New month, new books! Book Light is our Dandelion Chandelier curated list of the most-anticipated new book releases every month, and next up is January 2020. The perfect January read makes us feel . . . . So what are the best new books to read coming in January 2020? Our intrepid team has been exploring and here’s what we found.
what are the most-anticipated new book releases for January 2020?
Wondering what to read in January 2020? We’ve surveyed the landscape, and rounded up a list of the best new books coming this January.
A number of interesting themes play out across the most-anticipated new book releases this month. First, there are several novels about the relationships between women: friends, lovers, mothers and daughters, employers and employees.
Join our community
For access to insider ideas and information on the world of luxury, sign up for our Dandelion Chandelier newsletter. And see luxury in a new light.
Second, there are multiple works of non-fiction about sex, love, work and dating in an era of #MeToo. Whether on campus or at the office, there’s a new wave of research and analysis about what’s happening between the sexes right now, and why.
A third theme? Social media and its ills. From dystopian fiction about our always-on culture and where it could take us in the future to memoirs about working in Silicon Valley, the portrayals of technology and the Internet are very dark as the new year begins.
In new fiction this month, the ongoing legacy of slavery in America remains in focus, whether in the lost stories of Zora Neale Hurston, or in a new novel about the Underground Railroad.
But it’s not all darkness and regret. Martha Stewart has a new book on how to get organized. There’s a rollicking new novel that makes a passionate argument that the “Marie Kondo” organization method is soul-destroying. And that clutter tells us a lot about ourselves and others.
What to read in January 2020? The hardest part is going to be deciding where to start.
the best new books coming in January 2020
Here’s our pick of the top new books – novels, essay collections, and non-fiction – that we cannot wait to read. You can pre-order them now if you like (and if you do, full disclosure, we may get a small commission on the sale).
new book releases week of December 31, 2019
1.
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid. In this debut novel, the author explores race and privilege in a story centered on a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both. It must be pretty good: in August 2019, Lena Waithe bought the film and television rights – Publication Date: December 31, 2019
new book releases week of January 7, 2020
2.
Topics of Conversation by Miranda Popkey. According to the publisher, this debut novel is about “desire, disgust, motherhood, loneliness, art, pain, feminism, anger, envy, and guilt.” Is that all? Comprised almost exclusively of conversations between women, we witness twenty years in the life of an unnamed narrator who is curious, determined, candid and smart – Publication Date: January 7, 2020
3.
Creatures by Crissy Van Meter. This debut novel begins on the eve of a wedding that may never come to be. On the shore of Winter Island, a dead whale is trapped in the harbor. The groom may be lost at sea. And the bride’s mostly absent mother has suddenly appeared, uninvited. On a lush island off the coast of Southern California, a family drama unfolds – Publication Date: January 7, 2020
The best new books coming in January 2020. Courtesy Photos.
4.
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano. 12-year-old Eddie — now known as Edward — must deal with as the sole survivor of a plane crash in which 191 people, including his immediate family, perished. What follows is a story that examines one of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do you find meaning in your life? – Publication Date: January 7, 2020
5.
Why We Can’t Sleep by Ada Calhoun. Expanding on an essay she wrote for O, the Oprah Magazine, Calhoun investigates the dissatisfaction many Gen X women are feeling. Leveraging quantitative data like housing costs, employment trends, credit card debt averages, and divorce data, she conveys the difficulties that accompany middle age for the “Lean In” generation – Publication Date: January 7, 2020
6.
The Magical Language of Others by E. J. Koh. In this memoir, the author recounts a love story that unfolds between herself and her mother, seen through a series of letters. After her mother leaves her at the age of 15 in America to return to South Korea to work, Eun Ji Koh is devastated. Her mother writes letters, in Korean, over the years seeking forgiveness and love―letters Eun Ji cannot fully understand until she finds them years later hidden in a box. This is a meditation on an eternal question: Where do the stories of our mothers and grandmothers end and ours begin? – Publication Date: January 7, 2020
The most-anticipated new book releases of January 2020. Courtesy Photos.
7.
Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity by Peggy Orenstein. The author of Girls & Sex and Cinderella Ate My Daughter turns her focus to the sexual lives of young men. Drawing on interviews with teenagers and young adults, psychologists, academics, and experts in the field, she examines how young men understand and negotiate the new rules of physical and emotional intimacy in the #MeToo era. In the process, she unearths hidden truths, hard lessons, and important realities – Publication Date: January 7, 2020
8.
Martha Stewart’s Organizing: The Manual for Bringing Order to Your Life, Home & Routines by Martha Stewart. If your new year’s resolution involves getting organized and staying that way, help is on the way! In her latest book, Martha Stewart, master all things organizing, shares her tips, solutions and inspiration. You’ll find guidance, methods, and DIY projects for organizing in and around your home – Publication Date: January 7, 2020
new book releases week of January 14, 2020
9.
Little Gods by Meng Jin. In this debut novel, we trace the path of Su Lan, ambitious scientist and ambivalent mother. After the birth of her only child, Liya, in Beijing on the night of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, she flees China for America. After her death seventeen years later, Liya takes her mother’s ashes to China. There she meets the people who can help her unravel the mystery of her mother’s life and her own parentage – Publication Date: January 14, 2020
The most-anticipated new book releases January 2020. Courtesy Photos.
10.
The Secret Guests by Benjamin Black. It’s the Blitz, and as the Germans bombard English cities and British children are sent to the countryside for safety, the British royal family secretly evacuates Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret to the estate of the Duke of Edenmore in “neutral” Ireland. A female English secret agent and a young Irish detective are detailed to watch over them – but if the girls discovered, will their Irish hosts be their allies? Or will prior bloodshed between the English and the Irish drive acts of revenge?– Publication Date: January 14, 2020
11.
Followers by Megan Angelo. This novel paints a portrait of where our obsession with social media may ultimately take us. In it, we move from the present day, in which two would-be influencers strive for online fame. To a dystopian future in which government-appointed celebrities are on video 24/7 – Publication Date: January 14, 2020
12.
Uncanny Valley: A Memoir by Anna Weiner. In her mid-20s, the author left a publishing job in New York to join a tech startup in Silicon Valley. In this memoir, she shares what happened next in a illuminating ground-eye-level account of life as a tech worker – Publication Date: January 14, 2020
The most-anticipated new book releases of January 2020. Courtesy Photos.
13.
Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston. Twenty-one of Hurston’s short stories from the Harlem Renaissance—including eight “lost” tales—appear together here for the first time. The collection includes stories about love and migration, gender and class, racism and sexism – Publication Date: January 14, 2020
new book releases week of January 21, 2020
14.
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende. The author of The House of the Spirits returns with a new novel. A young pregnant widow and her brother-in-law, a doctor, flee Spain in the aftermath of the country’s civil war and start their lives over in Chile – Publication Date: January 21, 2020
15.
The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao. Sisters Gwendolyn and Estella have always been close, growing up in a wealthy, eminent, and sometimes deceitful family. But now Gwendolyn is lying in a coma, the sole survivor of Estella’s poisoning of their entire extended family. Traveling in her mind from their luxurious world in Indonesia to Paris Fashion Week, from California to Melbourne, a survivor tries to unravel the threads of her family’s life – Publication Date: January 21, 2020
The best new books coming in January 2020. Courtesy Photos.
16.
Remembrance by Rita Woods. Moving back and forth in time between present day Ohio, Haiti 1791 and 1857 New Orleans, three black women dream and whisper of Remembrance, a hidden stop on the Underground Railroad. One risks it all to get there. – Publication Date: January 21, 2020
17.
Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown traces the lives of two women in two different times. Alice is a modern-day wife who discovers a vintage cookbook in the basement of her new house. The cookbook belonged to ’50’s housewife Nellie, who left notes in the margins hinting that her picture-perfect marriage was much darker than anyone knew – Publication Date: January 21, 2020
18.
Agency by William Gibson.If you’re already feeling a bit nervous about whether Alexa and Siri are listening to your every word, this novel will not ease your anxiety. Verity is a tech guru whose relationship with a Silicon Valley billionaire led to her losing her job. When a shady company offers her the chance to test out a new digital assistant named Eunice, she quickly realizes the company has no idea how advanced the AI is. – Publication Date: January 21, 2020
The best new books coming January 2020. Courtesy Photos.
19.
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. Already being hailed as “a Grapes of Wrath for our times,” this novel is an exploration of the souls of people willing to sacrifice everything for a glimmer of hope. Forced to flee their home in Mexico, the formerly middle-class young mother Lydia and her eight-year-old son become migrants, riding la bestia―the train that takes desperate people north toward the United States – Publication Date: January 21, 2020
20.
The Sweet Indifference of the World by Peter Stamm. This novel is the mysterious, complex story of a time-traveling love affair that tests the boundaries of reality and raises as many questions as it answers. – Publication Date: January 21, 2020
21.
Heart of Junk by Luke Geddes. Both comical and suspenseful, this novel is a biting commentary on our current Marie Kondo era. Set in a Midwestern antiques mall in a small town, among other things, it examines why certain objects resonate with us so deeply, and argues that “junk” can have great value—connecting us not only to our personal pasts but to our shared human history – Publication Date: January 21, 2020
What to read in January 2020. Courtesy Photos.
new book releases week of January 28, 2020
22.
Run Me to Earth by Paul Yoon. This is a novel about three kids orphaned in 1960’s Laos—and how their destinies are entwined across decades. We follow their grueling days of rescuing civilians and searching for medical supplies, until an older doctor secures their evacuation on the last helicopters leaving the country – Publication Date: January 28, 2020
23.
Show Them a Good Time: Short Stories by Nicole Flattery. A debut short story collection that includes the prize-winning story “Tracked.” stories about the strange worlds that women inhabit and the parts that they must play. the stories of women slotted away into restrictive roles: the celebrity’s girlfriend, the widower’s second wife, the lecherous professor’s student, the corporate employee – Publication Date: January 28, 2020
24.
Early: An Intimate History of Premature Birth and What It Teaches Us About Being Human by Sarah DiGregorio. Inspired by the author’s harrowing experience giving birth to her premature daughter, this work combines memoir with original reporting to tell the story of neonatology—and to meditate on the questions raised by premature birth. Publication Date: January 28, 2020
The most-anticipated new book releases of January 2020. Courtesy Photos.
25.
Billion Dollar Brand Club: How Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker, and Other Disruptors Are Remaking What We Buy by Lawrence Ingrassia. digital entrepreneurs have found new and creative ways to thrive. savvy and hungry innovators now can compete on price, value, quality, speed, convenience, and service. business saga animated by the personalities, flashes of insight, and stories behind the stuff we use every day – Publication Date: January 28, 2020
26.
#MeToo in the Corporate World: Power, Privilege, and the Path Forward by Sylvia Ann Hewlett. blends vivid stories with powerful new data in assessing the impact of the #MeToo movement in corporate America and provides concrete action to help executives and companies create more inclusive and safe work environments for women, people of color, and LGBTQ employees. – January 28, 2020
27.
Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry that Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East by Kim Ghattas. This is a detailed origin story of the modern era in the Middle East, a fascinating examination of how it unraveled and why it started with the pivotal year of 1979. History, geopolitics, and culture all play a role in the rivalry between between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which in turn has fueled unrest, change and war – Publication Date: January 28, 2020
The most-anticipated new book releases of January 2020. Courtesy Photos.
the best new books coming in January 2020
Those are our picks for the best and most-anticipated books coming – and an overview of options for what to read in January 2020. What’s at the top of your list?
join our community
For access to insider ideas and information on the world of luxury, sign up for our Dandelion Chandelier newsletter, here. And see luxury in a new light.
Join our community
For access to insider ideas and information on the world of luxury, sign up for our Dandelion Chandelier newsletter. And see luxury in a new light.