This week is another busy one with 47 notable titles making our shortlist.
Among these, for lovers of true crime we have The Secret History of the Rape Kit by Pagan Kennedy, "Part historical detective story and part vivid character study of a pioneering feminist, this is a page-turner" (Publishers Weekly).
Costanza Casati builds on her Clytemnestra success with Babylonia, in which she weaves myth and ancient history together to give Semiramis, the only female ruler of the Assyrian Empire, a voice, charting her captivating ascent to a throne no one promised her.
And for those looking for a warm comedy, Going Home by Tom Lamont publishes in the US this week. Wise, relatable, and blissfully laugh-out-loud funny, Going Home is a captivating first novel that explores the mysterious ways children can force us to grow up fast while simultaneously keeping us young forever.
If you're in a book club or enjoy reading with friends, be sure to enter our giveaway for My Darling Boy by John Dufresne, which also publishes this week. You can win up to 10 copies!
You'll find brief information on 10 titles below, and descriptions and reviews for all of them in our New This Week section. For more soon to publish books including paperbacks, check out BookBrowse's "What's New" section.
You can also check out the latest topics and posts in the new BookBrowse Community Forum.
This Week's New and Notable Books
There are too many books published each week for you to read about them all, let alone read them all. So we do the legwork for you, scouring the publishers' catalogs and the pre-publication reviews to pick out what we believe to be among the best and most interesting. You can see them all in our “What’s New” section.
More about how we pick and rate books.
Going Home: A Novel
by Tom Lamont
On sale Jan 14 from Knopf
Genre: Literary Fiction. 304 pages
Critics' Consensus: 5/5
Members' Rating: 4.6/5
Going Home is a sparkling, funny, bighearted story of family and what happens when three men—all of whom are completely ill-suited for fatherhood—take charge of a toddler following an unexpected loss. | |
Babylonia: A Novel
by Costanza Casati
On sale Jan 14 from Sourcebooks Landmark
Genre: Historical Fiction. 448 pages
Critics' Consensus: 4/5
From the author of the bestselling Clytemnestra comes another intoxicating excursion into ancient history, painting the brutal and captivating empire of gods and men, and the one queen destined to rule them all.
A common woman. The governor she married. The king who loved them both. | |
The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story
by Pagan Kennedy
On sale Jan 14 from Vintage
Genre: True Crime. 256 pages
Critics' Consensus: 5/5
Members' Rating: 4.5/5
Marty Goddard dreamed up a new crime-solving tool—a kit that could help rape survivors fight for justice. This thrilling investigation tells the story of the troubled, heroic woman who kicked off a feminist revolution in forensics, and then vanished into obscurity. | |
My Darling Boy: A Novel
by John Dufresne
On sale Jan 14 from W.W. Norton & Company
Genre: Literary Fiction. 288 pages
Known for his tragicomic voice and unforgettable characters, John Dufresne tells the story of Olney, whose beloved son, Cully, collapses into addiction and vanishes into the chaotic netherworld of southern Florida. | |
Good Girl: A Novel
by Aria Aber
Debut Author
On sale Jan 14 from Hogarth Books
Genre: Literary Fiction. 368 pages
Critics' Consensus: 4/5
An electric debut novel about the daughter of Afghan refugees and her year of nightclubs, bad romance, and self-discovery—a portrait of the artist as a young woman set in a Berlin that can't escape its history.
A girl can get in almost anywhere, even if she can't get out. | |
A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage: A Novel
by Asia Mackay
On sale Jan 14 from Bantam Books
Genre: Thrillers. 352 pages
Two former serial killers trying to keep their past buried realize that old habits die hard in this "wildly original, razor-sharp thriller" (Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark). | |
Beautiful Ugly: A Novel
by Alice Feeney
On sale Jan 14 from Flatiron Books
Genre: Thrillers. 320 pages
Critics' Consensus: 4/5
The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage...and revenge. | |
The Queen's Spade
by Sarah Raughley
On sale Jan 14 from HarperCollins Publishers
Genre: Thrillers (Young Adult). 416 pages
Critics' Consensus: 5/5
In this riveting historical thriller that's inspired by true-life events, The Count of Monte Cristo meets Bridgerton as revenge, romance, and twisted secrets take center stage in Victorian England's royal court when Sally, a kidnapped African princess and goddaughter to Queen Victoria, plots her way to take down the monarchy that stole her from her homeland. | |
Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman
by Brooke Shields
On sale Jan 14 from Flatiron Books
Genre: Biography/Memoir. 256 pages
Critics' Consensus: 4/5
From generational icon Brooke Shields comes an intimate and empowering exploration of aging that flips the script on the idea of what it means for a woman to grow older. | |
Cold Kitchen: A Year of Culinary Travels
by Caroline Eden
On sale Jan 14 from Bloomsbury Publishing
Genre: Travel & Adventure. 256 pages
Critics' Consensus: 5/5
From the author of Red Sands, a New Yorker "Best Cookbook of the Year," a cozy, thoughtful memoir recalling food and travel in Eastern Europe and Central Asia from a basement Edinburgh kitchen, featuring a delicious recipe at the end of each chapter. | |
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