11 New Books for January
This month, we’ve got our eyes on Call Her Freedom, Alternative Facts, and nine other titles by writers on the West.
AFLAME: LEARNING FROM SILENCE, BY PICO IYER
The book of Ecclesiastes states that “to everything there is a season.” Iyer learns to respond to the seasons of life by making more than 100 pilgrimages to a small hermitage in Big Sur. In practicing silence, he discovers something deeper: how to find and keep joy. Along the way, Iyer shares his revelations and affirms the jubilation that comes from a lifetime of keeping still. Riverhead Books, January 14
ALTERNATIVE FACTS, BY EMILY GREENBERG
In her debut collection of short stories, Greenberg portrays the celebrities who dominate our cultural landscape. From Paris Hilton falling from a helicopter to George W. Bush opening up about his paintings, the situations here provoke curiosity and laughter—and offer a testament to the reconciliatory power of narrative. Kallisto Gaia Press, January 28
THE BUSINESS TRIP, BY JESSIE GARCIA
Two women, strangers to each other, board the same plane, encounter a man, send eerily similar messages to their friends—and vanish. All that seems to connect the women is the mysterious Trent McCarthy. In this twist-filled debut thriller, Garcia poses necessary questions about who can and cannot be trusted. St. Martin’s Press, January 14
CALL HER FREEDOM, BY TARA DORABJI
Dorabji sets her new novel in the Himalayan village of Poshkarbal, where Aisha and her mother, Noorjahan, navigate life on the outskirts of a patriarchal world. Defying societal standards, Aisha attends school, although her dreams of college are tossed aside once she is married off. Even so, she manages to build a life centered on her family. But when secrets about her mother surface and military tensions escalate, Aisha must make heartbreaking choices to protect those she loves. Simon & Schuster, January 21
DEAD MONEY, BY JAKOB KERR
Mackenzie Clyde is a lawyer familiar with Silicon Valley’s money, tech, and power, having secured herself a role as “problem solver” for a prominent venture capitalist. Then, a young entrepreneur is murdered, leaving billions—including a large investment from Mackenzie’s boss—tied up in his will. When the police investigation stalls, Mackenzie must step up, only to end up far more deeply enmeshed than she imagined she would. Bantam Books, January 28
DEATH OF THE AUTHOR, BY NNEDI OKORAFOR
Okorafor’s novel begins with its protagonist, Zelu, receiving two pieces of bad news: She gets fired from her job in academia, and her publisher turns down her latest manuscript. Zelu responds by writing a postapocalyptic novel about robot warfare and is catapulted to literary stardom. The unexpected celebrity transforms the future while blurring the line between fiction and reality, making this a dark work of metafiction. William Morrow, January 14
THE ENDS OF THINGS, BY SANDRA CHWIALKOWSKA
Traveling with her new boyfriend, Laura Phillips visits a remote island in the Bahamas. There, she strikes up a friendship with Diana, a woman vacationing alone. As Chwialkowska’s novel progresses, the bond between them deepens quickly. But after Diana mysteriously disappears, Laura must confront how little about this woman she ever truly knew. Blackstone Publishing, January 14
HELLO STRANGER: MUSINGS ON MODERN INTIMACIES, BY MANUEL BETANCOURT
Betancourt’s beautiful collection of essays invites us to share the intimacies of his past relationships as he contemplates how he formed and reformed his concepts of commitment and love. To do this, he draws not only on his own life but also on art that modeled such notions for him, including movies and poetry. The result is a collage of thoughts on closeness and what it all means. Catapult, January 14
HOMESEEKING, BY KARISSA CHEN
In Chen’s novel, two former lovers reunite unexpectedly at a 99 Ranch Market in Los Angeles after 60 years apart. Haiwen, recently widowed, and Suchi, on the run from her own past, first met as children in Shanghai. But their relationship was disrupted when Haiwen enlisted to fight for the Chinese nationalists. Spanning both lifetimes and moving from Hong Kong to Taiwan to California, this is a story of family, love, and loyalty. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, January 7
SINKHOLE AND OTHER INEXPLICABLE VOIDS: STORIES, BY LEYNA KROW
A distressed graduate student tries to warn her community about an impending mudslide. A mother creates a bond with her new child after he appears out of thin air. A scourge of butterflies threatens to destroy the ecosystem of a town even as it unites a grudging teenager and a local scientist. In these surreal stories, Krow imagines families facing both environmental collapse and the necessity of caring for one another in the most desperate times. Penguin, January 28
VANTAGE POINT, BY SARA SLIGAR
Driven by old money and big ambitions, the Wielands are the Kennedy-esque royal family of an island off the coast of Maine. Yet there is a curse at work, which has plagued the clan for generations, and as Sligar’s second novel begins, siblings Clara and Teddy are under its sway. Even as they recover from the deaths of their parents, Teddy decides to fulfill familial expectation with a Senate run. But when a sex tape featuring Clara leaks, she becomes convinced the curse is coming for her next. MCD, January 14
Jessica Blough is a freelance writer. A former associate editor at Alta Journal, Blough is a graduate of Tufts University where she was editor in chief of the Tufts Daily.
Ajay Orona is an associate editor at Alta Journal. He earned a master’s degree from USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism in 2021 and was honored with an Outstanding Specialized Journalism (The Arts) Scholar Award. His writing has appeared in Los Angeles Review of Books, Ampersand, and GeekOut.
Elizabeth Casillas is an assistant editor at Alta Journal. A graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, she has previously written for the Poly Post and Enspire Magazine.
