The best new books to read in January 2024
Start 2024 as you mean to go on with a bumper crop of new books to enjoy
If your New Year’s resolution is to read more books, you’ve come to the right place. Featuring debut novels from new talents to immersive crime thrillers, there’s plenty to be excited about in the literary world this month. Read on for our edit of the best new books coming out in January 2024.
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
Starting strong on 4 January, Chan transports us back to British Malaya during the 1930s, where unhappy housewife Cecily is seduced by Japanese general Fujiwara and his dream of freeing Malaya from British colonial rule. Soon, she becomes not only his lover but his spy, and unwillingly helps him install a Japanese dictatorship in her home country. 15 years later, Cecily, her family and Malaya are on their knees – forcing Cecily to face up to her past and the part she played in creating this war. Gripping and shocking, this 352-page novel provides brilliant insight into a part of history rarely explored.
The Night Of The Storm by Nishita Parekh
From debut author Nishita Parekh comes a new thriller set against the backdrop of Hurricane Harvey as it hits Houston in 2017. The 336-page novel focuses on protagonist Jia Shah, a single mum struggling to make ends meet as she reels from her divorce, moves to Houston and her young son gets kicked out of school. She is invited to hunker down during the storm at her sister’s house, but as the weather escalates, tensions also rise and soon someone winds up dead. Was it a horrible accident? Or is there a murderer in their midst? It’s up to Jia to find out before someone else becomes the next victim…
So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole
Fantasy fans will love Cole’s Jamaican-inspired novel, where protagonist Faron Vincent is blessed with god-like powers. Just a few years ago she used her magic to liberate her island from its enemies – and while her homeland is now safe, Faron becomes increasingly bored. That is until her sister decides to fall in love with a member of the enemy clan and the battles begin afresh. Faron is forced to choose between protecting her island or her sister – and which one will she choose?
Rabbit Hole by Kate Brody
A highly anticipated novel from a new talent, Rabbit Hole is centred around family secrets, obsession and true crime. When Teddy Angstrom’s father dies suddenly, on the 10th anniversary of her sister’s disappearance, she quickly discovers how much time and money he spent on an never-ending investigation into the incident. Compelled by his work, Teddy quickly takes it upon herself to continue his mission – and discover whether her sister is still alive.
The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
Published on 23 January, this modern Western follows a Mexican bandit as he sets off from Texas to save his family, only to meet a mysterious man coming to collect a whopping debt his family has owed for generations. This family saga is loosely based on the author’s own great-grandfather and tackles subjects of America-Mexico border politics, intergenerational trauma, and the legacies of racism and colonialism.
The Mayor Of Maxwell Street by Avery Cunningham
Set in 1921 in the dangerous underworld of Prohibition-era Chicago, 20-year-old Nelly Sawyer is one of the wealthiest daughters in America, thanks to a father who catapulted the family to the heights of exclusive, elite Black society. But instead of focusing on marriage, Nelly has been dedicating her time to being an investigative journalist for the Chicago Defender, sharing the achievements and tribulations of everyday Black people living in the shadow of Jim Crow. However, her latest assignment thrusts her into the den of a dangerous vice: the corrupt Mayor of Maxwell Street…
Come and Get It by Kiley Reid
Following her critically acclaimed debut, Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid is back with another satire of 21st-century America. All Millie Cousins, a senior resident at the University of Arkansas, wants is to graduate, get a job and buy a house. So when a visiting professor offers her an easy yet unusual opportunity to gain all of those things, she jumps at the chance. But little does she know her new hustle will become jeopardised by odd friends and vengeful pranks. An exciting new portrait of desire, consumption and recklessness, we have no doubt Reid’s new novel will be as popular as her first.
Read more: Inside scoop: The best celebrity memoirs
