Your usual guide through new releases, Erica, is out this week, but I’m here to shepherd you through the biggest and most exciting new releases of the moment! We’re coming off the months of the publishing season, but there are still plenty of new books worth keeping on your radar. Today, I have some cozy and comforting reads perfect for these colder months as well as a couple of books that alternate between historical fiction and the present.
Terry Dactyl by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
Terry Dactyl is a trans woman raised by lesbian moms who comes of age in the 1980s. She moves from Seattle to New York City and builds a community in the queer and gender-bending club scene, even as it is torn apart by the AIDS epidemic. At her art gallery job, she tries to blend her worlds of elite art and club culture together.
20 years later, Terry moves back to Seattle during the COVID-19 pandemic, searching for community once again. —Danika Ellis
Next Time Will Be Our Turn by Jesse Q. Sutanto
I love Jesse Q. Sutanto’s cozy mysteries, Dial A for Aunties and Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, so I’m thrilled to see her dipping her metaphorical toes into historical fiction. In Next Time Will Be Our Turn, Sutanto explores complicated family relationships and second chances. When Izzy Chen reluctantly shows up to her family’s annual Chinese New Year Celebration only to see her grandmother walk in with a stunning woman, everything she thought she knew about her family is turned on its head. Izzy’s reaction reminds Magnolia Chen of the girl she once was, prompting her to share her story of being sent to LA from Jakarta and finding herself caught between familial expectations and the girl she loved. —Rachel Brittain
All Access members, read on for four more of the best new books releases out this week.
The Marriage Narrative by Claire Kann
I am a sucker for romances that take on reality television in a new and interesting way. This book introduces Jordan, whose family has long been the subject of a reality show, Kardashian-style. The producers are urging him to marry his ex for the plot, but he wants to do things on his terms. A marriage of convenience with ambitious Zinnia, who views marriage in very businesslike terms, ought to work out cleanly. But we readers know that those pesky feelings are always bound to make a mess. —Isabelle Popp
The Amberglow Candy Store by Hiyoko Kurisu, translated by Matt Treyvaud
Continuing the trend of magical establishments in books from the last few years is this entry about a candy store. Each of the treats inside the store can allegedly cure what ails you, and the whole place is run by a mysterious fox spirit. —Liberty Hardy
Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree
This funny fantasy is a follow-up to Bookshops & Bonedust, featuring everyone’s favorite foul-mouthed talking rat, Fern. After decades of selling books in Murk, Fern decides to move to Thune, where her friend Viv has a coffee shop. But as she travels toward Thune, Fern encounters all kinds of new friends and foes. (More f-words!) —Liberty Hardy
The Firefly Crown by Yxavel Magno Diño
In an empire where the citizens’ fate is determined by their magical abilities, a girl named Yumi strives to achieve greater powers than she has. But when she is accused of theft at the princess’s coronation, she must use what magic she does have to find the real thief and save her life and her kingdom. —Liberty Hardy
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Other Book Riot New Releases Resources:
- All the Books, our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about the books out that week.
- The New Books Newsletter, where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz.
- Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!
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