations!).

Have we left out your most anticipated book? Tell us in the comments at the bottom of the page.

22 books to look out for in 2022: July to December

 

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

January
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

From the author of A Little Life comes a bold tripartite novel spanning three centuries and three versions of America, from a Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic to a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule. To Paradise is a story with a great understanding of the aching desire to protect those we love.

The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett

The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett

The author of The Appeal returns with another unforgettable mystery about a missing teacher, a former pupil, and a secret code found in a famous children's book.

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead, How High We Go in the Dark follows a cast of intricately linked characters spanning hundreds of years as humanity endeavours to restore the delicate balance of the world.

No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy: Memoirs of a Working-Class Reader by Mark Hodkinson

February
No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy: Memoirs of a Working-Class Reader by Mark Hodkinson

Mark Hodkinson's love letter to reading was our October Caboodle Firsts book (you can read the first chapter). It is a philosophical take on why we read and collect books, told through a working-class lens.

Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes

Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes

25 years after the publication of the much-loved Rachel's Holiday, our heroine returns. Back in the long ago nineties, Rachel Walsh was a mess. These days, she has love, family, and a great job as an addiction counsellor. She even gardens. But with the sudden reappearance of a man she'd once loved, her life wobbles.

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

Oprah Winfrey's new Hulu murder mystery is an adaption of Charmaine Wilkerson's stunning debut. Juggling lives and crossing continents, Black Cake, chosen by booksellers as the February Indie Book of the Month, is the extraordinary story of how the inheritance of secrets, betrayal and memories can shape a family for generations.

Love Marriage by Monica Ali

Love Marriage by Monica Ali

From the Booker Prize-shortlisted author of the classic novel Brick Lane comes a story about who we are and how we love in today's Britain - with all the complications and contradictions of life, desire, marriage and family. A heart-breaking and gripping story of two cultures, two families and two people trying to understand one another.

The Instant by Amy Liptrot

March
The Instant by Amy Liptrot

Amy Liptrot is the bestselling author of The Outrun, and she returns with a frank and luscious look at the addictive power of love and lust told through observations about nature's wildlife.

Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Sutanto

Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Sutanto

This sequel to the hilarious Dial A For Aunties, in which Meddy Chan accidentally kills her blind date and turns to her aunties for help, is just as comedic and deftly written as its predecessor.

The Slowworm’s Song by Andrew Miller

The Slowworm's Song by Andrew Miller

By the Costa Award-winning author of Pure comes a profound and tender tale of guilt, a search for atonement and the hard, uncertain work of loving.

No Less the Devil by Stuart MacBride

April
No Less the Devil by Stuart MacBride

Last year, 100 Caboodlers got the chance to read Stuart MacBride’s chilling and compulsive new book where, sometimes, murder is only the beginning…

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

Douglas Stuart won the 2021 Book Prize for his modern classic Shuggie Bain, and so we cannot wait to read Young Mungo, a gripping and revealing story about the bounds of masculinity, the push and pull of family, the violence faced by so many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much.

People Person by Candice Carty-Williams

People Person by Candice Carty-Williams

If you could choose your family... you wouldn't choose the Penningtons. Candice Carty-Williams, the fabulous author of Queenie, is back with People Person. In this laugh-out-loud story, Dimple Penington prepares to get to the multitude of siblings who come crashing back into her life.

Sea of Tranquillity by Emily St. John Mandel

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

You may have re-read Station Eleven after it resonated with us in a way we couldn’t have predicted in the past few years, but now Emily St. John Mandel is back with a brand new science fiction novel that investigates the idea of parallel worlds and possibilities.

Villager by Tom Cox

Villager by Tom Cox

Tom Cox's masterful debut novel synthesises his passion for music, nature and folklore into a psychedelic and enthralling exploration of village life and the countryside that sustains it.

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare

The exquisite new novel from Louise Hare, the author of This Lovely City. A brilliant murder mystery, it also explores class, race and pre-WWII politics, and will leave readers reeling from the beauty and power of it.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

May
Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Set over one sizzling August, Book Lovers is the new chemistry-filled 'rivals to lovers' rom com from the author of Beach Read.

Idol by Louise O’Neill

Idol by Louise O’Neill

Idol is a riveting, compulsive and bold thriller that interrogates our relationship with our heroes and explores the world of online influencers, asking how well we can ever really know those whose carefully curated profiles we follow online.

Children of Sugarcane by Joanne Joseph

Children of Sugarcane by Joanne Joseph

Vividly set against the backdrop of 19th century India and the British-owned sugarcane plantations of Natal, written with great tenderness and lyricism, Children of Sugarcane paints an intimate and wrenching picture of indenture told from a woman's perspective.

All The Lovers In The Night by Mieko Kawakami

All The Lovers In The Night by Mieko Kawakami

From the acclaimed author of Breasts and Eggs comes a poetic, modern and shocking new novel. Shy, lonely and introverted Fuyuko lives alone. About to turn thirty-five, she cannot imagine ever having any emotional or successful relationship in her life. Her only friend, Hijiri, offers some light in her life, but it is Mr. Mitsutsuka, a physics teacher, who offers her access from another dimension to light.

Double Booked by Lily Lindon

June
Double Booked by Lily Lindon

Georgina had planned her perfect life. Now she's planning her perfect double life. Double-Booked is a fresh, timely and genuinely laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about a young woman in a long-term relationship who realises she's bisexual.

Murder Before Evensong by Reverend Richard Coles

Murder Before Evensong by Reverend Richard Coles

Reverend Coles' debut is perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club. When Daniel Clement announces a plan to install a lavatory in his church, the parish is suddenly (and unexpectedly) divided. And then a man is found dead at the back of the church. Daniel is the only one who can try and keep his fractured community together... and catch a killer.

 

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