There are lots of list compiled, 50 books to read before you are 43, top 276 books to look out for this year, top 73 books featuring ukuleles, that kind of thing. Of course these lists are arbitrary in nature, controlled by the likes and dislikes of the compiler. There are also many, many books that don’t make lists but are just as worthy of inclusion. So I thought about creating my own list and I asked publishers to recommend books that we should look out for until the end of the year.

I’ve had no say in it, I’ve not read any of the books so I can’t sway you towards any particular one. It’s not completely objective of course. All of the publishers or authors have chosen books to tell you about so they will have a slight vested interest. It doesn’t mean that their choices are any less valid though. So in no particular order (other than the order of accessing my messages), here are 50 books to look out for during the rest of 2018.

1. XX – out on the 4th October by Dialogue Books. XX imagines a world where women can have children without men. When Rosie and Jules discover a ground-breaking clinical trial that enables two women to have a baby, they jump at the chance to make history. Fear-mongering politicians and right-wing movements are quick to latch on to the controversies surrounding Ovum-to-Ovum (o-o) technology and stoke the fears of the public. What will happen to the numbers of little boys born? Is there a sinister conspiracy to eradicate men at play? As the media attention intensifies it brings to the fore the problems in Rosie and Jules’ relationship, both to each other and with their friends and families. Is having a biological baby worth it? I think this book is incredible in the way that it manages to explore so many important subjects but without being preachy or dull. It is totally believable that Ovum- to -Ovum fertilization could exist in our near future and Angela explores this without judgement. Fundamentally it is about love, family and parenthood and I think it’s going to get a lot of people talking. – Millie Seaward, Dialogue Books
2. Fallible Justice by Laura Laakso. It’s paranormal crime, very well written, and thoroughly entertaining. – Louise Walters, Louise Walters Books
3. RAISING SPARKS by Ariel Kahn, Kevin Duffy, Blue Moose Books
4. The Groundsmen by Lynn Buckle published on 28th Sep – Sean, Epoque Press
5. The Wooden Hill by Jamie Guiney published on 30th November – Sean, Epoque Press
6. The next Alex Ripley mystery is out on 21 November. A Hollow Sky finds Ripley in Holy Island off North Wales coast, looking into a faith healer whose people will stop at nothing to keep her reputation clear… – Dylan, Red Dog Books.
7. Dead Stock by Rachel Ward, published by Sandstone Press on 15 November.
8. Orenda’s Karen Sullivan highlights seven of her books, starting with Louise Beech’s The Lion Tamer Who Lost which came out on 20 September 2018.
9.  Michael Malone’s After He Died also out on 20 September 2018.
10. Then we’ve got Lilja Sigurdardottir’s TRAP (next in the Reykjavik Noir series) out on 18 October and
11. Antti Tuomainen’s EXTREMELY funny noir thriller Palm Beach Finland out on the same date.
12. On 15 November, the super chilling THE LINGERING by Susi Holliday was published and
13. Will Carver’s thrilling return to crime fiction: Good Samaritans, also out on 15 November.
14. Finally in December, we have West Camel’s debut, a beautiful literary novel called Attend, a bit like Armistead Maupin, with a wee bit of magic realism :), out on 13 December.
15. Sarah at Century recommended numbers 15 to 19, starting with  The Kingfisher Secret by Anonymous, out on 18 October 2018. (it’s a very bold conspiracy thriller that imagines ‘What if..?’).
16. Out on 1 November was Anthony Horowitz’s The Sentence is Death (ok I lied, I have actually read this and you can read my review here).
17. Simon Kernick’s We Can See You (a suspenseful thriller about a woman whose child is kidnapped and held ransom), out 29 November 2018.
18. Christmas at Liberty’s by Fiona Ford ( a saga novel that centres around women who work at the Liberty’s department store) out on 15 November
19. And, finally, we also have Katie Fforde’s The Christmas Stocking short stories which is out in paperback this year on  1 November 2018.
20. Sneaking in for next year are three titles from Vulpine, the first is Silent Siren: Memoirs of a Lifesaving Mortician by Matthew Franklin Sias out on 18 January 2019.
21. Next is The Rare or Unread Stories of Grant Allen by Peter Morton out on 29 January 2019.
22. Finally there is Taming the Serpent: How Neuroscience can revolutionise modern law enforcement by Michael G. Malpass out on 22 April 2019.

So a very eclectic mix of titles there. Hopefully there are one or two that have caught your eye that may have passed you by otherwise.