8 New Books To Read This January
Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen
During 2020, many of us questioned the way we work, and started to challenge our relationship with ambition and our careers. This wise, pace-y and eye-opening book explores why we’re all feeling so burned out, and why it might not necessarily be our fault. This is deftly and energetically written. It’s packed with facts and challenging ideas, but Petersen is always engaging and compelling, reconciling the challenges of our emotional relationship with work with the challenges presented by the world around us.
Available at Waterstones.com
Girl A by Abigail Dean
Lex and her six siblings are living with the painful legacy of childhood abuse, attempting to escape their difficult past and make space for themselves within the framework of adult life. However, when their abusive mother dies in prison and leaves them the family home, they are forced to confront their shared history. Lex is determined to find the good in their legacy, but she’s challenged by old memories, and new relationships, as she tries to forge new connections with her family. One of the most anticipated debuts of the year, this thriller will make you gasp. However, the darkness and depth of the story creates a space for love and redemption too. This is a novel that will stay with you long after you’ve closed the back cover.
Available at Waterstones.com
Luster by Raven Leilani
Edie is ambitious, restless, and longing for new opportunities. She’s also craving sexual excitement. The only black woman in a very white office, she’s overworked, overlooked and fed up. Curiosity drives her into the arms of Eric, a middle-aged white man with an open marriage, and a black adopted daughter he barely speaks of. Edie finds herself living in the home of Eric and his intense wife, Rebecca, and looking for ways to make a difference to their lives while resolving the problems of her own. Wicked, darkly funny, shockingly erotic, smart and poignant, it’s easy to see why this Kirkus prize winning debut was one of Obama’s books of 2020.
Some Body to Love: A Family Story by Alexandra Heminsley
A truly brave and beautiful memoir about everything Heminsley experienced when her marriage ended, after her ex-husband realised she was ready to transition. Heminsley writes so powerfully about pain and love. This is an honest, moving and authentic examination of the end of a relationship, and the way that our lives can fracture and recover from sudden, seismic shifts. Heminsley’s writing is sharply resonant – you don’t have to share her experiences to be struck by her observations about letting go with love, and how we can find strength in self-love too. Fans of Glennon Doyle’s seminal Untamed will adore this.
Available at Waterstones.com
The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.
Samuel and Isaiah, two young men enslaved on a Halifax plantation, live in the bleakest, most brutal conditions imaginable, but when they are together, they find tenderness, passion and solace. Their relationship gives them the space to survive, but their happiness is threatened when another slave, Amos, uses religious doctrine as an excuse to betray them, leading to an eruption of fear and violence. Lyrical, moving, haunting and heart-breaking, The Prophets is a challenging novel, but an essential one. Ultimately, it’s an unforgettable story about the very best and worst that humans are capable of, and Jones writes with real elegance and power.
Available at Waterstones.com
The Push by Ashley Audrain
When a young mother gives birth to her first daughter, she wants to believe motherhood will redeem her, and make her life and marriage complete. But is there something strange about baby Violet? Is her wilful and difficult nature entirely imagined, or is there true darkness in her genetic legacy? A truly startling, breath-taking book, The Push expertly explores some of our greatest fears, inviting us to wonder whether anything really separates the imagined horror in our heads from the evil that might be present in the world around us. It’s stylish, addictive and compulsive. It will keep you up all night – you won’t dare to go back to sleep.
Available at Waterstones.com
We Are All Birds of Uganda by Hafsa Zayyan
This book was supposed to be published in 2020 and attracted rave reviews from critics – but it was pushed back because of the pandemic, so readers need to make sure that they don’t miss out on this smart story that weaves between present day London and 1960s Uganda, forcing us to think about the meaning of family, love and belonging. Zayyan is a co-winner of the Merky Books New Writers’ Prize, and her prose is extraordinarily vivid – she makes you desperate to turn the page while writing sentences that stay in your head like song lyrics. This is a book you’ll be telling your friends about all year long.
Available at Waterstones.com
The City Of Tears by Kate Mosse
If you’re looking for an exciting story to get completely lost in, this epic story (following Mosse’s bestseller The Burning Chambers) is the perfect novel to get you through the dark winter nights. It’s 1572, and Minou Joubet has just received an exciting invitation to a Royal Wedding – an historic event that could see a violent and divided France reunite. But peril lies along the way, and Minou must fight to keep her family together amid the remaining ravages of war. Minou’s courage is energising and inspiring, and Mosse expertly takes us on a big adventure, while writing with subtlety, warmth and emotional nuance.
Available at Waterstones.com
Daisy Buchanan is an author and the host of the You’re Booked podcast, where she interviews legendary authors about their favourite books and reading habits. Her first novel, Insatiable: A Love Story For Greedy Girls, is out on 11th February – an exclusive signed edition is available from Waterstones for SheerLuxe readers.
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