Each month, there are tons of new books to read in multiple genres. We scoured GoodReads.com to find some intriguing titles being released in January. Check them out!
“The Wife Upstairs” by Rachel Hawkins
Expected publication: January 5
Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog walker in Thornfield Estates—a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.
But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie—not only is he rich, brooding and handsome, he also could offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.
Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful Southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past—or his—catches up to her?
“You Have a Match” by Emma Lord
Expected publication: January 5
When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie … although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front.
But she didn’t know she’s a younger sister.
When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star, Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, nevermind the same parents—especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself.
The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: Savvy is a rigid rule-follower and total narc. Leo is the camp’s co-chef, putting Abby’s growing feelings for him on blast. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything.
“Crown of Bones” (“Crown of Bones” #1) by A.K. Wilder
Expected publication: January 5
In a world on the brink of the next Great Dying, no amount of training can prepare us for what is to come …
A young heir will raise the most powerful phantom in all of Baiseen.
A dangerous High Savant will do anything to control the realms.
A mysterious and deadly Mar race will steal children into the sea.
And a handsome guide with far too many secrets will make me fall in love.
My name is Ash. A lowly scribe meant to observe and record. And yet I think I’m destined to change us all.
“Lore” by Alexandra Bracken
Expected publication: January 5
Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.
Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family’s sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt’s promises of eternal glory. For years, she’s pushed away any thought of revenge against the man—now a god—responsible for their deaths.
Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.
The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore’s decision to bind her fate to Athena’s and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost—and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.
“One of the Good Ones” by Maika Moulite, Maritza Moulite
Expected publication: January 5
When teen social activist and history buff Kezi Smith is killed under mysterious circumstances after attending a social justice rally, her devastated sister, Happi, and their family are left reeling in the aftermath. As Kezi becomes another immortalized victim in the fight against police brutality, Happi begins to question the idealized way her sister is remembered. Perfect. Angelic.
One of the good ones.
Even as the phrase rings wrong in her mind—why are only certain people deemed worthy to be missed?—Happi and her sister, Genny, embark on a journey to honor Kezi in their own way, using an heirloom copy of “The Negro Motorist Green Book” as their guide. But there’s a twist to Kezi’s story that no one ever could have expected—one that will change everything all over again.
“Concrete Rose” (The Hate U Give #0) by Angie Thomas
Expected publication: January 12
International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights 17 years before the events of “The Hate U Give” in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood.
If there’s one thing 17-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money, he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.
Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.
Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father.
Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.
“Aftershocks” by Nadia Owusu
Expected publication: January 12
This poetic, genre-bending work—blending memoir with cultural history—from Whiting Award winner Nadia Owusu grapples with the fault lines of identity, the meaning of home, Black womanhood and the ripple effects, both personal and generational, of emotional trauma.
Nadia Owusu grew up all over the world. When her mother abandoned her when she was 2 years old, the rejection caused Nadia to be confused about her identity. Even after her father died when she was 13 and she was raised by her stepmother, she was unable to come to terms with who she was because she still felt motherless and alone.
When Nadia went to university in America when she was 18, she still felt as if she had so many competing personas she couldn’t keep track of them all without cracking under the pressure of trying to hold herself together. A powerful coming-of-age story that explores timely and universal themes of identity, “Aftershocks” follows Nadia’s life as she hauls herself out of the wreckage and begins to understand that the only ground firm enough to count on is the one she writes into existence.
