Books Publishing This Week
Books Publishing This Week: January 7 - 13
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Imagine this:
The January afternoon is crisp and cool, the pale sun casting a soft, golden glow through the frost-kissed windowpanes. As you settle into the plush armchair by the fireplace, you can feel the warmth emanating from the crackling flames, creating a cozy cocoon in contrast to the winter chill outside. The scent of a freshly brewed cup of tea wafts through the air, mingling with the earthy aroma of the leather-bound book cradled in your hands.
With anticipation bubbling within, you run your fingers over the smooth cover of the brand new book, its pages pristine and untouched, promising a world of untold adventures and unexplored realms. The title, embossed in elegant serif font, hints at mystery and wonder, enticing you to delve into its contents. The cover art, a masterpiece of intricate design, transports you to a realm of imagination even before you flip open the first page.
You carefully crack the spine, that satisfying sound echoing in the quiet room like the promise of a thousand stories waiting to be unraveled. The paper is of high quality, thick and textured, as if it cradles the weight of the author's words with reverence. As you turn the pages, a gentle breeze from the slightly ajar window stirs them, carrying a hint of frosty air that adds to the immersive experience.
As you begin to read, the outside world fades away, replaced by the vivid imagery painted by the author's prose. The characters come to life, each word sculpting their personalities and weaving them into the tapestry of the narrative. You lose yourself in the dialogue, the voices of the characters resonating in your mind as if they were speaking directly to you. The scenes unfold with cinematic precision, transporting you to distant lands and unexplored landscapes.
The January sunlight filters through the bare branches of trees outside, casting a soft pattern of shadows on the pages. You find yourself completely engrossed, oblivious to the passage of time. The tea in your hands, forgotten, has grown cold, but you hardly notice, caught up in the ebb and flow of the story. The world around you fades into the background as the author's words become the only reality.
Occasionally, you pause to savor a particularly well-crafted sentence, marveling at the author's ability to capture the essence of emotions and experiences. The writing is a symphony of language, each paragraph a carefully composed note that resonates in your soul. The January afternoon slips away, the sun sinking lower on the horizon, casting long shadows that dance across the room.
As the climax approaches, your heart quickens with anticipation, the suspense palpable in the air. The author skillfully builds the tension, and you find yourself on the edge of your seat, eager to uncover the resolution. The resolution comes like a cathartic release, leaving you with a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.
As you close the book, the world outside the window is bathed in the soft hues of twilight. You sit in the quiet room, the embers in the fireplace now glowing dimly. The journey you've undertaken within the pages of the book has left an indelible mark on your soul, and you can't help but feel grateful for the magic that words can conjure. In the fading light of the January afternoon, you reflect on the power of storytelling, a warmth that lingers long after the fire in the hearth has dimmed.
Scroll down to find out which book you might be reading…
Recipe for a Charmed Life by Rachel Linden
After a day of unrivaled disappointments, a promising young chef finds every bite of food suddenly tastes bitter. To save her career, she travels to the Pacific Northwest to reconnect with her estranged mom, and discovers a family legacy she never suspected in this delicious novel from the bestselling author of The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie.
American chef Georgia May Jackson has one goal—to run her own restaurant in Paris. After a grueling decade working in Parisian kitchens, she is on the cusp of success. But in one disastrous night, Georgia loses her sous-chef position, her French boyfriend, and her sense of taste! Renowned for her refined palate and daring use of bold flavors to create remarkable dishes, Georgia is devastated to discover her culinary gift has simply...vanished.
When she receives a surprising invitation from her estranged mother, Georgia flees to a small island near Seattle hoping the visit will help her regain her spark in the kitchen. There she tentatively reconnects with her mom, a free-spirited hippie eager to make up for her past mistakes. But there’s something about the enigmatic island Georgia just can’t piece together. Good luck charms keep appearing in the oddest places. Her neighbor is a puzzlingly antagonist (and annoyingly handsome) oyster farmer. And her mom keeps hinting at a mysterious family legacy.
With the clock ticking and time running out to win her dream job in Paris, Georgia begins to unravel some astonishing secrets that make her wonder if the true recipe for a charmed life might look—and taste—very different than she ever imagined.
Aednan by Linnea Axelsson
The winner of Sweden’s most prestigious literary award makes her American debut with an epic, multigenerational novel-in-verse about two Sámi families and their quest to stay together across a century of migration, violence, and colonial trauma.
In Northern Sámi, the word Ædnan means the land, the earth, and my mother. These are all crucial forces within the lives of the Indigenous families that animate this groundbreaking book: an astonishing verse novel that chronicles a hundred years of change: a book that will one day stand alongside Halldór Laxness’s Independent People and Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter as an essential Scandinavian epic.
The tale begins in the 1910s, as Ristin and her family migrate their herd of reindeer to summer grounds. Along the way, forced to separate due to the newly formed border between Sweden and Norway, Ristin loses one of her sons in the aftermath of an accident, a grief that will ripple across the rest of the book. In the wake of this tragedy, Ristin struggles to manage what’s left of her family and her community.
In the 1970s, Lise, as part of a new generation of Sámi grappling with questions of identity and inheritance, reflects on her traumatic childhood, when she was forced to leave her parents and was placed in a Nomad School to be stripped of the language of her ancestors. Finally, in the 2010s we meet Lise’s daughter, Sandra, an embodiment of Indigenous resilience, an activist fighting for reparations in a highly publicized land rights trial, in a time when the Sámi language is all but lost.
Weaving together the voices of half a dozen characters, from elders to young people unsure of their heritage, Axelsson has created a moving family saga around the consequences of colonial settlement. Ædnan is a powerful reminder of how durable language can be, even when it is borrowed, especially when it has to hold what no longer remains. “I was the weight / in the stone you brought / back from the coast // to place on / my grave,” one character says to another from beyond the grave. “And I flew above / the boat calling / to you all: // There will be rain / there will be rain.”
The Ladies Rewrite the Rules by Suzanne Allain
From the author of Mr. Malcolm’s List comes a delightful romantic comedy set in Regency England about a widow who takes high society by storm.
Diana Boyle, a wealthy young widow, has no desire to ever marry again. Particularly not to someone who merely wants her for her fortune.
So when she discovers that she’s listed in a directory of rich, single women she is furious, and rightly so. She confronts Maxwell Dean, the man who published the Bachelor’s Directory, and is horrified to find he is far more attractive than his actions have led her to expect. However, Diana is unmoved by Max’s explanation that he authored the list to assist younger sons like himself who cannot afford to marry unless it’s to a woman of means.
She gathers the ladies in the directory together to inform them of its existence, so they may circumvent fortune hunters’ efforts to trick them into marriage. Though outraged, the women decide to embrace their unique position of power and reverse the usual gender roles by making the men dance to their tune. And together…the ladies rewrite the rules.
Sanctuary of the Shadow by Aurora Ascher
Enter at your own risk―and discover the greatest show unearthed in this explosive, darkly imaginative debut fantasy…
For humans, the circus is a place filled with wonder and amazement. For Harrow, though, it’s a place to hide from those who slaughtered her entire clan. Disguising her abilities as part of her act has kept her true identity safe for years.
Until he arrives.
A strange new attraction with no name, no memory of who―or even what―he is, let alone an explanation for his odd yet deadly powers. But beneath the layers of anger and isolation, one glimpse into his inky eyes reveals a soul that calls out to the loneliness in her own.
And so she chooses him.
Harrow is drawn to the darkness, to her insatiable need to soothe the beast who threatens their very existence. But with every secret she unlocks from his past, another from hers whispers free as well―luring enemies who will stop at nothing to get their final revenge on Harrow. And she’s afraid she’s given them the perfect weapon against her…because he’s not what he seems.
But maybe it’s time they finally learn―neither is she.
Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto
Shoji Morimoto shares his unique perspective on how we look at work, relationships and life, and how we often have trouble talking about the things most important to us, with the people closest to us, in this Japanese bestseller perfect for fans of Jenny Odell and David Graeber.
Unsinkable by Jenni L. Walsh
The Titanic was only the beginning. What she survived has become legend.
Violet Jessop is Miss Unsinkable.
Violet is a stewardess and wartime nurse who not only survives a shipwreck but also two sinkings, one on the infamous Titanic. No one can understand why she would return to sea, but Violet is simply trying to survive. Her childhood was fraught with illness and death in her family. Her distraught mother is too ill to work, that responsibility falling to Violet as the oldest of nine. When the world enters the Great War, she becomes aboard as a nurse, helping men who could very well be her brothers. But disaster strikes again, this time as the Britannic strikes a mine. Miraculously, Violet survives, but her obligation to her mother and siblings still remains, leaving Violet to wonder if she'll ever be able to put her tumultuous life at sea behind her and pursue a life and love all her own.
Daphne has survived calamity of her own.
Daphne Chaundanson grows up as an unwanted child after her mother died in a tragedy. She throws herself into education, collecting languages like candy in a desperate attempt to finally earn her father’s approval. When the Special Operations Executive invites her to be an agent in France in World War II, her childhood of anonymity and her love of languages make her the perfect fit. She sees it as an opportunity to help the country she loves and live up to her father's expectations. But unthinkable moments of challenge and resilience change Daphne in ways she could never expect, including an eye-opening encounter where she must come to terms with the secrets in her own past.
Two unsinkable women. Two stories of survival, family, and finding one’s own happiness. One connection that reshapes both their lives forever.
No Reservations by Sheryl Lister
Four friends, three struggling relationships, and one final wish: find your happiness. Both heartwarming and heart-wrenching, Sheryl Lister invites readers to take a trip of a lifetime with her new women’s fiction novel that reminds us all to live without regrets.
Joy, Diane, Rochelle, and Yvette have been friends their entire lives. But adulthood isn’t all they imagined it would be. Joy has been dreaming of opening a spa and retreat for years, but she put it on hold for her husband's dream. Now she's tired of waiting, whether her husband agrees or not. Diane hasn't let go of her dream of being a mother through years of infertility struggles, but her husband doesn’t seem to have the same issues. Rochelle has struggled with self-esteem after an abusive marriage left her a single mother, and her friends' struggling marriages don't exactly encourage her to try again. Then a new man walks into her life and threatens to overturn everything she's thought about herself and her convictions.
And Yvette, well, Yvette has terminal cancer.
Yvette passes away with one final wish: for the other three to take the girls' trip to Jamaica they had been putting off for years. She even left them the tickets. But, as marriages crumble, businesses are upended, and love blooms, the trip can't seem to come soon enough. Joy, Diane, and Rochelle must lean on each other more than ever and try to live by what Yvette left them: a chance to live without reservation.
Holiday Country by Inci Atrek
Ada adores spending every summer in a Turkish seaside town with her mother and grandmother at the family villa. The glittering waters, endless olive groves, and her spirited friends make it easy to leave her idle life in California behind. But no matter how much Ada feels she belongs to the country where her mother grew up, deep down, her connection to the culture feels as fleeting as the seasons.
When Levent, a mysterious man from her mother’s past, shows up in their town, Ada can’t help but imagine a different future for her mother―one that promises a return to home, to love, to happiness. But while playing matchmaker, Ada has to come to terms with her own intensifying attraction to Levent. Does the future she’s fighting for belong to her mother―or to her alone?
Lush and evocative, İnci Atrek’s Holiday Country is a rapturous meditation about what it means to experience being of two worlds, the limitations and freedom of a life in translation, and the intricacies of a love triangle that stretches across generations and continents.
Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty
Bled dry by violent confrontations with the Magadhan Empire, the Mathuran Republic simmers on the brink of oblivion. Senator Krishna and his third wife Satyabhama have put their plans in motion, both within and beyond the Republic's blood-soaked borders, to protect it from total annihilation.
But they are soon to discover that neither gold nor alliances last forever – and that they are not the only players on the board.
Mati, Pirate-Princess of Kalinga, has decided to mend her ways and become a good wife. But old habits die hard, especially when one habitually uses murder to settle old scores.
Brooding and beautiful Karna hopes to bury his brutal past, but finds that destiny is a miser when it comes to granting second chances.
Hero-turned-torturer Shakuni limps through a path of daggers. Meanwhile, his foes and woes multiply, leaving little time for vengeance.
Their lives are about to become yet more difficult, as a cast of sinister queens, naive kings, pious assassins and ravenous priests are converging where the Son of Darkness is prophesied to rise... even as forgotten Gods prepare to play their hand.
You're Doing Great (And Other Lies Alcohol Told Me) By Dustin Dunbar
In his inspiring, hilarious, and much-needed approach to addiction and self-acceptance, Dunbar shows readers how to live a joyous, alcohol-free life. Filled with entertaining true-life tales, hard-earned wisdom, and easy-to-follow advice for recognizing the truth about alcohol, YOU’RE DOING GREAT! is a powerful invitation to discover the real you that thrives on the other side of addiction.
Blue Ridge by Peter Malone Elliott
What would you do if you were planning to kill your brother—but someone beat you to it?
After former Olympic contender turned burn-out horse trainer Cillian Clarke is framed for the murder of his identical twin Christopher, a rising-star Virginia politician, Cillian is forced to go on the lam. But when someone from Christopher’s past emerges and offers Cillian the chance to clear his name, Cillian is plunged headfirst into a sinister conspiracy that not only threatens the sanctity of democracy, but also promises to expose the devastating secret intertwining the brothers forever—the truth behind the death of a woman they both loved.
Any Duke in a Storm by Amalie Howard
Historical romance takes to the high seas. Famed spy Lady Lisbeth Medford is on a ship bound for the West Indies, and the only thing more dangerous than her mission is the elusive Duke she's trying to capture.
Lady Lisbeth Medford, Countess of Waterstone and famed international spy, is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. She's determined to infiltrate a notorious smuggling ring in the West Indies while on a covert mission as a ship's captain. But even when her identity is compromised and she's forced to flee, the men chasing her are still hot on her heels.
The trouble in front of her, however, might be even worse. Raphael Saint, the Duc de Viel, is her ship's new aggravating and dangerously charming sailing master, who might very well be part of the smuggling ring Lisbeth must bring to justice. But when a new deadly threat on the high seas looms, the only way out of danger might be to face it…together.
Sun Seekers by Rachel McRady
From Emmy Award-winning writer Rachel McRady comes a vital, illuminating debut novel of a broken family uniting in the face of terrifying crisis, for fans of This is Us and Parenthood.
Six-year-old Gracie Lynn is perpetually curious and big-hearted. Convinced she knows how to save her beloved grandfather John from the “worm” that is eating his brain—a metaphor her mother once used to explain John’s dementia and sundown syndrome—she helps him break out of his nursing home, and the two disappear together on a quest to chase the sun. But what’s an adventure for Gracie is a nightmare scenario for her estranged parents, LeeAnn and Dan. There’s no way to predict where John might have taken their young daughter, or if he’s capable of keeping her safe.
Jaded beyond her years, and struggling with her own mental health, LeeAnn has no delusions about what might happen if they don’t locate Gracie soon. Dan is no less frantic, but communicating with LeeAnn isn’t easy, even under the circumstances—too much stands between the hopeful young couple they once were and the people they’ve become.
An emotionally resonant novel for fans of Fredrik Backman and Mark Haddon, Sun Seekers artfully explores the truths of parenthood, the ways in which we sometimes hurt those we love most, and the universal experience of deep loss—even when the person is still here.
