How was your holiday reading, did you get to power through your TBR pile? Many of us are back in the office with New Year's resolution around our reading habits. Maybe you're hoping to fit more female authors into your reading diet or perhaps you've set yourself a target to hit each month. I will be dialling down the new fiction I read in exchange for the older books that have taken a backseat. But if I was open to a story fresh off the press, the following titles would be my picks. Below, the best new book releases to arrive in January 2024.
Rabbit Hole, Kate Brody
Release date: January 16
Prepare to go deep. Fans of true crime, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, and My Favourite Murder will appreciate the forthcoming novel from Kate Brody. It's been a decade since Teddy Angstrom's older sister Angie went missing, and upon the anniversary Teddy's father commits suicide. Teddy soon learns her father was an active member of an online Reddit community committed to solving the mystery of her sister's disappearance. Teddy too is quickly engulfed in the puzzle – at the detriment of her personal relationships – and her obsession extends to Mickey, a charming amateur online sleuth who is eerily keen on helping her solve the case.
My Friends, Hisham Matar
Release date: January 16
Hisham Matar follows up his nonfiction with a novel about three students who have been politically exiled from their homeland in Libya and must become their own kind of home to each other. A reminder of Matar's gentle touch and resounding voice.
Come and Get It, Kiley Reid
Release date: January 30
Back in 2019, before the mass Black Lives Matter protests sparked by George Floyd's murder, Kiley Reid launched her debut novel which picked apart performative white allyship. Now, Reid returns with her second novel, Come And Get It, which Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant at the University of Arkansas. Millie wants to graduate, get a job, and buy a house, so when a visiting professor and writer offers her an easy yet unusual opportunity, she lunges at the chance. Set before Me Too, the novel is billed as "a tension-filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behavior".
Come Together, Emily Nagoski
Release date: January 30
In recent years, hoards of sex educators have popped up with a goal to advise and embolden us to lead fulfilling sex lives. What sets Emily Nagoski apart is her empathy-first, shame-free approach that is backed by research and science. Almost a decade since she debuted Come As You Are, Nagoski prepares to launch Come Together, which aims to demystify and debunk untruths about desire and sex in long-term relationships, while providing a compassionate and rigorous roadmap to sexual satisfaction.
Let the Boys Play, Hameed Akinwande
Release date: January 2024
Sydney-based photographer Hameed Akinwande drops his first photography book, an archive of images inspired by his childhood growing up in Nigeria. Speaking of the project, Akinwande hopes to the images "highlight the importance of creating safe spaces for men to be themselves".
Image: Pinterest
