What will you read this month?
2/1: Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
Estranged siblings must come together when their mother dies and leaves them an unexpected inheritance: the recipe for a traditional Caribbean black cake, a family recipe with a long, tangled history, and an exhortation to “share the black cake when the time is right.” (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
2/1: The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk
Messianic figure Jacob Frank blazes a path cross 18th century Europe, gathering acolytes through force of personality and constant self-revision. (historical fiction)
2/1: The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
Revisiting Agatha Christie’s mysterious and still-unexplained 11-disappearnce in December 1926, with the story told by Nan O’Dea, who was having an affair with Christie’s husband. (historical fiction) A Peak Pick!
2/1: Don’t Cry for Me by Daniel Black
On his deathbed, Jacob writes letters to his estranged gay son Isaac, in which Jacob tries to explain his life, the unspoken truths of his heart, and Isaac’s inheritance of the ancestral trauma that extends back to the days of slavery in Arkansas. (general fiction)
2/1: The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang
The Chao family has run the Fine Chao restaurant in Haven, Wisconsin, for 35 years. Reuniting for Christmas, family discord catches up with them in the form of murder and the airing of long-buried family secrets. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
2/1: Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano
This sequel to last year’s Finlay Donovan Is Killing It finds accidental hitman Finlay trying to figure out who put a hit on her ex-husband, even as she tries to finish writing her next novel. (mystery)
2/1: Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu
Twelve short stories blend fantastic and surreal elements into visions of modern life grounded in emotional realism and addressing themes of death and technology. (general fiction)
2/1: Mercy Street by Jennifer Haigh
Disparate lives intersect at a women’s clinic in Boston, from patient counselor Claudia, to anti-abortion demonstrators, to Claudia’s affable pot dealer Timmy. (general fiction)
2/1: Ramón and Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertson
Star-crossed lovers must navigate a multi-generational culinary feud to achieve their happily-ever-after. (romance) A Peak Pick!
2/8: Cherish Farrah by Bethany C. Morrow
Farrah is a young, calculating Black girl who manipulates her way into the lives of her Black best friend’s white, wealthy, adoptive family, only to discover she’s not the only one with ulterior motives. (thriller)
2/8: Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Nick and Augustin, friends and mountaineers, decided to tackle Maudit in the Swiss Alps but only Nick came down the mountain – and he brought something home with him. (horror)
2/8: Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala
This sequel to last year’s Arsenic and Adobo finds Lila Macapagal back on the case when the head judge of the local beauty pageant is murdered, and Lila’s cousin is the primary suspect. (mystery)
2/15: The Boy with a Bird in His Chest by Emme Lund
Owen Tanner has lived in seclusion, protected by his mother because of Gail, the chatty bird who lives in Owen’s ribs. When he’s forced to leave his home and live with family in Washington, Owen discovers the joy of found family and acceptance even while living with fear. (general fiction)
2/15: Chilean Poet by Alejandro Zambra
Gonzalo absorbed his step-father Vincente’s love for poetry, and convinces an American journalist to write about lesser-known Chilean poets even as he tries to find his own success as a poet and to reconnect with Vincente. An exploration of love, family, relationships, and poetry. (general fiction)
2/15: Pure Colour by Sheila Heti
In the first draft of a world, Mira contemplates existence, falls in love with a woman named Annie, grieves her dead father even as his spirit passes into her and they become a leaf on a tree. (general fiction)
2/22: Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
Delilah Green returns to her home town intending to photograph her stepsister’s wedding and quickly leave, only to be charmed by bookstore owner Claire Sutherland as they’re tasked with a gauntlet of wedding preparations. (romance)
2/22: The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart
January Cole, head of security at a motel that caters to ultra-wealthy customers who have booked a time-travel trip, tries to solve the mystery of a corpse in room 526 that only she can see. (thriller)
2/22: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
Needing a fresh start, Jess goes to stay with her brother Ben in Paris, except when she arrives Ben is missing, and it seems like every other resident of the swanky building has something to hide. (thriller)
2/22: The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
A group of regular swimmers at the public pool are turned out when a crack is found in the bottom of the pool. Among the group is Alice, slowly losing her memory to dementia, who is increasingly overwhelmed with childhood memories of being inside a Japanese American incarceration camp. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
2/22: The Verifiers by Jane Pek
Claudia Lin works as a detective for an exclusive dating agency, vetting the truth behind romantic candidates for mistrustful clients. When a client goes missing, Claudia breaks protocol to investigate. (mystery)
2/22: When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry
Twin brothers – one a monk, the other who rejected the monastic life – are charged with finding the reincarnation of a great lama and set off across Mongolia on a search for the spiritual leader. (general fiction)
~ posted by Andrea G.
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