20 new books to read in February 2020

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Books to fall in love with

We've got some love stories on this list pegged to Valentine's Day, but February is hardly short on great reads across all genres. Here are our top 20 picks.

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All the Stars and Teeth, by Adalyn Grace

Macmillan

Tomi Adeyemi is but one big name in the YA fantasy space to rave about this epic debut, "set in a kingdom where danger lurks beneath the sea, mermaids seek vengeance with song, and magic is a choice." The acquisition of this title was seriously competitive. (Feb. 4)

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The Big Goodbye, by Sam Wasson

Flatiron Books

The biographer behind Fosse and Improv Nation has another compelling Hollywood tale to tell, this one surrounding the making of Chinatown and the stories behind Jack Nicholson, Roman Polanski, and more. (Feb. 4)

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Black Sunday, by Tola Rotimi Abraham

Catapult

Twin sisters in Lagos, circa 1996. Their life of relative comfort is upended, and then upended again and again, once their mother loses her job. Abraham follows how their lives diverge, and they fight for survival amid uncertainty. (Feb. 4)

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Brother & Sister, by Diane Keaton

Penguin Random House

A new book by the Oscar winner, long one of our most literary celebrities, is always an event worth paying attention to. Her latest tenderly traces her evolving relationship with her younger brother. (Feb. 4)

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The Cactus League, by Emily Nemens

Macmillan

New baseball novel worth reading, part 1. Nemens' wise debut, set during spring training in Scottsdale, Ariz., depicts a desert community post-2008 crash. Framed by a sportswriter's story about a Major League superstar whose life is slowly falling apart, the novel crafts a portrait by delving into the lives of those around him. (Feb. 4)

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The Girl With the Louding Voice, by Abi Daré

Penguin Random House

A young Nigerian woman struggles to be heard and seen in this tough but inspiring debut, which explores a spirit and hope that cannot be contained even in the grimmest of circumstances. (Feb. 4)

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Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes, by Kathleen West

Penguin Random House

For those who like their privileged high schools dysfunctional, corrupt, and hilariously human, West's first novel takes readers to Liston Heights High, where no campus drama is too small for parents (and maybe the kids) to lose their minds. West's experience as a teacher adds gravitas to the absurdity. (Feb. 4)

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The Resisters, by Gish Jen

Knopf

New baseball novel worth reading, part 2. It's been a decade since we've had a new Gish Jen novel, but The Resisters is worth the wait. It's a typically inventive effort from the award-winning author, set in a realistic near-future America where a baseball prodigy is recruited to play in the Olympics. Ann Patchett says the book "should be required reading." (Feb. 4)

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Seduction, by Clement Knox

Pegasus

A fascinating history of desire and attraction, Knox's dig into the archives runs from Enlightenment all the way to the present day, and will reframe much of the way you think about this topic. (Feb. 4)

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Verge, by Lidia Yuknavitch

Penguin Random House

This bracing collection tells stories of great heartache, with creations both mundane and fantastical giving voice and imbuing with empathy experiences of trauma, grief, and isolation. Heavy reading at times, sure, but profound too. (Feb. 4)

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The Worst Best Man, by Mia Sosa

Harper Collins

This fizzy rom-com forces a cocky marketing manager and the woman his brother left at the altar to join forces for a lucrative business opportunity. Their rivalry — he'd encouraged his brother to break things off with her, after all — soon gives way to a surprising potential romance. (Feb. 4)

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You Never Forget Your First, by Alexis Coe

Penguin Random House

If this title seems a little unusual for a biography of our first president, it's also brilliantly appropriate for the book that follows. Coe does offer us an overview of George Washington's life here, but with an eye toward breaking down myths, interspersing facts with rich commentary, and having a little fun. (Feb. 4)

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The Illness Lesson, by Clare Beams

Penguin Random House

This study of gender and society cramps readers into the quarters of a 19th-century New England school for girls started by an academic, his twentysomething daughter, and his young acolyte. Things quickly go awry as students contract some sort of disease and a flock of creepy redbirds keeps showing up at pivotal scenes. (Feb. 11)

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Something That May Shock and Discredit You, by Daniel Mallory Ortberg

Atria

The "Dear Prudence" columnist and expert culture commentator returns with his sharpest, wittiest collection yet, a survey of pop culture ranging from scathing to plain weird. (Feb. 11)

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Weather, by Jenny Offill

Love is already pouring in for the new book by literary darling Offill, a slim volume that nevertheless captures a country in crisis, through the lens of a struggling family and its librarian matriarch. (Feb. 11)

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The Holdout, by Graham Moore

Penguin Random House

A murder trial gets thrown for a loop when a juror changes her verdict, unearthing countless more secrets and lies, in the latest from Moore, who won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Imitation Game. (Feb. 18)

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The Other Mrs., by Mary Kubica

Park Row Books

Big-city family moves to small-town Maine — and upon their arrival, a murder rocks the whole neighborhood. But cracks were already starting to show in the Foust clan: Matriarch Sadie, struggling with a big secret, didn't want to move; her husband, Will, is probably cheating; and in sons Tate and Otto and disturbed niece Imogen, they have their hands full. Netflix has already scooped up Kubica's page-turning latest. (Feb. 18)

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Real Life, by Brandon Taylor

Riverhead

Realities of race and sexuality threaten the peace of a tight college-town community over a late-summer weekend, when introverted Wallace, alienated from his white and seemingly straight peers, has a series of complex confrontations. (Feb. 18)

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Apeirogon, by Colum McCann

Bloomsbury Publishing

Rooted in the true experience of two men, one Israeli and one Palestinian, who both lost young daughters in the ongoing conflict, McCann’s storytelling radiates outward to include everything from meditations on Middle Eastern geography and the history of birds to the last meal of a French President and lost operas of the Holocaust. (Feb. 25)

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Soot, by Dan Vyleta

EW called Vyleta's 2016 novel Smoke, set in the early 20th century, a "sprawling, ambitious novel, a Dickensian tale tinged with fantasy." Now he returns with a sequel that only builds on what came before it. (Feb. 25)

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20 new books to read in February

1 of 21

Books to fall in love with

1 of 21

2 of 21

All the Stars and Teeth, by Adalyn Grace

2 of 21

3 of 21

The Big Goodbye, by Sam Wasson

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4 of 21

Black Sunday, by Tola Rotimi Abraham

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Brother & Sister, by Diane Keaton

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The Cactus League, by Emily Nemens

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The Girl With the Louding Voice, by Abi Daré

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Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes, by Kathleen West

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The Resisters, by Gish Jen

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Seduction, by Clement Knox

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Verge, by Lidia Yuknavitch

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The Worst Best Man, by Mia Sosa

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You Never Forget Your First, by Alexis Coe

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The Illness Lesson, by Clare Beams

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Something That May Shock and Discredit You, by Daniel Mallory Ortberg

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Weather, by Jenny Offill

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The Holdout, by Graham Moore

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The Other Mrs., by Mary Kubica

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Real Life, by Brandon Taylor

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Apeirogon, by Colum McCann

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Soot, by Dan Vyleta

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