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Readers' Most Anticipated January Books
At the beginning of each calendar month, Goodreads’ crack editorial squad assembles a list of the hottest and most popular new books hitting shelves, actual and virtual. The list is generated by evaluating readers’ early reviews and tracking which titles are being added to Want to Read shelves by Goodreads regulars.
Each month’s curated preview features new books from across the genre spectrum: contemporary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries and thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy, romance, horror, young adult, nonfiction, and more. Think of it as a literary smorgasbord. Check out whatever looks delicious.
New in January: The formidable George Saunders returns to shelves with Vigil, his new novel concerning a deathbed visitation and some unsettling revelations about the afterlife. Author Nikesha Elise Williams chronicles seven generations of Black women in America with The Seven Daughters of Dupree. And Simone St. James returns with more spooky happenings in the town of Fell, New York, with her new novel, A Box Full of Darkness.
Also on tap this month: magical power struggles in Renaissance Italy, a romantic rendezvous in windswept Scotland, and some historical adventures in 1869 Tibet. Plus: the latest mystery-thriller from British all-star Alice Feeney.
Each month’s curated preview features new books from across the genre spectrum: contemporary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries and thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy, romance, horror, young adult, nonfiction, and more. Think of it as a literary smorgasbord. Check out whatever looks delicious.
New in January: The formidable George Saunders returns to shelves with Vigil, his new novel concerning a deathbed visitation and some unsettling revelations about the afterlife. Author Nikesha Elise Williams chronicles seven generations of Black women in America with The Seven Daughters of Dupree. And Simone St. James returns with more spooky happenings in the town of Fell, New York, with her new novel, A Box Full of Darkness.
Also on tap this month: magical power struggles in Renaissance Italy, a romantic rendezvous in windswept Scotland, and some historical adventures in 1869 Tibet. Plus: the latest mystery-thriller from British all-star Alice Feeney.
You may remember author and former teenage TV star Jennette McCurdy, who wrote the surprise hit of 2022 with her darkly funny and poignant memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died. McCurdy makes her fiction debut In January with Half His Age, a bracing sort of anti-romance. The story introduces a young woman named Waldo, a perceptive but impulsive 17-year-old student who falls deeply into…something—maybe it’s love, maybe it’s just need—with her creative writing teacher. Look for lots of pitch-black humor and uncomfortable insights.
Houston author Ashley Winstead likes to toggle between mystery-thrillers (In My Dreams I Hold a Knife) and contemporary rom-coms (Fool Me Once). But her new novel goes in another direction entirely with the story of Theo Ford, a music industry executive who falls for fast-spiraling singer Hannah and her band, the Future Saints. Winstead’s latest digs deep into themes of grief and family dysfunction as Theo courageously breaks rule No. 1: Never fall in love with a rock star.
It’s generally acknowledged that George Saunders, author of 2017’s Booker Prize–winning Lincoln in the Bardo, is among the greatest writers working today. His highly anticipated new novel, Vigil, returns to previous existential territory, as a psychopomp ghost helps a dying oil company executive reckon with all that he hath wrought. Early readers are loving the ecological themes, with one Goodreads reviewer delivering this gem of a tag: “A Christmas Carol for the Anthropocene.”
Historical fiction devotees will want to flag this one: Veteran author Paula McLain returns with a kind of two-for-one novel as she presents parallel stories set in Paris; one in 1664, one in 1939. The earlier thread follows Alouette Voland, an artist held captive in a nightmare asylum. The second story features a psychiatrist determined to help his Jewish neighbors survive Nazi occupation. Both stories explore Paris’ famous underground metropolis of secret places. As above, so below.
Inspired by true stories of the Black men and women who fought back against slavery, this ambitious debut novel from author Clay Cane follows multiple interconnected uprisings on Southern plantations during the Civil War. Author Cane’s separate story threads ultimately come together in an inventive kind of composite narrative approach. Burn Down Master's House is historical fiction steeped in cold, hard truth, filled with stories of rage and compassion, defiance and justice.
Seven generations of Black women pass through this ambitious family epic from prolific author Nikesha Elise Williams, who also hosts the literary podcast Black & Published. When 14-year-old Tati starts researching her family legacy, she uncovers a historical saga of astonishing revelations. The Dupree women, it seems, are bound—destined, perhaps—to give birth only to daughters, and each generation has its story. Nadia in 1980. Gladys in 1953. Ruby in 1934. Jubi in 1917. Recommended for readers of Homegoing and The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois.
Author Deepa Anappara won the prestigious Edgar Award for best novel with her 2020 mystery-thriller, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line. Now she’s back with The Last of the Earth, a historical adventure set in 1869 Tibet that sheds light on a little-known chapter of history. Balram, an Indian schoolteacher spying for the British, teams up with a female English explorer to map the forbidden kingdom of Tibet. Spies! Bandits! Snow leopards! Ice storms! Plus some astute observations regarding imperial folly.
North Carolina native and Southern fiction specialist Donna Everhart returns to shelves this January with details on an appalling era of American history. For the crime of being a single woman living on her own, Ruth Foster is sent to the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. It’s all part of the American Plan, a real-life historical government initiative designed, ostensibly, to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted disease. But Ruth’s story illuminates larger truths about men, misogyny, and control.
Advice columnist Debbie Mullen has been taking the high road for years, dispensing patient practical guidance to the women who write to her with stories of neglect, manipulation, and abuse. But something just snapped. With her daughters navigating their teenage years—and her husband up to something shady—Debbie has decided to explore certain…morally gray areas of solving problems. The impossibly prolific Freida McFadden introduces a new antihero going 50 shades of cray.
It’s a puzzler, all right. Artist-on-the-rise Eden Fox has just returned from her morning run to find that another woman is in her beautiful seaside house. She looks just like Eden, actually. And Eden’s husband insists that the other woman is his wife. The latest psychological suspense novel from British all-pro Alice Feeney (Rock Paper Scissors) is a straight-up mystery-thriller—there’s no alternate-dimension woo-woo involved. Just some really quite impressive deception. Early readers are advising everyone to strap in tight—it gets twisty.
In 1984, local girl Lo Bailey was accused of murdering her boyfriend, area big-wig and political heir Landon Fitzroy. Forty years and a mistrial later, Lo is back in town and staying at the historic Rosalie Inn, along with a famous true-crime writer. The owner of the inn, meanwhile, has discovered some curious connections between Lo, the writer, the inn, and the regular hurricanes that blow into town. Also: There’s a hurricane blowing into town. Coincidence? We think not. Rachel Hawkins (The Wife Upstairs) has the details.
in 2021, author Laura Dave hit the jackpot (and won a Goodreads Choice Award) with her blockbuster thriller The Last Thing He Told Me, later adapted into an Apple TV+ series with Jennifer Garner. The long-awaited sequel picks up five years after the first book’s epilogue and finds Hannah Hall and her teenage daughter Bailey settling into a new life in Southern California. When Hannah’s missing husband, Owen, shows up, the two women must run for their lives yet again. New readers: It’s not what you think.
Attorney Benjamin Bayliss is up to something. His wife, Camille, just knows it. But she can’t catch him at anything because Ben tracks her every move. So Camille comes up with a plan: She hires bartender Aubrey Price to take her place for 12 hours while Camille pokes around. But when Ben winds up really quite severely dead, both women are in sudden need of an alibi. Former YA author Ashley Elston (First Lie Wins) continues her migration into adult mystery territory.
Toronto author Simone St. James (The Broken Girls) returns to the sinister environs of Fell, New York, with her latest supernatural thriller. The setup: Three adult siblings come back to their childhood home to investigate ghost sightings that just may involve their little brother, missing now for 18 years. What follows is a slow-burn ghost story wrapped around a tragic family mystery. Bonus tip: Early readers report a few connections to St. James’ 2020 thriller, The Sun Down Motel.
Winner of this month’s unofficial Most Intriguing Book Title award, The Elsewhere Express spotlights the adventures of a young woman, Raya, who suddenly wakes up on a magical mystery train. (The moral: Never fall asleep on the subway.) While the story tilts to the cozy side of urban fantasy, Raya’s quest features passages both enchanting and dreadful. Author Samantha Sotto Yambao (Water Moon) has a specific style, and fans of the Studio Ghibli stories (Spirited Away) will recognize the melancholy, modern fairy tale vibes.
What happens at Comic-Con stays at Comic-Con. That would be the ideal situation, but it doesn’t quite happen that way for struggling novelist Sage Collins, who bumps into a very famous British actor at the annual nerdfest. The paparazzi think they’re a couple, and Sage retreats to remote Scotland to escape the madness. You’ll never guess who shows up. Romantasy author Kate Dramis (the Curse of Saints series) breaks down the odds in her first contemporary romance.
A kind of hybrid romance/mystery, the new book from Sweden-based Italian writer Letizia Lorini gleefully colors outside the lines. The story concerns crime fiction podcaster Scarlett Moore, who is unexpectedly reassigned to the romance desk. Soon, life stars imitating art in all directions—there’s a hot and brooding guy involved, a serial killer investigation, and way too many genre tropes for Scarlett’s comfort. Bonus trivia: Author Lorini has degrees in both sociology and criminology, which seems relevant.
This debut adult romantasy from author Jaclyn Rodriguez introduces Rune Ryker, a fierce young woman with a desperate plan. Rune is determined to find her abducted family and exact vengeance on the Immortals—vicious druid-kings whose magic is based on the ancient symbology of tarot. When she’s forced to team up with an arrogant prince (with neck tattoos!), Rune must try to survive in a deadly magical college known as the Forge. Check the book page Ratings & Reviews section for content warnings and a note from the author.
If you like your fiction set in Renaissance-era Italy—who doesn’t?—check out the new standalone adult historical fantasy from author Isabel Ibañez (the extremely fun Secrets of the Nile series). The story features a talented young sculptress in 15th-century Florence whose magical abilities attract the attention of the city’s power brokers, the formidable Medici family, and even the Pope. Early readers are digging this one, and that cover art is 12 different kinds of awesome.
How’s this for an interesting YA fantasy set-up: A tournament of lethal bachelorettes, a prince who expects to be murdered on his wedding night, and a grove of previously murdered princes-turned-trees. Also: a poorly worded magical pact concerning the words heart and hand. It’s the latest from author Roshani Chokshi (The Gilded Wolves), and we didn’t even mention the veritas swan, whose song compels the ensorcelled to tell the truth.
