5 Contemporary Releases of 2022

Can you guys believe that 2021 is almost over? There’s literally a month left of this year. I feel like it went by in the blink of an eye. And 2022 will bring new people, new experiences . . . and new books (because that is all I can ever talk about). Let’s get into this post.

A Show For Two by Tashie Bhuiyan

Counting Down With You by Tashie Bhuiyan is one of my favorite books ever, for so many different reasons. I felt so seen, and could relate to Karina deeply. I have high expectations for this one.

A Show For Two is about a girl named Mina who makes a deal with this famous movie star, Emmitt. Emmitt will star in Mina’s short film, and she has to help him with a photography contest. It’s also hate to love, and Tashie writes amazing romance, so I’m really excited for this one.

Release date: May 10, 2022

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This Place is Still Beautiful by Xixi Tian

Look at that cover. Look at it.

This Place is Still Beautiful is the story of 2 sisters; Margaret and Annalie, who are about as different from each other as they can get. When their mother and Annalie are the victims of a hate crime, Margaret comes home and expects them to be furious. Instead, they just want to forget it happened. Margaret starts investigating and draws some negative attention to their family. And as if this couldn’t be a big enough mess, Margaret’s ex boyfriend, Rajiv, gets thrown into the mix.

Release date: June 7, 2022

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Ride With Me by Lucy Keating

I saw that it was enemies to lovers and I requested it. Can you blame me?

Ride With Me is about a teen rideshare driver named Charlie who crashes into the school’s “party boy” and ends up having to drive him around to wherever he wants to go, until his car gets fixed.

Forced proximity is one of my favorite tropes so I’m curious to see how it will play out in this one. And I also just love the idea of this.

Release date: June 28, 2022

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How Maya Got Fierce by Sona Charaipotra

I’m always a sucker for books that star desi (south Asian) teenagers. This cover caught my eye and I immediately added it to my TBR.

It’s about a girl named Maya whose parents want her to work in agriculture, but her dream is to become a journalist. Basically, she gets an opportunity to work at her favorite magazine, Fierce, and of course she takes it. But the problem is that she accepted a real job, not an internship. And everyone there thinks that she’s 26.

Release date: July 12, 2021

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Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this one and I loved it (go do yourself a favor and request it on Netgalley). It’s about a 16 year old genius named Beatrice who’s on track to go to Oxford in the fall. But her parents think that she doesn’t have enough real life or teenager-y experiences to go to college, so they send her to a theater camp to branch out and make friends. This book has enemies to lovers, anxiety rep, found family, Shakespeare, drama and so much more.

Release date: July 26, 2022

Are any of these on your TBR? Leave your thoughts on this post in the comments below!