The slowest publishing month of the year has arrived. Despite the decreased selection, there some great books still being released.
Contemporary & Literary Fiction
All the Little Bird-Hearts
Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow
Longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize, this poetic and often funny debut – a motherhood story unlike any other – by an author with autism is written from the point of view of an autistic woman as she and her headstrong adolescent daughter are befriended by a glamorous, charismatic couple with dark ulterior motives.
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: Algonquin Books
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The Fairytale Life of Dorothy Gale
Virginia Kantra
A woman learns to follow her own road in this heartwarming novel inspired by The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy “Dee” Gale is searching for a place to belong. When Dee’s relationship with a faculty member, a bestselling novelist, ends in heartbreak and humiliation, she’s caught in a tornado of negative publicity. Unable to face her colleagues—or her former lover—Dee applies to the writing program at Trinity College Dublin. In a year of opportunities and changes, love and loss, Dee is mentored by powerful women in the writing program, challenging her to see herself and her work with new eyes.
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: Berkley
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Flores and Miss Paula
Melissa Rivero
A wry, tender novel about a Peruvian immigrant mother and a millennial daughter who have one final chance to find common ground. Thirtysomething Flores and her mother, Paula, still live in the same Brooklyn apartment, but that may be the only thing they have in common. It’s been nearly three years since they lost beloved husband and father Martín, who had always been the bridge between them. One day, cleaning beneath his urn, Flores discovers a note written in her mother’s handwriting: “Forgive me if I failed you. Remember that I always loved you.” But what would Paula need forgiveness for?
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: Ecco
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Meet the Benedettos
Katie Cotugno
An A-list movie star moves to Los Angeles—next door to a family of five eligible sisters—in this irresistible novel where The Kardashians meets Pride and Prejudice, from the NYT bestselling author of Birds of California.
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: Harper Perennial
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Rebecca, Not Becky
Christine Platt & Catherine Wigginton Greene
In the vein of Such a Fun Age, a whip-smart, compulsively readable novel about two upper-class stay-at-home mothers—one white, one Black—living in a “perfect” suburb that explores motherhood, friendship, and the true meaning of sisterhood amidst the backdrop of America’s all-too-familiar racial reckoning.
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: Amistad Press
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Welcome Home, Stranger
Kate Christensen
From the PEN-Faulkner Award-winning author of The Great Man comes a novel about grief, love, growing older, and the complications of family that is the story of a fifty-something woman who goes home—reluctantly—to Maine after the death of her mother. Lively, witty, and painfully familiar, this sophisticated and emotionally resonant novel from the author of The Great Man holds a mirror up to modern life as it considers the way some of us must carry on now.
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: Harper
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Prophet Song
Paul Lynch
On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police on her step. They have arrived to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist. Ireland is falling apart, caught in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny. As the life she knows and the ones she loves disappear before her eyes, Eilish must contend with the dystopian logic of her new, unraveling country. How far will she go to save her family? And what—or who—is she willing to leave behind?
Publication date: December 12
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
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Familia
Lauren E. Rico
Against the bold beauty of San Juan, a baffling genealogy test connects two twenty-something women across cultures and class in this emotional yet refreshing story about sisterhood and self-discovery for fans of Nina LaCour, Xochitl Gonzalez, Elizabeth Acevedo, Annette Chavez Macias, and Julia Alvarez.
Publication date: December 26
Publisher: Kensington
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Historical Fiction
The Jazz Club Spy
Roberta Rich
From the author of The Midwife of Venice, a fresh and sweeping historical novel following a Jewish woman attempting to bring justice to her family on the eve of World War II. In the tradition of Lara Prescott’s The Secrets We Kept and Kate Quinn’s The Rose Code, The Jazz Club Spy is a glittering and gritty look at pre-WWII America, and the personal battle one woman wages between justice and forgiveness.
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: Gallery Books
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The Frozen River
Ariel Lawhon
From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: Doubleday
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The Wildest Sun
Asha Lemmie
When tragedy forces Delphine Auber, an aspiring writer on the cusp of adulthood, from her home in postwar Paris, she seizes the opportunity to embark on the journey she’s long dreamed of: finding the father she has never known. But her quest is complicated by the fact that she believes him to be famed luminary Ernest Hemingway, a man just as elusive as he is iconic. She desperately yearns for his approval, convinced that he holds the key to who she’s truly meant to be. But what will happen if she is wrong, or if her real story falls outside of the legend of her parentage that she’s revered all her life?
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: Dutton
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Romance
The Fake Mate
Lana Ferguson
Two wolf shifters agree to be fake mates but unexpectedly find something real in this steamy paranormal romantic comedy by Lana Ferguson. Mackenzie Carter has had some very bad dates lately. Only a year out of residency, her grandmother’s obsession with Mackenzie finding the perfect mate to settle down with threatens to drive Mackenzie barking mad. Out of options, it feels like a small thing to tell her grandmother that she’s met someone. That is, until she blurts out the name of the first man she sees and the last man she would ever date: Noah Taylor, the big bad wolf of Denver General.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: Berkley
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Raiders of the Lost Heart
Jo Segura
Rival archaeologists must team up on a secret Aztec expedition, or it could leave their careers—and hearts—in ruins. It’s been Archaeologist Dr. Socorro “Corrie” Mejía’s life goal to lead an expedition deep into the Mexican jungle in search of the long-lost remains of her ancestor, Chimalli, an ancient warrior of the Aztec empire. But when she is invited to join an all-expenses-paid dig to do just that, Corrie is sure it’s too good to be true…and she’s right. As the world-renowned expert on Chimalli, by rights Corrie should be leading the expedition, not sharing the glory with her disgustingly handsome nemesis.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: Berkley
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Second Chances in New Port Stephen
T.J. Alexander
A trans man returns to his Florida hometown for Christmas after his career goes up in flames, only to cross paths with his high school ex in this charming rom-com about family and second chances from the author of the Chef’s Kiss.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler
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The Second Chance Year
Melissa Wiesner
In this unforgettable story full of charm, wit—and just a bit of magic—a woman down on her luck is given a second chance at fixing her life and trying one year all over again. Perfect for readers of Josie Silver and Rebecca Serle.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: Forever
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This Spells Love
Kate Robb
A young woman tries to heal her heartbreak by casting a spell to erase her ex from her past, but she wakes up in an alternate reality where she’s lost more than she wished for in this witty, whimsical friends-to-lovers debut.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: The Dial Press
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Technically Yours
Denise Williams
Eight years ago, he fell in love with a stranger he couldn’t have—today, she’s back in his life and the sparks between them threaten to set her career on fire.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: Berkley
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On the Plus Side
Jenny L. Howe
What Not to Wear and Queer Eye meet All the Feels in this sparkling romantic comedy by Jenny L. Howe, in which the new guest on a popular plus-size makeover show has her style—and her love life—transformed.
Publication Date: December 26
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
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Thrillers, Mysteries, & Horror
The Couple in the Photo
Helen Cooper
Lucy and her husband, Adam, have been best friends with another couple, Cora and Scott, for years. The four are practically family—they vacation together, co-own a beach cottage, and their children are inseparable. So Lucy is devastated when, while looking at a colleague’s photos of a trip to the Maldives, she spots a picture of Scott, apparently on vacation with another woman. Then she learns that the woman in the photo has gone missing. Lucy can’t help but fear that Scott was involved. But searching for answers might uncover secrets about Scott, Cora, and even her own husband that could destroy the picture-perfect lives they have built together.
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
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The Curse of Penryth Hall
Jess Armstrong
An atmospheric gothic mystery that beautifully brings the ancient Cornish countryside to life, Armstrong introduces heroine Ruby Vaughn in her Award-winning debut, The Curse of Penryth Hall. After the Great War, American heiress Ruby Vaughn made a life for herself running a rare bookstore alongside her octogenarian employer and house mate in Exeter. She’s always avoided dwelling on the past, even before the war, but it always has a way of finding her. When Ruby is forced to deliver a box of books to a folk healer living deep in the Cornish countryside, she is brought back to the one place she swore she’d never return. Thus begins her visit to Penryth Hall.
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: Minotaur
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The Engagement Party
Darby Kane
And Then There Were None meets I Know What You Did Last Summer in #1 international bestseller Darby Kane’s latest gripping and twisty thriller set on a private island in Maine where secrets piled upon secrets and lies upon lies are all revealed in one fateful weekend.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: William Morrow
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Five Bad Deeds
Caz Frear
Acclaimed, internationally bestselling author Caz Frear ratchets up the suspense in this outstanding standalone psychological thriller—a gripping tale of revenge, loyalty, and the secrets hidden between the walls of the most beautiful home in town.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: Harper
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The Other Mothers
Katherine Faulkner
The author of the Greenwich Park returns with a fresh and deftly paced thriller about murder, class, and motherhood in an exclusive London community.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: Gallery Books
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Perfect Little Lives
Amber & Danielle Brown
Simone’s mother was murdered when she was thirteen. When her father was convicted, everything changed. Ten years later, Simone has given up on her dreams and lives a quiet life, writing book reviews and getting serious with her boyfriend. But with a true crime documentarian hounding her for a scoop and a surprise encounter with her childhood next-door neighbor, Hunter, the past seems set on haunting her. And after Hunter reveals that his father and her mother had a years-long affair, Simone is determined to find out who really killed her mother.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: Graydon House
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Where the Dead Wait
Ally Wilkes
An eerie, atmospheric Polar Gothic following a Victorian explorer in search of his lost shipmate and his own redemption—from the author of the horror novel All the White Spaces. William Day should be an acclaimed Arctic explorer. But after a failed expedition, in which his remaining men only survived by eating their dead comrades, he returned in disgrace. Thirteen years later, his second-in-command, Jesse Stevens, has gone missing in the same frozen waters. Perhaps this is Day’s chance to restore his tarnished reputation by bringing Stevens—the man who’s haunted his whole life—back home.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler
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The Vacation House
Jane Shemilt
The Edgar-nominated, #1 internationally bestselling author of The Daughter and The Playground weaves a breathtaking tale of betrayal, family, and secrets from the past in this crackling novel of psychological suspense.
Publication Date: December 26
Publisher: William Morrow
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Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Magical Realism
Medusa
Jessie Burton
Exiled to a far-flung island after being abused by powerful Gods, Medusa has little company other than the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. Haunted by the memories of a life before everything was stolen from her, she has no choice but to make peace with her present: she is Medusa the Monster. But when the charmed and beautiful Perseus arrives on the island, her lonely existence is blown open, unleashing desire, love–and betrayal. For readers of Circe and Ariadne, Medusa is an astonishing reinvention that brings to vivid life a heroine history has set in stone.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: Bloomsbury
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A River of Golden Bones
A.K. Mulford
From bestselling author and TikTok sensation A.K. Mulford comes the first riveting, enchanting book in the all-new Golden Court romantasy trilogy—A River of Golden Bones begins a journey of self-discovery, romance, and adventure for a young heir as she/they comes out of hiding to save her sister from a malicious, powerful sorceress and her dangerous sleeping curse.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: Harper Voyager
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Sunny
Colin O’Sullivan
A riveting technological thriller following a woman whose life is upended when her husband and son disappear in a mysterious plane crash and she is left alone with an unnerving home robot, only to get caught up in an AI-related conspiracy. With a darkly humorous yet propulsive and lyrical voice, O’Sullivan presents us with an unsettling look at a future that feels all too real. Gripping and thought-provoking, Sunny is a haunting character study of an anxious woman teetering in an anxious time.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: Mariner Books
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Yours for the Taking
Gabrielle Korn
The year is 2050. Ava and her girlfriend live in what’s left of Brooklyn, and though they love each other, it’s hard to find happiness while the effects of climate change rapidly eclipse their world. Soon, it won’t be safe outside at all. The only people guaranteed survival are the ones whose applications are accepted to The Inside Project, a series of weather-safe, city-sized structures around the world. At once a mesmerizing story of queer love, betrayal, and chosen family, and an unflinching indictment of cis, corporate feminism, Gabrielle Korn’s Yours for the Taking holds a mirror to our own world, in all its beauty and horror.
Publication Date: December 5
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
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Short Stories
The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac
Louise Kennedy
In these visceral, stunningly crafted stories by the author of the much-acclaimed Trespasses, women’s lives are etched by poverty—material, emotional, sexual—but also splashed by beauty, sometimes even joy, as they search for the good in the cards they’ve been dealt.
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: Riverhead Books
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Nonfiction
Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel
Shahnaz Habib
This witty personal and cultural history of travel from the perspective of a Third World-raised woman of color, Airplane Mode, asks: what does it mean to be a joyous traveler when we live in the ruins of colonialism, capitalism and climate change?
Publication date: December 5
Publisher: Catapult
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