So Many Books, So Little Time: 2016 Releases I Didn't Get To (But Will Soon -- Right?!)

1. Lab Girl by Hope Jahren I'm really looking forward to this memoir written by scientist Jahren. It's gotten a lot of love this year -- and the author has a Hawaii connection!

2. The Mothers by Brit Bennett This book got so much pre-release publicity that I feared it must be overhyped... but it's gotten great reviews! By the time I got around to putting it on hold at the library, the list was a mile long.

3. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood When this book -- involving the daughter of a meth dealer and an unconventional love story -- came out I wasn't quite sure about it and thought I'd wait to read some reviews... turns out just about everyone loves it!

4. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett This well-reviewed family drama will be my first Ann Patchett!

5. New of the World by Paulette Giles: I only discovered this novel during the voting period for the Goodreads Choice Awards but immediately added it to my to-read list. It's set just after the Civil War and the plot sounds richly complex and fascinating!

6. The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway and it didn't arrive until right before our big move to Hawaii -- and right before the book release -- so I didn't have a chance to get to it before it got packed up. I'll save it for a time when I'm craving a good historical fiction novel. It's set in England just before WWI and it sounds wonderful! I'd also like to read Simonson's first novel, "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand." 

7. The Comet Seekers by Helen Sedgwick This was one of my most-anticipated releases of the fall, and I'm sad to say I didn't get a chance to read it! It's set in Antarctica and the story sounds magical!

8. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance It's rare that a non-fiction book gets as much love as this one!

9. The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson This is a fairly new addition to my to-read list, but I'm looking forward (the same way one looks forward to a scream-inducing ride on a rollercoaster) to this creepy-sounding thriller.

10. Beside Myself by Ann Morgan As with "The Summer Before..." I won this book from a blog tour giveaway and it took forever to get to me; it didn't arrive until the last day the movers were packing us up! It's about twins who switch identities when they're young children -- except one twin refuses to switch back. It's billed as a literary thriller and the plot definitely intrigues me.

11. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows Everyone has raved about this unique purposely-inaccurate historical fiction YA novel this year. I love reading about the Tudor craziness and I've got to get to this one!

12. Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach I've been meaning to read a Mary Roach book (I think every single one of her non-fiction books is on my to-read list) for ages but have never gotten around to it. I've decided my first will be her book about the military -- which is fitting since my husband is in the Air Force!

*Visit The Broke and the Bookish to see hundreds of other lists of new releases fellow bookworms missed out on in 2016.