10 books for January
“The Martha Manual: How to Do (Almost) Everything” by Martha Stewart (out now)
Billed as instructions for everything from “pruning roses to patching drywall,” this might be the tome to give young householders — or anyone looking to learn a new skill.
“Thick: And Other Essays” by Tressie McMillan Cottom (out now)
The professor and author of “Lower Ed” could school us all on the intersections of race, gender and capitalism. Consider her collection this year’s “Bad Feminist” and buy a copy for all your friends.
“Scrublands” by Chris Hammer (out now)
My pick for debut thriller of the month: Hammer, a journalist, uses Australia’s bleak rural territory in the story of a priest’s rampage set against the backdrop of a town where drought, economic decline and drugs combine in a toxic stew.
“The Truths We Hold: An American Journey” by Kamala Harris (out now)
The political memoir is alive and well with this installment from Sen. Harris, D-Calif., in which she revisits her upbringing as the daughter of a Jamaican economist and a South Asian cancer researcher who were both active in the civil rights movement.
“The Water Cure” by Sophie Mackintosh (out now)
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Mackintosh’s dystopian tale hardly needs my recommendation, but I’ll give it in the hopes that readers find this novel about a family living in a ramshackle dwelling where four daughters are raised to control emotions and shun men. Blend “The Virgin Suicides” with “My Family and Other Animals” and “The Decameron” and you’ll have an idea of its strange atmosphere.
“An Orchestra of Minorities” by Chigozie Obioma (out now)
Last year saw a new translation of Homer’s “The Odyssey” by Emily Wilson and Madeline Miller’s reimagining, “Circe.” This year? A love story between a Nigerian chicken farmer and a rich young woman. With magical realism and a big dose of sad reality, this is your
big novel of the winter.
“Act Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting” by Jennifer Traig (out now)
Lay your baby on her back. No, prop her on her side. Wait, let her sleep on her stomach! Traig has a doctorate in English and several books to her name, but when she became a parent she was as confused as the rest of us. Her analysis of parenting advice will make you laugh so hard you’ll forget you have kids.
“Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love” by Dani Shapiro (Jan. 15)
Shapiro has already written a number of memoirs, but she didn’t know she would be writing “Inheritance” until DNA analysis revealed her father was not really her father. For a writer focused so intently on identity, this news was a bombshell, leading Shapiro on a hunt to discover the truth. Bethanne Patrick is the editor, most recently, of “The Books That Changed My Life: Reflections by 100 Authors, Actors, Musicians and Other Remarkable People.”