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Winter Warmers: 11 Books to Read in February
Cozy up with new work from Tommy Orange, Paul Theroux, Margaret Atwood, Amina Akhtar and Helen Humphreys / BY Nathalie Atkinson / January 31st, 2024
The shortest month is long on fabulous books, from powerful historical fiction, intriguing noir and Austen-esque fiction to Margaret Atwood’s collaborative novel project. So fire up the espresso machine, grab your coziest blanket and settle in.
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1Almost Surely DeadA true crime podcaster looks for connections between a seemingly random attack on the New York City subway and the later disappearance of the victim, Dunia. Arizona-based Akhtar (a former fashion journalist and founding editor of The Cut) deftly blends suspense with Pakistani folklore and cultural commentary in this chilling psychological thriller from the author of Kismet.
A true crime podcaster looks for connections between a seemingly random attack on the New York City subway and the later disappearance of the victim, Dunia. Arizona-based Akhtar (a former fashion journalist and founding editor of The Cut) deftly blends suspense with Pakistani folklore and cultural commentary in this chilling psychological thriller from the author of Kismet.
2Burma SahibThe prolific Hawaii-based author (The Mosquito Coast, et al.) blends history, politics and evocative travel narrative in this chronicle of young Eric Blair, the future writer better known by his nom de plume George Orwell. The historical novel dramatizes his formative, five-year period as a novice police officer in colonial Burma and serves as a blistering critique of the British Raj; as the author explains in one interview, the subcontinent is where Orwell formed some of his strongest ideas as an anti-colonial writer. (Feb. 6)
The prolific Hawaii-based author (The Mosquito Coast, et al.) blends history, politics and evocative travel narrative in this chronicle of young Eric Blair, the future writer better known by his nom de plume George Orwell. The historical novel dramatizes his formative, five-year period as a novice police officer in colonial Burma and serves as a blistering critique of the British Raj; as the author explains in one interview, the subcontinent is where Orwell formed some of his strongest ideas as an anti-colonial writer. (Feb. 6)
3Cahokia JazzThe Booker-longlisted English author of Golden Hill sets this detective novel in an alternate-history 1922 America – one where the Indigenous population was not decimated by smallpox introduced by European settlers. Here, Cahokia, a multicultural metropolis in what would be present-day Missouri, is thriving. After cynical cop Joe Barrow and his partner Phineas discover the gruesome murder of a worker on the roof of a highrise, he begins to uncover conspiracies. The case is as thrilling as the world-building, with three distinct people who share a common vernacular. (Feb. 6)
The Booker-longlisted English author of Golden Hill sets this detective novel in an alternate-history 1922 America – one where the Indigenous population was not decimated by smallpox introduced by European settlers. Here, Cahokia, a multicultural metropolis in what would be present-day Missouri, is thriving. After cynical cop Joe Barrow and his partner Phineas discover the gruesome murder of a worker on the roof of a highrise, he begins to uncover conspiracies. The case is as thrilling as the world-building, with three distinct people who share a common vernacular. (Feb. 6)
4Fourteen DaysEach character in this collaborative project, described as a modern take on Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th century story collection, The Decameron, is written by one of 36 writers. The eclectic contributors in this serial novel – about a New York City tenement community coming together to tell stories in the early days of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns – range from Dave Eggers, John Grisham and Celeste Ng to Diana Gabaldon, Emma Donoghue and R.L. Stine. (Feb. 6)
Each character in this collaborative project, described as a modern take on Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th century story collection, The Decameron, is written by one of 36 writers. The eclectic contributors in this serial novel – about a New York City tenement community coming together to tell stories in the early days of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns – range from Dave Eggers, John Grisham and Celeste Ng to Diana Gabaldon, Emma Donoghue and R.L. Stine. (Feb. 6)
5The WomenThe internationally bestselling American author of The Nightingale and Firefly Lane chronicles a lesser-known facet of the Vietnam War: the experience of American women stationed there. When young California nurse Frankie’s older brother dies soon after being deployed to Vietnam, she’s inspired to join the Army Nurse Corps. Hannah faithfully (and intensely) reconstructs the chaos of surgical hospitals and the deep friendships that sustained them on site and in the fallout after the war, when they returned to America, a changed country. (Feb. 6)
The internationally bestselling American author of The Nightingale and Firefly Lane chronicles a lesser-known facet of the Vietnam War: the experience of American women stationed there. When young California nurse Frankie’s older brother dies soon after being deployed to Vietnam, she’s inspired to join the Army Nurse Corps. Hannah faithfully (and intensely) reconstructs the chaos of surgical hospitals and the deep friendships that sustained them on site and in the fallout after the war, when they returned to America, a changed country. (Feb. 6)
6AftershockThis novel by the Chinese-born Canadian author, inspired by a real natural disaster (the 1976 Tangshan earthquake), was made into China’s first IMAX blockbuster in 2010 and is finally translated into English. A cruel twist of circumstance forces a mother to choose which of her seven-year-old twins to save, and the emotional aftermath of that split-second decision is felt for decades. The survivors carry deep wounds – particularly daughter Xiaodeng, whose new life in Canada is successful but unhappy. The story is an unfolding journey of guilt and reconciliation built around the power of family connection. (Feb. 6)
This novel by the Chinese-born Canadian author, inspired by a real natural disaster (the 1976 Tangshan earthquake), was made into China’s first IMAX blockbuster in 2010 and is finally translated into English. A cruel twist of circumstance forces a mother to choose which of her seven-year-old twins to save, and the emotional aftermath of that split-second decision is felt for decades. The survivors carry deep wounds – particularly daughter Xiaodeng, whose new life in Canada is successful but unhappy. The story is an unfolding journey of guilt and reconciliation built around the power of family connection. (Feb. 6)
7Sex, Lies and SensibilityWhat would Valentine’s month be without a Jane Austen remix? The author is the Washington-based tech anthropologist with a PhD (and an Austen aficionado) behind the cleverly diverse charmer Pride and Protest. She returns with the hardscrabble story of sisters Nora and Yanne Dash, who are trying to make a life for themselves in coastal Maine. The author has said she relates to Austen as a Black woman “because there is something of the pithy outsider” to her and, indeed, Payne’s take on Sense and Sensibility finds a fresh new perspective on its classic themes by centering the BIPOC experience, while remaining grounded in its rom-com pleasures. (Feb. 13)
What would Valentine’s month be without a Jane Austen remix? The author is the Washington-based tech anthropologist with a PhD (and an Austen aficionado) behind the cleverly diverse charmer Pride and Protest. She returns with the hardscrabble story of sisters Nora and Yanne Dash, who are trying to make a life for themselves in coastal Maine. The author has said she relates to Austen as a Black woman “because there is something of the pithy outsider” to her and, indeed, Payne’s take on Sense and Sensibility finds a fresh new perspective on its classic themes by centering the BIPOC experience, while remaining grounded in its rom-com pleasures. (Feb. 13)
8Followed by the LarkAmerican naturalist and transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau was scarcely 27 when he built a cabin on the shore of Walden Pond and wrote his famous contemplations on the meaning of life and humanity’s place in the world. In the acclaimed Canadian author’s historical biographical novel – shaped as poetic episodic narratives inspired by Thoreau’s journals – imagines his view of the shifting world (including his personal epiphanies). Readers will find resonance in how he processed his grief about the early death of his older brother, and his views on the “progress” of hunting, logging, the advent of the railroad and the looming Civil War. (Feb. 13)
American naturalist and transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau was scarcely 27 when he built a cabin on the shore of Walden Pond and wrote his famous contemplations on the meaning of life and humanity’s place in the world. In the acclaimed Canadian author’s historical biographical novel – shaped as poetic episodic narratives inspired by Thoreau’s journals – imagines his view of the shifting world (including his personal epiphanies). Readers will find resonance in how he processed his grief about the early death of his older brother, and his views on the “progress” of hunting, logging, the advent of the railroad and the looming Civil War. (Feb. 13)
9The Book of LoveThe short-story virtuoso’s long-awaited debut novel tips 640 pages and is as idiosyncratic as devotees of her magic realism expect. The American Pulitzer Prize finalist and MacArthur “genius” grant fellow blends character study with fantasy in a story about three mysteriously resurrected New England teenagers, who must engage in a series of weird supernatural tasks (on top of dealing with the grief of their community, which presumes them dead). It’s being touted as American Gods meets Stranger Things. (Feb. 13)
The short-story virtuoso’s long-awaited debut novel tips 640 pages and is as idiosyncratic as devotees of her magic realism expect. The American Pulitzer Prize finalist and MacArthur “genius” grant fellow blends character study with fantasy in a story about three mysteriously resurrected New England teenagers, who must engage in a series of weird supernatural tasks (on top of dealing with the grief of their community, which presumes them dead). It’s being touted as American Gods meets Stranger Things. (Feb. 13)
10PigletPiglet is the childhood nickname of the novel’s working-class protagonist, an Oxford cookbook editor who has a complicated relationship with food and eating; she’s marrying a middle-class man and, on cue, a crisis ensues the eve of their wedding. The author, based in Warwickshire, England, has a PhD in food writing and nails how literary and culinary pleasures are interconnected in this richly descriptive exploration of class ambition, cooking and control. (Feb. 27)
Piglet is the childhood nickname of the novel’s working-class protagonist, an Oxford cookbook editor who has a complicated relationship with food and eating; she’s marrying a middle-class man and, on cue, a crisis ensues the eve of their wedding. The author, based in Warwickshire, England, has a PhD in food writing and nails how literary and culinary pleasures are interconnected in this richly descriptive exploration of class ambition, cooking and control. (Feb. 27)
11Wandering StarsIn the follow-up to his powerful, award-winning debut There There, Orange, a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, explores the legacies of the barbaric 1864 Sand Creek Massacre and the trauma of forced assimilation at settler schools on multiple generations. Members of the Bear Shield-Red Feather family are his leads, with present-day Orvil Red Feather, the Oakland teenager in his previous book, learning about his heritage and grappling with his cultural identity. (Feb. 27)
In the follow-up to his powerful, award-winning debut There There, Orange, a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, explores the legacies of the barbaric 1864 Sand Creek Massacre and the trauma of forced assimilation at settler schools on multiple generations. Members of the Bear Shield-Red Feather family are his leads, with present-day Orvil Red Feather, the Oakland teenager in his previous book, learning about his heritage and grappling with his cultural identity. (Feb. 27)