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Happy 2025!  A new year means new book goals to reach and a look ahead at some of the titles we can expect to see published this year.

If you haven’t read the first part of superstar Cher’s autobiography, you’ll have until this November before the second installment is released.  Her first volume is chock-full of stories from her childhood and time as a teenage singer in the 1960s, and her success as a worldwide television star in the 1970s with the Sonny and Cher variety show. Her next book will explore her acting career and musical resurgence in the 1980s and beyond.

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins is still going strong with a successful movie franchise and a new book installment to be released this March. “Sunrise on the Reaping” is a prequel set in the years before the events in the original books and focuses on Haymitch Abernathy. Even though this series was written for young adults, its popularity has extended beyond that genre and this title is sure to be a hit.

I enjoy books that take familiar tropes and add a new twist. Virginia Feito’s “Victorian Psycho” takes the familiar gothic scenario of a governess menaced by a malevolent force and makes the governess herself the villain. If you enjoy atmospheric mysteries, keep your eye out for this title, which will publish in March.

A. Cosby published his first book in 2020 and quickly established himself as one of the premier writers in the crime genre. “King of Ashes”, publishing this June, takes inspiration from “The Godfather” and is set in Central Virginia. All of his previous titles have been bestsellers and award winners and advance reviews promise more of the same.

Other authors expected to have new books this year are Stephen King, Frieda McFadden and Karen Russell, giving readers plenty to look forward to.

Happy New Year and happy reading!