To say that 2017 was a doozy of a year would be a colossal understatement, but at least it brought us some great books. There was Jesmyn Ward's National Book Award-winning novel about a poor African-American family in the rural south, Mohsin Hamid's dystopian take on the refugee crisis, and Min Jin Lee's captivating story about the plight of Korean immigrants. Luckily, 2018's batch of titles look just as promising. Here are 10 that we can't wait to crack open immediately, if not sooner.
THE IMMORTALISTS BY CHLOE BENJAMIN (JANUARY 9)
Set in New York's Lower East Side, The Immortalists centers on the lives of four siblings who visit a psychic and learn the exact date of their respective deaths. The information inevitably has a big effect their lives, prompting them to take chances they may not have otherwise taken.
FEEL FREE BY ZADIE SMITH (FEBRUARY 6)
Zadie Smith fan-girls, rejoice. The British author delivers yet again with a collection of essays (plus lectures and reviews), waxing philosophic on everything from Facebook to the Brexit vote.
THE GREAT ALONE BY KRISTIN HANNAH (FEBRUARY 6)
A Vietnam POW returns from overseas and opts to relocate his family to a remote area of Alaska, far removed from the threats of war-torn societies, for a fresh start. All seems well until his PTSD kicks in during the harsh winter and turns their tiny cabin dream into a living nightmare.
SHE REGRETS NOTHING BY ANDREA DUNLOP (FEBRUARY 6)
After suffering the loss of her mother, a 23-year-old orphan from Michigan gets taken in by her well-to-do cousins in New York, introducing her to a ritzy world that's far from her own, and one that she finds out she doesn't want to let go so easy.
LOOK ALIVE OUT THERE BY SLOANE CROSLEY (APRIL 3)
If accolades from Steve Martin and David Sedaris are any indication, Sloane Crosley's new collection of essays delivers, with hilarious takes on fertility, mingling with swingers, and her blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo on Gossip Girl.
THE FEMALE PERSUASION BY MEG WOLITZER (APRIL 3)
A story about a timid college freshman who gets mentored by a prominent leader of the women's movement and becomes inspired to incite change. Shockingly apropos given the current political climate.
OTHER PEOPLE'S HOUSES BY ABBI WAXMAN (APRIL 3)
Drama ensues in a small town, where everyone knows everyone's business, when a local carpool mom witnesses an extramarital affair firsthand.
YOU THINK IT, I'LL SAY IT BY CURTIS SITTENFELD (APRIL 24)
After tackling the intricacies of Jane Austen's social orbit in 2016's Eligible, Sittenfeld returns with her latest release: a short story collection dealing with the always-topical subjects of friends, relationship, exes, and aging. The title comes from one particularly suspenseful chapter, where a married woman plays a flirty party game with a man that's not her husband.
THAT KIND OF MOTHER BY RUMAAN ALAM (MAY 8)
Mothers were big at the box office in 2017 (think: Lady Bird, mother!, I, Tonya). Rumaan Alam promises the same return on investment with his second novel about a first-time mom who becomes dependent on her nanny, then winds up being responsible for her newborn baby when she suddenly dies during childbirth.
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