The most anticipated books of 2022

01 of 20

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

Most Anticipated Books of 2022 — Simon and Schuster

In this debut novel about the launch of a government program meant to correct "bad" mothering, Chan collects the judgments and pressures that society places on women who deign to be multifaceted and translates them into a propulsive, perceptive story. (Jan. 4)

02 of 20

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

Although entirely different in plot and reach than the novel that made her famous, the A Little Life author brings the same emotional charge and intimate character study to the page here. Comprised of three unique sections all following characters of the same name (and surrounding the same house in New York City's Washington Square), To Paradise offers an alternate, reimagined version of America — including a futuristic one in which climate change and pandemics have given way to totalitarian rule — all under the guise of pondering what paradise means to each person. (Jan. 11)

03 of 20

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk

The books in 2022? They're long. Jacob is a whopping 912 pages, divided into seven different sections — but if anyone is equipped for this endeavor it's Nobel Prize-winning Olga Tokarczuk. Originally published in her native Poland in 2014, it's the story of Jacob Frank, a Jew from Poland who claimed to be the next messiah, through the lens of a web of people connected to Jacob. (Feb. 1)

04 of 20

Anonymous Sex by Hillary Jordan and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

An anthology of erotica short stories, all told anonymously (hence the book's title) from such literary stars as Téa Obreht and Jason Reynolds. (Feb. 1)

05 of 20

Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James

The second installment of the Dark Star Trilogy (following the best-selling Black Leopard, Red Wolf), traces the journey of heroine Sogolon, as she gives her own accounts of the feuds and clashes that take place in James' mythical African landscape. (Feb. 15)

06 of 20

Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama by Bob Odenkirk

Written before his heart attack, the actor's memoir was already appointment reading — he regales his audience with stories of his time coming up in Chicago's comedy scene and breaking into Hollywood — but now it feels even more essential. (March 1)

07 of 20

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

After building an illustrious career as a YA fantasy writer, Tahir turns her sights on the real world: here, she crafts a contemporary tale about family inspired by her own childhood spent in her family's Mojave Desert hotel. (March 1)

08 of 20

Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley

Actress and director Sarah Polley pens a searing memoir, told through six essays, about the role that danger and trauma have played in her life. She recounts high-risk childbirth, a concussion, and more, with simultaneous tension and tenderness. (March 1)

09 of 20

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

It's been nine years since we had a new Karen Joy Fowler novel, and while this might not be the book we were expecting, it's definitely one we deserve. Starting in a cabin in the wilderness outside of Baltimore, she reimagines the family of infamous Abraham Lincoln assassinator John Wilkes Booth. (March 8)

10 of 20

Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby

The comedian traces the path to her current career as a successful comedian, digging into her childhood as a queer person in Australia, her autism diagnosis, and the creation of Nanette. (March 29)

11 of 20

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

After winning the Booker Prize in 2020 for his debut Shuggie Bain, Stuart returns with another heart-wrenching look at the working class. In Mungo, he follows two young men (a Protestant and a Catholic) as they fall in love for the first time. (April 5)

12 of 20

Cover Story by Susan Rigetti

It's Catch Me if You Can meets Sweetbitter, from the woman who blew the whistle on Uber's software engineering team — what's not to love? (April 5)

13 of 20

The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

The venerated author of A Visit From The Goon Squad resurrects key characters from her 2010 modern classic for its sibling novel (or is it a cousin?), another multi-narrator masterpiece about searching for meaning in a crazy world. Read the first excerpt here. (April 5)

14 of 20

Let's Not Do That Again by Grant Ginder

We're borrowing this comparison, but it's too compelling not to recycle: Ginder's publishers describe the new novel — from the author of The People We Hate at the Wedding — as Knives Out meets Veep meets Succession. Buckle up. (April 5)

15 of 20

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Ostensibly about the business (and complications of) government-regulated time travel in a future era, Mandel's ethereal novel is as much in conversation with her previous two works (Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel) as her fans could have ever hoped for. It arrives just in time for the post-Eleven adaptation blues. (April 5)

16 of 20

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

Straub's secret quarantine novel will follow its protagonist, Alice, between her life as a 16-year-old girl and a 40-year-old woman — because Alice wakes up on the morning she's supposed to turn 40 to find herself living in her 16-year-old body in the year 1996. (May 17)

17 of 20

Tracy Flick Can't Win by Tom Perrotta

The Electionverse is back, baby. This time, Tracy is a high school assistant principal who decides to vie for the top job after her boss announces his retirement. (June 7)

18 of 20

Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe

Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks — Knopf Doubleday

After taking on the Sackler family and the Troubles in Ireland, the journalist now pivots to grifters. Keefe's latest nonfiction work is an investigation into all the ways (forging, money laundering) that people behave badly. (June 28)

19 of 20

The Man Who Could Move Clouds by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

A memoir about Contreras' upbringing in Colombia — and also ghosts, dreams, and family lore. (July 12)

20 of 20

The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid

It's the Exit West's author's first novel since his 2017 stunner, and it's a firecracker of a story about a world in which white men wake up to discover their skin has turned dark. (Aug. 2)