19 new reads to get you through winter
It’s chilly out there, people. It’s reading time!
Year-end holidays are the most popular season to give books. And now we’re heading into the best time to read them — while nestled in a Slanket, with a cup of tea, of course. Fortunately, publishers are keeping the promising titles coming. As you plot your reading Excel spreadsheet for winter and spring (that’s a thing, right?), here are upcoming titles to reserve slots for:
An American Dreamer: Life in a Divided Country, David Finkel
I’ve already read Laurie Hertzel’s upcoming (rave) review of Pulitzer Prize winner Finkel’s nonfiction look at an Iraq War veteran who is disillusioned by the political divides ripping apart the country he fought for. You can dive into the book when it’s published on Feb. 13.
The Blueprint, Rae Giana Rashad
Set in both 1800 and 2030, this debut novel is about a Black woman named Solenne who escapes from her dreary life — she’s forced to be the lover of a white senator in the near future, when choice no longer exists — by writing about an ancestor named Henriette. As she works, she realizes what they have in common: Both are enslaved. Feb. 13
Candy Darling, Cynthia Carr
Carr’s complex, urgent biography of artist David Wojnarowicz, “Fire in the Belly,” was a phenomenal achievement. Here, she turns her attention to the transgender Andy Warhol “superstar” whose life was not as glamorous as it appeared. March 19
The Deerfield Massacre, James L. Swanson
If you couldn’t put down Swanson’s riveting “Manhunt,” about the search for John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated Abraham Lincoln, the historian has a new challenge for you. It’s the true story of a deadly, little-remembered 1704 clash between colonists and Indigenous people. Feb. 27
The Demon of Unrest, Erik Larson
The insomniac in the latest nonfiction from the author of “The Devil in the White City” and “Thunderstruck” is Abraham Lincoln. In the first five months of his presidency, he stayed up nights worrying about: state after state seceding from the U.S., a secretary of state who was plotting against him and the souls of millions of enslaved Americans. April 30
End of Story, A.J. Finn
A woman is summoned by a famous mystery novelist to help him write a memoir and, possibly, figure out what happened to his family, who vanished two decades earlier. It’ll be interesting to see how the press tour goes for the pseudonymous Finn, who became a superstar when he published the 2018 blockbuster “The Woman in the Window,” but whose star dimmed when the New Yorker revealed many of his claims about himself were untrue. Feb. 20
Ferris, Kate DiCamillo
The world is lucky to have DiCamillo writing in it. Even luckier that she’s prolific. In addition to “Orris and Timble: The Beginning” kicking off a new series in April, she also has the middle-grade “Ferris,” with a title character who shares traits with other DiCamillo heroines: She’s a spirited tween, dealing with extraordinary circumstances and rambunctious relatives. March 5
The Husbands, Holly Gramazio
I had only to read the first chapter to know the Star Tribune would need to review this funny, suspenseful novel. After a night of many cocktails, Lauren returns to her London apartment to be greeted by a menacing stranger who somehow broke in, won’t leave her alone and claims to be her husband. As the title suggests, he’s not the only spouse. April 2
Lies and Weddings, Kevin Kwan
The “Crazy Rich Asians” writer returns with another comic novel that includes a big wedding, family deception and piles of cash. May 21
The Light Eaters, Zoë Schlanger
The staff reporter at the Atlantic concentrates on climate and the environment in a book of popular science that aims to reveal that plants have saved us, time and time again. She also explains how they pull that off. May 7