A once heavily male-dominated industry, publishing has finally started to see some equality. More and more women are being published each year and we find that these extraordinary ladies are making their way onto countless bestseller lists. A trend we are praying is not just another passing fad, women have taken the publishing scene by storm and have some of the most anticipated books coming to the market this year. Here are 14 books, written by women, being released in 2019 that have us eager to hit up our local Barnes and Noble.
1.The Bride Test by Helen Hoang (Available May 7)
When it comes to love, Khai Diep thinks all hope is lost. But in reality, his autism causes him to process and show his emotions differently. Nonetheless, Khai is not hopeless. He still wants a relationship. His mother decides to take things into her own hands and flies out to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride. She meets Esme Tran, who is a young mother that lives in a small village and is very open to the idea of a summer in America trying to convince a stranger to fall in love with her. Esme thinks this is an ideal opportunity to provide a better life for her and her daughter. But Khai’s belief that he is incapable of love and past trauma, threatens the relationship neither knew they needed.
2. Star Crossed by Minnie Darke (Available May 21)
Childhood sweethearts Justine and Nick reconnect as adults and a continued romance seems fated. The problem? Justine is very interested and Nick not so much. However, Nick is an astrology buff and makes all his decisions according to stars and horoscopes… specifically, the horoscopes in the magazine Justine writes for. It doesn’t take very long for Justine to take matters into her own hands and twist his fate in her favor. But doesn’t she know better than to meddle with the stars?
3. Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson (Now Available)
This is a true story of a survivor who refused to be silenced. A powerful poetry memoir, Anderson shares personal stories from her past about assault, trauma, being a survivor and using your voice to fight against predators often hidden among society.
4. American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson (Now Available)
A young, black FBI agent in 1986, Marie Mitchell is fed up with paperwork and being overlooked. So when given the opportunity to go undercover and undermine Burkina Faso president,Thomas Sankara, she jumps at it with no hesitation. Ignoring her support of the revolutionary, as well as a very mysterious death of her own sister, Marie seduces Sankara and finds a place in his inner circle. All with the purpose of taking him down. Quickly, she begins to question what it means to “be a spy, a lover, a sister and a good American”.
5. The Key to Happily Ever After by Tif Marcelo (Available May 14)
This upbeat and light read features the de la Rosa sisters. After their parents retire, this sister duo must take over the family wedding planning business. Bridezillas, arguing couples and wedding day disasters soon show that this business is not always as it seems. The pressure builds and the sisters struggle with finding their own happily ever after and soon learn that they need one another now more than ever.
6. Red, White, Royal Blue by Casey McQuinston (Available May 14)
Meet Alex. Alex is the son of the President of the United States. Meet Henry, the young prince of Wales… and Alex’s longtime nemesis. After a very public altercation between the two threatens the relations of America and Britain, the pair have to stage a fake friendship to help the situation. Soon their once fake relationship not only becomes very real but transforms into something more, making them question what they thought they knew.
7. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (Available September 10)
It’s been 15 years after The Handmaid’s Tale has ended. But there are a lot of unanswered questions. Is Offred in prison? Where did the van take her? Has she been reunited with her daughter? Is Offred even alive? And what about Gilead? Thanks to the testaments of three women from Gilead, these highly anticipated questions may finally get an answer.
8. The Au Pair by Emma Rous (Now Available)
After their mother’s suicide, Seraphine and her twin brother have always struggled with the after-effects while growing up. Now adults, they are forced to deal with the passing of their father. One day they come across an old photo that shows their mom holding a baby they don’t recognize. This sends them on a journey to find out the truth of their family and the secrets that have been kept.
9. City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (Available June 4)
Vivian Morris reflects fondly on her childhood and remembers being a young 19-year-old in the 1940s. She had recently been kicked out of college and sent to live with her aunt who runs an infamous playhouse in New York City. Here she meets a motley crew of “showgirls, a sexy male actor, a grand-dame actress, a lady-killer writer and a no-nonsense stage manager”. But when Vivian’s personal mistake becomes a professional nightmare, it completely flips her new beloved life upside-down.
10. I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella (Now Available)
Fixie has just saved a stranger’s laptop and finds herself connecting with the successful businessman who wants to repay her kindness. The two begin a string of favors for one another, and soon come to find that this relationship may just become something more than a business deal.
11. A Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell (Available July 23)
A casual fling that went totally wrong and transformed into something completely sinister. Caroline would’ve never thought that this would happen. This story takes place with Caroline having an affair with Aiden to hopefully save her marriage, but everything goes wrong when Aiden becomes way too attached and Caroline’s husband goes missing. And now she is accused of this murder.
12. The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray (Now Available)
Althea has become a stand-in mother and role model for sisters Viola and Lillian. But soon Althea and her husband are arrested for a crime that absolutely no one knew about. This arrest leaves Althea’s two teenage daughters completely alone so Voila and Lillian step in and learn the true meaning of sacrifice and family.
13. The Suspect by Fiona Barton (Now Available)
This thrilling tale starts when two 18-year-old girls disappear on their trip to Thailand and journalist Kate Waters immediately gets involved with this case. These families become bombarded with media and the obstacles that stand in front of them seem endless but Kate continues to dive deeper and deeper. Kate soon begins to worry about the child that she hasn’t seen in years. This novel exposes every parent’s worst fear as they realize this foreign threat hits closer to home than they expected.
14. Own Your Everyday by Jordan Lee Dooley (Available May 14)
Jordan Lee Dooley has taken over the internet with her massive online following and her Podcast, SHE, which gained over 1 million downloads within 12 weeks of its debut. Dooley is well known by her tagline “Your Brokeness is Welcome Here” and has become a source of daily inspiration for women around the world. This book offers her help for how to discover and pursue something more all while finding contentment in where you are and what you have. Her book is faith-based and provides a unique perspective and incredible motivation to tackle common problems women face every day. The daily struggles of dealing with disappointment, comparison, perfectionism and distraction are dealt with head-on in this book. Dooley wants to help women remove labels and “break out of the box of expectations” and eliminate excuses and unnecessary stress about the unknown future.