The best new books to read in January 2019

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New year, new reads

Scribner; Little, Brown and Company; Atria Books; Harry N. Abrams; Imprint

The publishing industry is wasting no time getting good books out in 2019. What better way to celebrate the new year than by checking out one of January’s hottest reads? Here are the 20 to have on your radar.

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Adèle, by Leila Slimani

Penguin Books

After making her American debut with The Perfect Nanny, an exquisitely crafted portrait of creeping madness and child murder, Slimani returns with a story about a chic Parisian wife and mother overwhelmed by her compulsive sexual urges. (Jan. 8)

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Burned, by Edward Humes

Dutton

The Pulitzer Prize-winning crime journalist and author (No Matter How Loud I Shout) returns with another eye-opening, suspenseful tale of murder and secrets. This time, he takes the action back to 1989, and investigates a tragic fire shrouded in mystery and conspiracy. (Jan. 8)

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Hollywood's Eve, by Lili Anolik

Scribner

The author behind the Vanity Fair profile that vaulted Eve Babitz into late-career fame expands her work with this intimate book, which is as much a biography of Babitz’s glitzy, star-studded life as it is a meditation on why so many are transfixed by her. (Jan. 8)

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Looker, by Laura Sims

Scribner

Newly separated, an unnamed woman fixates intensely on the life of her famous actress neighbor. The obsession worsens, and the stakes turn dangerous. (Jan. 8)

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An Orchestra of Minorities, by Chigozie Obioma

Little, Brown and Company

A Man Booker Prize finalist, Obioma could break out with U.S. audiences with this passionate, emotional contemporary twist on Homer’s Odyssey, set in the outskirts of Umuahia, Nigeria. (Jan. 8)

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The Sopranos Sessions, by Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall

Harry N. Abrams

The two veteran critics offer in-depth, episode-by-episode analysis of one of the greatest TV series ever. But a juicy bonus lurks for fans: a new, wide-ranging interview with Sopranos creator David Chase. And in it, he just might shed some light on that perennially controversial final scene. (Jan. 8)

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Sugar Run, by Mesha Maren

Algonquin Books

A tense, atmospheric Southern noir spiked with queer themes, Sugar Run weaves between two timelines in its depiction of Jodi, a woman just finishing an 18-year prison sentence. (Jan. 8)

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Thick, by Tressie McMillan Cottom

The New Press

In this searingly written collection, Cottom, a proven author (Lower Ed) and assistant professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, mixes cultural criticism with personal reflection, recalling the best of Janet Mock and Roxane Gay. The latter has already called Thick “transgressive, provocative, and brilliant.” (Jan. 8)

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To Keep the Sun Alive, by Rabeah Ghaffari

Catapult

Ghaffari’s fiery debut tenderly depicts a family against the harrowing backdrop of the 1979 Iranian revolution. (Jan. 8)

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The Water Cure, by Sophie Mackintosh

Doubleday

This dystopian novel centers on three young sisters who’ve lived their whole lives in isolation with their parents, kept away from a world that has become violent toward women. (Think The Handmaid’s Tale set on the outskirts of Gilead.) But when their father dies, they’re forced to face the danger beyond their walls — and find the strength to survive it. (Jan. 8)

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The Wicked King, by Holly Black

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Black promises to do more with the follow-up to her smash success The Cruel Prince than merely set up the final act in her Folk of the Air trilogy, an epic saga of palace intrigue and deception. Expect new blood to be shed. (Jan. 8)

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The Dreamers, by Karen Thompson Walker

Random House

Walker was behind one of the biggest debuts in recent memory, in the form of the coming-of-age sci-fi tale The Age of Miracles. Now she’s finally arrived with her encore: the saga of a town being put to sleep (literally) by a mysterious illness. (Jan. 15)

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The Far Field, by Madhuri Vijay

Grove Press

A debut novel that finds a young woman visiting India in the wake of her mother’s death, where she seeks answers about her family’s past — and herself. (Jan. 15)

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You Know You Want This, by Kristen Roupenian

Scout Press

Roupenian inked a huge book deal off her buzzy New Yorker short story “Cat Person,” and here’s the first result: a collection that provocatively tackles sex and power. Read an excerpt. (Jan. 15)

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The Current, by Tim Johnston

Algonquin

Johnston dazzled with his breakout thriller, Descent; his follow-up is a more ambitious page-turner, unpacking how a shocking murder impacts the denizens of a small Minnesota town as they weather suspicion, guilt, and grief. (Jan. 22)

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Talent, by Juliet Lapidos

Little, Brown and Company

This satirical debut centers on an intellectually ambitious graduate student desperately seeking inspiration as she struggles to finish her disseration. She finds it in the life (and potential unfinished, unknown project) of a deceased author. (Jan. 22)

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The Falconer, by Dana Czapnik

Atria Books

One of the buzziest debuts of the winter may also sound a tad familiar: a coming-of-age story set in ’90s New York City. But early word is this may rank among the best in that ever-popular subgenre. (Jan. 29)

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King of Scars, by Leigh Bardugo

Imprint

Kicking off a new duology, Scars centers on Nikolai Lantsov, the mysterious and roguish prince from Bardugo’s original Grisha trilogy who quickly emerged as a fan favorite, and it also features at least one character from her Six of Crows duology. (As to whom, that remains under wraps.) Bardugo fans probably don’t want to miss this one. (Jan. 29)

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The Wolf in the Whale, by Jordanna Max Brodsky

Redhook

Calling fans of Diana Gabaldon and Sharon Kay Penman: Brodsky’s new fantasy imagines a consequential meeting between Vikings and the Inuit in the year 1000, surrounding the clash with gods and romance and tragedy. (Jan. 29)

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The World According to Fannie Davis, by Bridgett M. Davis

Little, Brown and Company

Novelist Davis (Into the Slow-Go) tries her hand at nonfiction in this emotional, nuanced tribute to her mother, who became known as an iconic lottery “numbers runner” in her mid-century Detroit community. (Jan. 29)

Replay gallery

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20 new books to read in January

1 of 22

New year, new reads

2 of 22

Adèle, by Leila Slimani

3 of 22

Burned, by Edward Humes

4 of 22

Hollywood's Eve, by Lili Anolik

5 of 22

Looker, by Laura Sims

6 of 22

An Orchestra of Minorities, by Chigozie Obioma

7 of 22

The Sopranos Sessions, by Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall

8 of 22

Sugar Run, by Mesha Maren

9 of 22

Thick, by Tressie McMillan Cottom

10 of 22

To Keep the Sun Alive, by Rabeah Ghaffari

11 of 22

The Water Cure, by Sophie Mackintosh

12 of 22

The Wicked King, by Holly Black

13 of 22

The Dreamers, by Karen Thompson Walker

14 of 22

The Far Field, by Madhuri Vijay

15 of 22

You Know You Want This, by Kristen Roupenian

16 of 22

The Current, by Tim Johnston

17 of 22

Talent, by Juliet Lapidos

18 of 22

The Falconer, by Dana Czapnik

19 of 22

King of Scars, by Leigh Bardugo

20 of 22

The Wolf in the Whale, by Jordanna Max Brodsky

21 of 22

The World According to Fannie Davis, by Bridgett M. Davis

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