15 New Books for January
This month, we’ve got our eyes on The Color of Family, Have Mercy on Us, and 13 other titles by writers on the West.
CHANGING THE COMMONS: STORIES ABOUT PLACEMAKING, BY JOHN N. ROBERTS
Humans have not always been good stewards of the environment, but the movement to create sustainable, beautiful places for communities to enjoy is among the more inspiring ideas about how to preserve the planet for future generations. Packed with pictures, sketches, and diagrams of multiple shared spaces across Northern California, Roberts’s book addresses this notion and, in so doing, reveals the power of people coming together. Oro Editions, January 5
THE CHINESE GROOVE, BY KATHRYN MA
Shelley Zheng hails from China’s Yunnan Province. An optimistic immigrant and believer in the powers of “Chinese groove”—the invisible ties between compatriots—he lands in San Francisco expecting to meet his rich uncle and live in a lavish guest suite. So Shelley is taken aback to discover an unemployed second cousin once removed and a sofa. Ma’s novel is uplifting and moving as it follows Shelley on his American dream. Counterpoint, January 24
CLINIC OF PHANTASMS: WRITINGS 1994—2002, BY GIOVANNI INTRA
This collection features astute reflections by artist, writer, and gallerist Intra, as well as writing about Intra from Mark von Schlegell, Tessa Laird, and other observers of the art world. The result is a fascinating history of the 1990s art scene in New Zealand (where Intra was born) and Los Angeles (his adopted home). Semiotext(e), January 24
THE COLOR OF FAMILY, BY JERRY MCGILL
McGill’s novel revolves around Devon and James Payne, brothers who dream of becoming top athletes, until a car accident leaves Devon paralyzed. Decades later, James has accomplished his sporting dreams, but his siblings live in various corners of the world, estranged by a family secret. Little A, January 1
GRIEFSTRIKE! THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO MOURNING, BY JASON ROEDER
Roeder, the author of Oh, the Humanity! A Gentle Guide to Social Interaction for the Feeble Young Introvert, is back with another satirical guidebook, this time aimed at navigating loss, grief, and mourning. The author draws on his own difficult experiences to craft a witty, one-of-a-kind self-help manual about how to deal with life’s most challenging moments in the most amusing way. McSweeney’s, January 3
HAVE MERCY ON US, BY LISA CUPOLO
The 10 stories that make up Cupolo’s debut story collection run the gamut of experience and emotion as they also span the globe. Parents and their children, wives and their husbands, siblings—these are the relationships explored as characters puzzle through their needs and desires concerning one another. Regal House Publishing, January 24
A HOUSE CALLED TOMORROW: FIFTY YEARS OF POETRY, BY MICHAEL WIEGERS
With the help of board members and staff, Wiegers, the editor in chief of Copper Canyon Press, celebrates the poems published by the house over its half-century run. This dazzling retrospective features rare material from the 1970s as well as work from more-recent collections and everything in between. Copper Canyon Press, January 17
IN THE TIME OF OUR HISTORY: A NOVEL OF RIVETING AND EVOCATIVE FICTION, BY SUSANNE PARI
Set between San Francisco and New Jersey in the 1990s, Pari’s novel tracks the story of Mitra Jahani, an Iranian American coping with the loss of her younger sister. To observe the “One Year,” an Iranian custom, Mitra travels to her parents’ house, where tensions run high as her traditional father struggles to accept her rebellious nature. John Scognamiglio Books, January 3
JUDAS GOAT: POEMS, BY GABRIELLE BATES
This haunting book, named for the animal that leads herds of sheep to slaughter, is the debut collection from Bates, a poet who can claim both Birmingham, Alabama, and Seattle, Washington, as home. Many of the poems here have their origins in the South, the site of excavations of gender, childhood, love, betrayal, and violence. Tin House, January 24
AN ORDINARY LIFE, BY B.H. FAIRCHILD
Fairchild’s latest poetry collection grows out of American landscapes: Kansas highways, a Walmart, a baseball field, a record store. In these spaces and others, the National Book Award finalist creates small narratives that find beauty in the mundane and give due respect to rural and blue-collar life. W.W. Norton & Company, January 24
A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF SFO: THE MAKING OF THE BAY AREA AND AN AIRPORT, BY ERIC PORTER
Porter uses San Francisco International Airport as a lens through which to frame the complex social, political, and economic forces at play across the Bay Area. Relying on a series of provocative anecdotes that range from Spanish colonial rule to the present-day climate crisis, Porter considers both past and future in one of the world’s most influential metropolitan centers. University of California Press, January 3
PLEASE REPORT YOUR BUG HERE, BY JOSH RIEDEL
Newly graduated and newly single, Ethan Block scores a job at the dating app DateDate and decides to hack the algorithm to find his own perfect match. But when the app catapults him into a virtual reality, he suspects more may be at play. Riedel was the first-ever employee at Instagram, and his novel ambitiously explores Silicon Valley and the way tech has disrupted human connection. Henry Holt & Company, January 17
PREPARING FOR WAR: THE EXTREMIST HISTORY OF WHITE CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM—AND WHAT COMES NEXT, BY BRADLEY ONISHI
This disturbing look at the rise of white Christian nationalism proves that the January 6 insurrection was the (far from natural) result of a subculture of racist violence that has been growing in the United States for years. An ex–evangelical minister himself, Onishi focuses on the period between 1960 and 2015 to explain the dangers of what he has dubbed the New Religious Right. Broadleaf Books, January 3
THE SHARDS, BY BRET EASTON ELLIS
Ellis’s new novel is a rebus of sorts, tracing the life of a promising student at a Los Angeles preparatory school who shares both the author’s name and his knack for weaving stories. When a new student named Robert comes to the school, Bret becomes enamored, only to learn that Robert is obsessed with a serial killer called the Trawler. Knopf, January 17
SPARE, BY PRINCE HARRY
In this highly anticipated memoir, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, recounts a life fraught with grief and redeemed by love. From his mother’s death to his marriage to Meghan Markle and the couple’s monumental departure from the royal family in 2021, Prince Harry gives his side of events. Random House, January 10
14 New Books for September
15 New Books for August
New Releases for July
Upcoming Releases: Moderation and Cozy Dystopias
