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Our most anticipated books of the year

List by the editors of BookPage
A new year has dawned and with it, a whole new slate of incredible books, with titles from Han Kang, Markus Zusak, R.F. Kuang and more.
A new year has dawned and with it, a whole new slate of incredible books, with titles from Han Kang, Markus Zusak, R.F. Kuang and more.
NonfictionSelf-Help

How to be imperfect

Interview by Sarah McCraw Crow
Ellen Hendriksen offers ways to tune out your inner critic and tune in to your true self in her insightful self-help book, How to Be Enough.
Ellen Hendriksen offers ways to tune out your inner critic and tune in to your true self in her insightful self-help book, How to Be Enough.
NonfictionWomen's HistoryMusicLiteratureHistoryFood & DrinkBlack HistoryBiographyAmerican History

The 12 best biographies of 2024

List by Editors
Throughout 2024, biographies consistently stole the show. From renowned authors to heads of state, game-changing activists and cultural icons, these 12 illuminating profiles delighted and inspired us.
Throughout 2024, biographies consistently stole the show. From renowned authors to heads of state, game-changing activists and cultural icons, these 12 illuminating profiles delighted and inspired us.
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BookPage is a discovery tool for readers, highlighting the best new books across all genres. BookPage is editorially independent; only books we highly recommend are featured.

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Mystery & SuspenseSuspenseMysteryHistorical Mystery

A Victorian con artist embarks on her greatest scheme yet

Feature by Bruce Tierney

Loose Lips

I have sometimes thought that the most difficult thing for a writer to do well is to write a novel from the first-person perspective of a person with a different gender. A year ago, I reviewed Kemper Donovan’s The Busy Body, the first in his series about an anonymous female ghostwriter, narrated from her perspective. There was not a single clue suggesting that a male had penned the novel; it was that seamless. (Thankfully, I happened to read his bio before submitting the review, saving myself the embarrassment of erroneous assumptions.) That holds true as well for the second installment in the series, Loose Lips, in which our protagonist accepts a gig as a guest lecturer on a literary cruise. It is a quintessential setup for a locked-room mystery, as there is no escape route for the guilty party, save for a lengthy North Atlantic winter’s swim back to New York City. Moreover, while the admittedly amateur investigation into the murder of author and cruise organizer Payton Garrett proceeds, more bodies will join the first in the ship’s galley freezer, adjacent to the celebrity chef’s signature lobster thermidor. The murder weapon is straight out of Agatha Christie or perhaps the board game Clue, and the tone is tongue-in-cheek a la Knives Out—an observation I made in my review last year, and one that still holds true this time around.  

Dead in the Frame

Stephen Spotswood’s noir detective series starring Lillian Pentecost and Willowjean “Will” Parker hearkens back to Rex Stout’s iconic Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin series. A cerebral crime-solver ensconced in her New York City mansion, Lillian mirrors Wolfe. Will serves as her Archie Goodwin: irreverent chronicler of the stories, perpetrator of assorted quasi-illegal deeds in furtherance of the investigations and smart-alecky nemesis of New York’s Finest. The latest, Dead in the Frame, features a second narrator for the first time in the series, which up to now was related by Will. Lillian is keeping a journal in her jail cell, where she awaits trial for the murder of longtime foe Jessup Quincannon. Meanwhile, Will madly scrambles through 1947 New York City to unravel a seemingly airtight case against her friend/employer. Rounding out the cast are an up-and-coming evangelist whose wife is perhaps more mercenary than missionary, a lethal female security consultant and a corrupt cop who dangles the key to Lillian’s exoneration, albeit at a price. Lillian’s multiple sclerosis makes her stay in prison even more difficult, and the tone of her journal is somber and introspective; Will’s voice, by comparison, is sassy and no-nonsense, although punctuated with rueful humor throughout. Without giving away anything here, the murderer is just about the last person you would expect. Well, perhaps not as far back in the queue as Lillian Pentecost, but pretty darn close.

The Queen of Fives

Alex Hay’s The Queen of Fives derives its title from an age-old, five-step primer on setting up a con, briefly summarized thusly: 1) Identify the mark; 2) Intrude on the daily life of the mark; 3) Tempt the mark with an offer too good to be true; 4) Encircle the mark with new friends and gently sever ties with old friends; 5) Cement the payoff and make the getaway. Bonus points if you can pull off the entire scam in five days, which is precisely what seductive Quinn le Blanc, the titular Queen of Fives, intends to accomplish. Her target is a midlevel royal, the Duke of Kendal. The year is 1898; the setting, Victorian-era London. The basic plan is disarmingly simple: Lure one of England’s most eligible bachelors into marriage, then abscond with the family fortune. It will be the most ambitious score Quinn has ever embarked upon. If she can pull it off. And that is a big if. It can be argued that desperation is never a good companion when plotting out a con, and there certainly is an element of desperation at play here. Deep in debt, Quinn really needs a big score. It’s a recipe for things going awry, at the worst times, in the worst possible manners (and manors). P.S. Of all the books this month, The Queen of Fives is the one that just screams to be adapted into a TV series, one sure to appeal to period drama fans, particularly those who might enjoy a spot of larceny with their afternoon tea.

Open Season

Forensic psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD detective Milo Sturgis return for their 40th (!!!) adventure together in Jonathan Kellerman’s latest mystery, Open Season. The murder victim is a wannabe actor, funding the waiting period until her big break by serving as one of a bevy of glamorous attendees at various Tinseltown events. Her suspected killer is also a wannabe actor and occasional stuntman. But by the time suspicion falls on him, he has become a murder victim himself. They will not be the last victims, and as it will turn out, they are not the first either: Bullets from the rifle used to kill the stuntman match an earlier killing halfway across the country. What started out as a comparatively routine homicide investigation may be turning into a search for a serial killer, one who has stayed under the radar for years and who shows no signs of stopping any time soon. And then, as has happened often in the past, Dr. Delaware displays his gift for discerning patterns that nobody else has identified yet. Open Season is fast-paced, suspense-laden and boasts a true surprise ending, even for those who thought they had it figured out sooner. Like me.

Plus, the latest cases of crime-solving duos Parker & Pentecost and Delaware & Sturgis in this month’s whodunit column.
NonfictionSelf-HelpFamily & Relationships

4 self-help books to tackle the timeless topic of romance with your book club

Feature by Julie Hale

Emily Nagoski’s frank, thoughtful Come Together: The Science (and Art!) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections shows couples how to develop and nurture a sense of intimacy for the long term. A firm believer that sexual chemistry doesn’t have to wane as the years go by, Nagoski shares easy ways to initiate talks about sex and tips for deciphering a partner’s emotions and moods. She also presents pointers for shutting out self-doubt, anxiety and tension. Backed by research and filled with Nagoski’s expert insights, Come Together is an essential title for committed couples.

All too often, a romantic partnership can breed codependency and doubt. Readers faced with this dispiriting scenario will welcome Jessica Baum’s Anxiously Attached: Becoming More Secure in Life and Love. In this wise, compassionate book, Baum provides the tools for building strong, fulfilling connections, minus the anxiety. Drawing on her background as a couples therapist, she uses what she calls the Self-Full Method to help individuals form a healthy sense of identity and create interdependence within a relationship. Relatable talking points like self-esteem, communication and trust make this a terrific book club pick.

Logan Ury’s How Not to Die Alone: The Surprising Science That Will Help You Find Love is required reading for anyone who’s met too many dead ends on the road to romance. Ury spotlights the key decisions that can make or break a relationship and offers invaluable advice on how to identify the traits that are important in a partner. A behavioral scientist and experienced dating coach, she weaves in solid research, engaging anecdotes and constructive exercises. This congenial guide will inspire singletons to pursue lasting connection with a renewed sense of purpose.

In The Love Prescription: Seven Days to More Intimacy, Connection, and Joy, John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman present an easy-to-follow plan for couples who are looking to deepen and enrich their partnerships. Noted relationship experts, Gottman and Gottman draw upon their extensive research on the subjects of love and marriage in this companionable volume. With an emphasis on communication and openness, their blueprint for renewed intimacy includes concrete steps (designate a date night; demonstrate affection) designed to bring couples closer together in a week’s time. Themes of honesty and vulnerability will kick-start meaningful book club conversations.

Whether you’re dating, in the throes of passion or in it for the long haul, these fresh takes on love and sex are sure to enlighten.
Science Fiction & FantasyNonfictionFictionLiterary FictionHorrorHistoryEssays

Want a short, sharp blast of literary excellence? Try one of these 4 novellas

Feature by the editors of BookPage

The Turn of the Screw

For every reader, there are things that will make them politely but firmly close a book and never open it again. For me, it’s always been what I deem perverse ambiguity. “Who’s to say what really happened! People are unknowable!” a book will proclaim, and I will grip it by its metaphorical lapels and demand to speak to its author. However, for some books, the ambiguity is the point, and there is no better example of this than Henry James’ eerie novella, The Turn of the Screw. The tale of a governess in Victorian England who becomes convinced that the children she cares for are being haunted by the spirit of her predecessor, The Turn of the Screw is horrifying because of its inscrutability. It could be a traditional ghost story, but tilt it just a few degrees, and it’s a tale of a woman trying so hard to suppress her sexuality that it becomes a paranoid obsession. Is her quest to protect the children a noble one, or does something heinous lurk within her need to safeguard their “purity”? A novel might not have been able to sustain such ill-defined anxiety, but as a novella, it’s an undiluted sliver of dread. 

—Savanna Walker, Managing Editor

Foster

In rural Ireland sometime in the past, a shy observant child has left home for the first time. Her long-suffering mother will soon have another child, so the girl will be looked after by the Kinsellas, a kind couple from her mother’s side of the family who own a small dairy farm. Though we don’t learn the girl’s name or specific details of her life at her home, it’s clear within two pages that her family is very poor, and her father is a layabout who would happily see her left on the side of a road, as long as another man didn’t put him to shame by helping her. And because the girl is telling the story, we know that she knows all this too. In the Kinsellas’ house, the missus tells her, there are no secrets and no shame, and the days the girl spends with the couple are filled with order and delight, as well as a mounting understanding that the Kinsellas are not entirely happy. Foster is filled with moments of ease, heartbreak and joy. Despite author Claire Keegan’s bucolic setting, the story never pretends that life is easy. Keegan’s writing is spare but never austere, and the hour spent in Foster’s quiet world will change you.

—Erica Ciccarone, Associate Editor

A Small Place

OK, this isn’t a novella. But if you’re looking for powerful literature that you can read the whole of in a single dedicated burst, this 80-page essay by the great novelist Jamaica Kincaid fits the bill perfectly. Kincaid grew up on Antigua, an island in the Caribbean that was colonized by the British in the 1600s and became the independent country Antigua and Barbuda in 1981. In A Small Place, written just seven years after independence, Kincaid addresses the North American and European tourists who vacation on the 9-by-12-mile island, picking apart a tourist’s mentality to reveal its willful ignorance, and drawing connections between centuries of slavery under British colonialism and the corruption of Antigua and Barbuda’s government. There’s so much here—careful tracing of how history becomes cultural narrative, evocative descriptions of the island’s “unreal” beauty, anecdotes about Kincaid’s love of her childhood library. Everyone living in our so-called “post” colonial world, especially anyone who’s ever been a tourist, should read A Small Place.

—Phoebe Farrell-Sherman, Associate Editor

Train Dreams

Inside the worlds of Denis Johnson’s fiction, the mundane evokes great sadness, terror or joy. Simple acts are magnified in subtle yet staggering ways. Along with his straightforward, limpid prose, this aspect of his writing makes the National Book Award-winner (Tree of Smoke) exceptionally suited for the novella format, as proven by Train Dreams, which tells the story of Robert Grainier, an itinerant laborer in the American West during the turn of the 20th century. Johnson gracefully doles out disjointed portions of Grainier’s life as it unfolds in an era suffused with ordinary tragedy. All around Grainier, people die from dangers both natural and human-made. But just as a ravaged forest returns after a massive fire, “green against the dark of the burn,” so does the humanity that stubbornly persists in this rapidly changing landscape. Despite—or as a result of—its short length, Train Dreams showcases Johnson’s impressive capacity for creating memorable characters, whether it’s a dying vagrant, or a man shot by his own dog. It’s truly a wonder that a book can fit so much engrossing vibrancy within so few pages.  

—Yi Jiang, Associate Editor

Our favorite quick reads pack an enormous punch in a slim package.
Mystery & SuspenseThrillerMystery

Our mystery columnist has a new favorite Nordic noir—and it’s written by an American

Feature by Bruce Tierney

The Big Empty

Classic detective novels don’t need to be set in Los Angeles. The protagonist does not have to drive a vintage Corvette convertible, and they don’t necessarily require a loyal and lethal sidekick. It is not imperative that the narrative be spun in the first person. That said, it is a formula that has worked for the better part of 40 years for author Robert Crais, demonstrated ably in his latest installment in the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series, The Big Empty. When the antique Mickey Mouse phone rings on the desk of private investigator Elvis (self-described as “the world’s greatest detective”), he picks up and finds himself in a conversation with the somewhat harried assistant of Traci Beller, a hugely popular social media influencer. Traci is too busy to meet Cole at his office, but if he comes to her, she will give him $1,000 whether he accepts the case or not. It turns out that she wants to hire him to find out what happened to her father, who disappeared 10 years ago: “He called my mom after lunch, told her he was running late, and we never heard from him again. So it was like, poof, he vanished.” Cases don’t get much colder, but Cole agrees to look into it, cautioning Traci not to expect miracles. But before long, Cole can use a miracle or two of his own, as he is savagely beaten by a gang of criminals intent on derailing his investigation at any cost. Oh, and the big finish? It was such a shock and surprise that I went back and read it again.

The Note

Alafair Burke’s latest, The Note, follows three women: May, Lauren and Kelsey, who have been lifelong friends since attending the same summer camp ages ago. They decide to do a girls trip together, a few relaxing days in an Airbnb in the Hamptons. They need it—they have been embroiled in three separate and very public scandals, and they think a seaside vacation will be both fun and cathartic. They are so wrong. As they arrive at a local lunch spot, they discover that parking is at a premium. They patiently await a person exiting a space, only to have it snagged by a driver coming from the other direction. They are annoyed to the point where one of them leaves a note on the car’s windshield that says, “He’s cheating. He always does.” It certainly seems as if it might sow a bit of disharmony between the male driver and his attractive female passenger, some minor naughty payback for the stolen parking spot. It is all fun and games, as they say, until someone turns up dead: in this case, the driver. When the police discover the existence of the note, bit by bit the investigation leads them toward the three women. As their mutual trust begins to break down, alliances shift and reshift. One character is a murderer. Good luck figuring out which one.

Invisible Helix

Keigo Higashino’s beloved character Professor Galileo (aka Manabu Yukawa) returns in Invisible Helix, the latest from Japan’s preeminent suspense author. This book relies less on Yukawa’s detecting skills than some of the previous installments in the series, but is nonetheless a compelling read loaded with Japanese scenery and culture, with a storyline chock-full of secrets past and present. It starts with a baby being left on the doorstep of an orphanage by a young mother devoid of options. By means of a very twisty path, it winds forward two generations to the present, in which people are still shaped by, and acting on, events that happened in their parents’ and grandparents’ day. Professor Galileo gets involved after a murder takes place—no surprise there—and his longtime friend Chief Inspector Kusanagi summons him to assist. Invisible Helix is a very different book than I expected given its predecessors in the series, but I quite liked it all the same. (A brief aside: I lived in Tokyo when the first Professor Galileo book, The Devotion of Suspect X, was released in English. Oddly, as I was reading, I found myself predicting what would happen next at every turn. Some time later, I realized that I had actually seen the Japanese movie based on the book, well before the book’s translation into English.)

★ The Lost House

It’s no secret among BookPage mystery and suspense readers that I am a devotee of Nordic noir, as I often wax poetic about the subgenre. But who would have thought that a superb Nordic noir novel would emanate from the pen (or more likely, keyboard) of an American writer? Melissa Larsen’s The Lost House is that book. On the 40th anniversary of a double murder that rocked Iceland, Agnes, the American granddaughter of the presumed—but not convicted—killer, goes to the small town of Bifröst to participate in a podcast about the homicide. She has always believed her grandfather to be innocent, but she is in the distinct minority. Now, after her grandfather’s slow decline and death, Agnes has decided to visit her ancestral homeland for the first time in an attempt to get some closure. Then, as if in response to the grim anniversary, a local girl goes missing in the harsh Icelandic wilderness. Suspicions of foul play abound, and the buzz around the town is that it is at least peripherally connected to the 40-year-old cold case. The characters are all conflicted and vividly drawn, the milieu is pitch-perfect and the resolution is by turns heartbreaking and strangely uplifting. The Lost House is the first must-read thriller of 2025.

Melissa Larsen’s debut thriller is a chilly masterpiece, plus new cases for Elvis Cole and Professor Galileo in this month’s Whodunit.
RomanceHistorical RomanceContemporary Romance

A 49-year-old Regency widow gets a second chance with her first love

Feature by Christie Ridgway

★ Remember When

Mary Balogh offers a Regency-era, quietly enchanting story of second-chance love in Remember When. Nearing her 50th birthday, widow Clarissa Ware, the Dowager Countess of Stratton, returns to her family’s country estate alone, intent on contemplating the next phase of her life. With her children launched into society, she is seeking new meaning and begins by rekindling a friendship with Matthew Taylor, the village carpenter she loved when she was 17. No great drama ensues, but Balogh is a master at drawing readers in without it; the engrossing story unfolds through depth of emotion and long passages of introspection. Clarissa and Matthew are seasoned people with failings and successes behind them, yet they realize there is more ahead—a breadth of love that is a pleasure to discover through their eyes.

Into the Woods

A stay at a summer camp gives a dance teacher and a rock star a new start in Jenny Holiday’s Into the Woods. After years of bad dates and approaching 40, dance teacher Gretchen Miller decides to embrace her impending crone status by giving up men and focusing on her dance studio. But while filling in as a mentor at a camp for artistic teens, she meets rocker Teddy Knight, a lauded songwriter whose band recently broke up. Sparks fly, so maybe Teddy can be her last—blazing—sexual hurrah? Teddy is all for it, since he’s flailing professionally and new songs aren’t yet coming. These two bicker at first and banter throughout, yet in the end are understanding and kind to each other, just what they both needed all along. A story of two modern, authentic and endearing characters at a crossroads, Into the Woods is funny, emotional and even a bit inspirational as Gretchen and Teddy grapple with issues both personal and social.

Stuck in the Country With You

Zuri Day takes readers on an entertaining, emotional roller-coaster ride in Stuck in the Country With You. Genesis Washington is surprised when she inherits her great-uncle’s Tennessee farm, but surprise turns to chagrin when she learns her next-door neighbor is her one-time hookup, former pro football player Jaxson King. Though their night together stirred up trouble in her family that Genesis doesn’t want to repeat, she can’t avoid the sexy Jaxson, who steps in to help her again and again. Despite the fire between them, which singes the sheets in love scenes hotter than Jaxson’s chili, trust between the pair is hard-won. However, both find time for self-reflection on the way to their Happily Ever After, and Day shows how they grow as individuals before they completely commit as a couple. Stalwart friends and neighbors round out a cast of likable characters that adds to the satisfying fun.

Mary Balogh’s latest is utterly enchanting, plus new releases from Jenny Holiday and Zuri Day in this month’s romance column.

Discover your next great book!

BookPage highlights the best new books across all genres, as chosen by our editors. Every book we cover is one that we are excited to recommend to readers. A star indicates a book of exceptional quality in its genre or category.

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