Toppling the TBR pile – Transworld Books 2016

Toppling the TBR pile is a new feature where I write about the books I believe will be highlights of 2016. This is a purely personal selection and I am by no means an expert so please do excuse me if a favourite of yours is missed. This is also not a complete list of titles to be released by a publisher. The What’s out when page will feature all the title release dates that I am aware of and will provide a synopsis of each book. This will be updated regularly so keep popping back to see what literary goodies are in store for 2016.

First to be guilty of radically increasing my wish list are Transworld Books. Their imprints are numerous and include Bantam, Corgi, Black Swan and Doubleday.

January bring with it what I can see being one of Transworld’s best sellers for 2016: The Widow by Fiona Barton. The Widow tells the tale of Jean, the newly bereaved widow of a man accused of committing a heinous crime. Just what is the extent of Jean’s knowledge and will she now tell all. You can see my review of The Widow here.

Also released this month is the new book from Cathy Bramley, author of Conditional Love, Ivy Lane and Appleby Farm. Wickham Hall tells the story of Holly Swift, events organiser at manor house Wickham Hall. Can she organise her life as well as the events the house?

Fans of John Irving will be pleased to see a post Christmas gift in the form of Avenue of Mysteries where Juan Diego travels to the Philippines where his past, in Mexico, meets with his future.

Secrets are fighting to be set free in Julie Cohen’s  The Day of Second Chances. What will happen when the secrets of three women from the same family all collide?

February sees the publication of another top title. Those who loved The Wake will be overjoyed to hear that Anna Hope’s new novel, The Ballroom is out this month. In a Yorkshire asylum love blossoms during the magical night each week when the inmates meet to dance. This one is firmly on my want list and I can’t wait to read it.

March sees the publication of the wonderfully sounding novel from Caroline Wallace, The Finding of Martha Lost. Martha, abandoned as a baby in a Paris station has spent all of her 16 years waiting for someone to come and reclaim her. Now she must find out who she really is and where she really belongs in a race against the authorities who have found out about her. This is another book I can’t wait to read – March seems an awful long time away!

Banish the April showers with a plethora of cracking reads. First up is Deep Down Dark by Tammy Cohen. She’ll have you wondering about your work mates in her latest thriller as she asks ‘If one of them had a dark and dangerous secret, would you even know?’

Fever at Dawn by Peter Gardos is based on true life events. Miklos has decided to find a wife and so he makes a list of 117 Hungarian women in his village and writes to each one. So what if he only has 6 months to live.

Another book I’m chomping at the bit to read is Different Class by Joanne Harris. This psychological thriller tells the tale of Latin master Roy Straitley. As he tries to cope with the changing face of his beloved school the past returns to haunt him in the shape of a former pupil.

If its a thriller you’re after then May brings with it Belinda Bauer’s latest offering: The Beautiful Dead. In an age where everything is played out in the media, Belinda Bauer brings us a serial killer who seeks the attention of the world, advertising his kills on TV before they happen. What links him to TV reporter Eve Singer?…

As we move into June the thrills don’t stop. Sharon Bolton’s Daisy in Chains is on the wish list and the fact that it is a 6 month wait is almost too much to bear. A convicted serial killer maintains his innocence. He wants his story told. Maggie doesn’t want to be the person to tell it but soon she finds herself unable to resist.

Finally The Long Cosmos by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, completed 18 months before the sad passing of Pratchett will also be released in June.

What have I missed?

Danielle Steele fans won’t be disappointed. Transworld have two books to satisfy those cravings : Blue is published in February and Property of a Noble Woman is out in May. Bryant and May fans will be pleased to hear that the detective duo are back in February in the next instalment from Christopher Fowler, Strange Tide. Longbourn author Jo Baker turns her attention to Samuel Beckett in A Country Road, a Tree in May.

So there we have it, numerous bookish treats and those are just for the first 6 months of the year. Which ones are you looking forward to?