GMA book club pick: The storm we made by Vanessa Chan

A novel about a Malayan mother who becomes an unlikely spy for the invading Japanese forces during WWII – and the shocking consequences that rain upon her community and family.

Expected publication: january 2

Reese’s book club pick: First lie wins by Ashely Elston

EviePorter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want; a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white pickeet fence and a garden, a fancy group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.

Expected publication: january 2

Belletrist: Holding Pattern by Jenny Xie

Holding Pattern. Noun. 1. A state of suspended progress. 2. The awkward way your mother tries to hug you not that you love with her.

Read with Jenna: The waters by Bonnie Jo Campbell

Jenna has been releasing early, so three days into January, readers were impatient – she finallly dropped her pick on january 4th – and it doesn’t come out until january 9th. haha

Described as a rural noir ala Where the crawdads sing.

Diverse spines pick: How to say babylon by Safiya Sinclair

A read with Jenna October 2023 pick and named as one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2023. How to say babylon is a memoir abou teh author’s upbringing in a Rastafarian family in Jamaica. It’s a book about freedom, choice and becoming who we were meant to be.

Maybe it’s about time I pick this up now. Since I skipped it the last 2 times it came up on my radar.

Come & Get it by Kiley Reid

You might recognize the authors name from the bestselling “Such a fun age”. This is her sophomore book about a residential assiastant and her messy entaglement with a professor and three unruly stuent set at the University of Arkansas in 2017.

It’s a tension filled story about money, indescretion and bad behaviour.

Expected release date: January 9

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins

Ashby house holds many secrets and inheritance is more than just possessions in a will.

A thriller about the wealthiest woman in North Carolina with a mysterious background, the child she adopted who would inherit her entire estate but doesn’t want anything to do with it and others battling to get their hands on it.

Expected publication: January 9

Rabbit hole by Kate Brody

A twisty debut exploring the dark side of true crime fandom and the blurry lines of female friendship, perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, My Favorite Murder, and Fleabag

Conspiracy theories from Reddit seduce a disaster-prone woman into an obsession with solving her older sister’s cold-case disappearance.

Expected publication: january 2

They Fury by Alex Michaelides

Alex Michaelides exploded on the crime scene with his book “The silent patient” – which if you haven’t read it – it’s a phenomenal slow burn!

I have is sophomore book The maidens in my TBR, and now his third book is on the way! It’s a story about murder – or is it about love?

Expected release date: January 16

Only if you’re lucky – Stacy Willingham

You might now Willingham from the bestseller “A flicker in the dark”, she returns with a Bad Roomate situation story.

In college, Margot and Lucy move off campus together with a few other friends next door to an apartment of frat brothers where one of them suddenly turns up dead. Tensions get severe.

Expected release date: January 16

No one can know by Kate Alice Marshall

Three sisters, two murdered parents and endless secrets!

The night their parents died the family dissolved, what happens when it comes together again, will we finally learn the truth about who killed the parents that night? Winter is prime crime time if you ask me! The cold weather is perfect for cold cases and cold blooded murder.

Expected publication: january 23

The Atlas complex by Olivie Blake

The third and final installment of the “Atlas” series. If you’ve followed this series, then I’m sure you know. If you haven’t my bet is that you better start with The Atlax six and The Atlas Paradox before you jump into this one.

Expected release date: January 9

House of Flame and Shadow by Sharah J. Maas

The third book in the crescent city series, so if you’ve been following this, or if you’ve been wanted to read this series, it’s the perfect time to jump in and catch the new release at the same time.

Rumor has it she has 6 more books in the works for her universe, which is not small! She has some of the biggest series on the market right now! (Hello ACOTAR!)

Expected publication: January 30

Good Material by Dollly Alderton

Honestly, I’ve only read her book “Everything I know about love” which is a memoir of her party girl days. I though every book after that was just a continuation of that (I had my fill with the first one), and I am only now learning that it’s not.

Good Material is Aldertons second novel. 35-year old Andy is trying to solve the unsolvable mystery of his broken heart while living out of a suitcase in his friends spare room.

The book is also rumored to be Read with Jenna’s february pick.

Expected publication: January 30

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

This was first published in january 2022 – and became a runaway bestseller. It has been since been sold to several countries and is being re-released by Bloomsbury in february 2024.

About Yeongju who is burned out. She’s considered successful with a good career, marriage but she feels drained. She quits her job and divorces her husband to move out of Seoul to a small neighboorhood outside the city and she opens her own bookshop.

Sounds like a dream to me! Count me in!

The ten thousand doors of january by Alix E. Harrow

In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.

Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

Doesn’t that sound like the perfect book to read at the beginning of a year when you find yourself at the doorstep of endless possibilites?

The book of beginnings by Sally Page

What is January, but a new beginning right? This is an uplifting story of how the most unexpected friendships are forges in the most unlikely of places.

Jo feels adrift, when she meets Ruth, a vicar running from a secret and Malcolm, a septuagenarian struggling to write his first book. She realizes she isn’t alone and it can change her life – if only she can let them in.

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

A small town, a hockey team, a violent act.

Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.

I’ve been wanting to read this 3 book series for a long time, and HBO has even made it into a series, so I have to read it before I watch! My fingers are itching to get to this!

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Franny Stone follows the Arctic terns on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. She talks her way onto a fishing boat and her history unspools – revealing that she’s chasing more than the birds.
Epic and intimate, heartbreaking and galvanizing, Charlotte McConaghy’s Migrations is an ode to a disappearing world and a breathtaking page-turner about the possibility of hope against all odds.