Happy New Year! We’re kicking off January with a list of new books by women that we can’t wait to read, including the Roxane Gay-approved essay collection Thick: and Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom, and You Know You Want This, the debut short story collection by Kristen Roupenian, the author of the viral short story “Cat Person.”
Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell (January 8)
This short story collection by Buenos Aires-born, Berlin-based writer Samanta Schweblin has been called “disturbing” and “nightmare-fuel”—in the best way.
Thick: and Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom (January 8)
Tressie McMillan Cottom’s collection of smart, funny essays on race, gender, and capitalism—covering everything from sexual violence to Trump to BBQ Becky—combines Cottom’s thoughtful insights (she’s a professor of sociology) with wit, and has been praised by Roxane Gay and Rebecca Traister.
Hollywood’s Eve by Lili Anolik (January 8)
Eve Babitz—author of Sex and Rage and Black Swans—has enjoyed a revival in recent years thanks to rereleases of her works. Here, biographer Lili Anolik explores Babitz’s journey from it girl to writer.
Sugar Run by Mesha Maren (January 8)
This debut novel follows a woman from rural West Virginia who is sentenced to life in prison at age 17—and then released at 35. Determined to change the course of her life, Jodi heads south, falling in love with a single mother along the way—but she finds that her family and hometown aren’t as eager to change as she is.
To Keep the Sun Alive by Rabeah Ghaffari (January 8)
Set against the political unrest just before the Iranian Revolution, this historical novel follows an ensemble of characters working in an ancient orchard in Naishapur.
How To Date Men When You Hate Men by Blythe Roberson (January 8)
This comedy book interrogates what it means to date and fall in love with men when you don’t particularly like men—sections include “Real Interviews With Men About Whether Or Not It Was A Date” and “Definitive Proof That Tom Hanks Is The Villain Of You’ve Got Mail.”
Trailblazer: A Pioneering Journalist’s Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America by Dorothy Butler Gilliam (January 8)
In this memoir, Dorothy Butler Gilliam examines her groundbreaking 50-year career: at 24, she became the first black woman reporter to work at the Washington Post, and she covered politics, race, and education throughout her career. She also worked as an activist, organizing protests against the New York Daily News when it fired two-thirds of its black employees and serving as president of the National Association Of Black Journalists.
Last Night in Nuuk by Niviaq Korneliussen, translated by Anna Halager. (January 15)
This critically-acclaimed novel by Greenland writer Niviaq Korneliussen gets an English translation. It follows five young, queer Greenlanders over the course of a party and its aftermath.
Last Woman Standing by Amy Gentry (January 15)
This thriller follows an female standup comedian and a female computer programmer who bond over their struggles as women in a male-dominated world—and decide to take revenge on each other’s assailants.
You Know You Want This: “Cat Person” And Other Stories by Kristen Roupenian (January 15)
The author of the viral short story “Cat Person” publishes her debut book, a short story collection tackling the connections between sex, gender, and power.
The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay (January 15)
This Pushcart Prize-winning novel follows a young woman from Bangalore who heads to Kashmir, determined to discover the connection between her mother’s death and the disappearance of a Kashmiri salesman she knew in childhood. When she gets there, she confronts a political and a personal reckoning.
Adèle by Leila Slimani, translated by Sam Taylor (January 15)
The Moroccan-French author of the Perfect Nanny returns with a novel about a woman living a double life: she’s a successful journalist in Paris with a surgeon husband and young son, and her life is consume by a secret sex addiction.
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land (January 22)
In this memoir, Stephanie Land tells shares her story of working as a housekeeper: at 28, her dreams of becoming a writer were cut short by an unplanned pregnancy, and she turned to housekeeping to make ends meet—an experience that made her determined to tell the stories of Americans living in poverty.
The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers by Bridgett M. Davis (January 29)
Bridgett M. Davis tells the story of her mother, an extraordinary woman who ran the numbers in ’60s and ’70s Detroit.
The Falconer by Dana Czapnik (January 29)
This coming-of-age novel set in 1993 Manhattan follows a seventeen-year-old girl who’s in unrequited love with her best friend and basketball teammate; while navigating this relationship, she finds herself exploring New York’s bohemian art world.
Black is the Body: Stories of My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine by Emily Bernard (January 29)
In memoir/essay collection, Emily Bernard—a professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at the University of Vermont—looks at race through twelve personal essays exploring her family’s stories.
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