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Every month, I make pretty accurate (80-100%) predictions about which books will be featured by Book of the Month (BOTM). I take a lot of time to research upcoming releases, analyze past selections, and choose books that are solid bets.
February seems to be a weird publishing month. There are a lot of contemporary and literary fiction releases along with a plethora of new mystery/thriller books. For the other genres, there are rather slim pickings. Because of this, I have allowed more predictions than I typically have in the contemporary/literary fiction and mystery/thriller categories.
I think that February books will most likely drop on Tuesday, January 27th; Wednesday, January 28th; or Thursday, January 28th.
Contemporary & Literary Fiction
I wavered whether to include a few books but ultimately ruled them out (including Everyday Moment by Gigi L. Leung, The Optimists by Brian Platzer, Clutch by Emily Nemens).
Good People
Patmeena Sabit
Synopsis: Zorah Sharaf could do no wrong. Zorah Sharaf brought shame upon her family. What’s the truth? Depends on who you ask. Told through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, it is a riveting, provocative, and haunting story of family—sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and the communities that claim us as family in difficult times.
Debut
A Good Animal
Sara Maurer
Synopsis: A heart-wrenching coming-of-age debut novel by a stunning new voice in fiction, for readers of Barbara Kingsolver and Ann Patchett.
Debut
The Shape of Dreams
April Reynolds
Synopsis: A trio of women bond in friendship as a neighborhood tries to seek justice from a system that has forgotten them.
Debut
Family Drama
Rebecca Fallon
Synopsis: A vibrant debut and powerful meditation on family, motherhood, and the cost of holding on to your dreams, reminiscent of Ann Napolitano.
Debut
The Jills
Karen Parkman
Synopsis: In this propulsive debut, a Buffalo Bills cheerleader will stop at nothing to solve the disappearance of her best friend and teammate, navigating the dark underbelly of a hardscrabble city, the grime and glamour of professional cheerleading, and her own tangled family history.
Debut
Superfan
Jenny Tinghui Zhang
Synopsis: From National Book Foundation 5 UNDER 35 HONOREE Jenny Tinghui Zhang, a novel about a pop idol and his superfan, whose stories shockingly collide
Saoirse
Charleen Hurtubise
Synopsis: For readers of Colm Tóibín and Claire Keegan, a powerful novel set between the United States and Ireland about a woman who runs from her traumatic past and the secrets she carries to survive.
This Book Made Me Think of You
Libby Page
Synopsis: A woman receives an unexpected gift from the man she loved and lost—a year of books, one for every month—launching a reading-inspired journey to live, dream, and love again in this glimmering and heart-stopping novel.
Little One
Olivia Muenter
Synopsis: A searing novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Such a Bad Influence, follows a young woman whose life is upended when a journalist uncovers her mysterious and hidden upbringing..
So Old, So Young
Grant Ginder
Synopsis: A generation-defining novel that is part love story, part tragic comedy. Five parties over the course of twenty years bring six college friends together, exploring the ways we run from and cling to our friends in love, life, and death.
Kin
Tayari Jones
Synopsis: A magnificent new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of An American Marriage—Tayari Jones has written an unforgettable novel that sparkles with wit and intelligence and deep feeling about two lifelong friends whose worlds converge after many years apart in the face of a devastating tragedy.
Repeat Author
Historical Fiction
I also considered The Wandering Queen by Claire Heywood.
Everything Lost Returns
Sarah Domet
Synopsis: The poignant, utterly original story of two women separated across time but united by the arrival of Halley’s comet, as blazing and as daring as their stories.
Evil Genius
Claire Oshetsky
Synopsis: An exuberant, brutally hilarious novel about a young woman’s insatiable quest to carve her own path—even if she needs to step over a few dead bodies along the way.
Fireflies in Winter
Eleanor Shearer
Synopsis: A gripping novel of two young women fighting for survival on the edge of the wilderness, and the love that simultaneously sustains them and threatens their very existence, from the author of the Good Morning America Book Club pick River Sing Me Home.
Repeat Author
Romance
I considered but then ruled out Love Me Tomorrow by Emiko Jean, Books and Bewitchment by Isla Jewell, Love and Other Brain Experiments by Hannah Brohm, Belgrave Road by Manish Chauhan, Royal Spin by Omid Scobie & Robin Benway, and The Ex-Perimento by Maria J. Morillo.
Laws of Love & Logic
Debra Curtis
Synopsis: A woman finds herself torn between her first love and her devoted husband in this extraordinary debut novel that asks the question: Can one heart hold two great loves? Laws of Love and Logic explores love’s enduring power and the human spirit’s capacity for forgiveness and redemption.
Debut
I’m Looking for a Man in Finance
Sabrina Waldorf
Synopsis: Sparks fly when a journalist seeking the most eligible man on Wall Street goes head-to-head with the finance bro determined to get in her way.
Debut
The End of Romance
Lily Meyer
Synopsis: A big-hearted, wise, unceasingly buoyant love story about a woman who, after escaping a bruising marriage, theorizes that happiness is possible solely with the eradication of all romance–only to find someone that could change her life forever
One & Only
Maurene Goo
Synopsis: “A wildly good time . . . a swoony, funny, romantic novel” (Rebecca Serle, New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years) about a woman thrown a curveball by fate, and the family secret that makes her question everything.
And Now, Back to You
B.K. Borison
Synopsis: Two competing meteorologists are forced to find common ground in this opposites attract, When Harry Met Sally inspired romance, from #1 New York Times bestselling author B.K. Borison.
Repeat Author
Thrillers, Mysteries, & Crime Fiction
I also waffled about a number of books, including How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates by Shailee Thompson, It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica, Good Intentions by Marisa Walz, The Midnight Taxi by Yosha Gunasekera, Pinky Swear by Danielle Girard, Children of Salvage City by Elizabeth Heider, and Then He Was Gone by Isabel Booth.
The Exes
Leodora Darlington
Synopsis: Who hasn’t wanted to murder an ex—figuratively, at least? In this explosive debut thriller, a woman’s seemingly perfect romantic life is on the verge of collapse as she uncovers a hidden history surfacing dark secrets that have deadly consequences.
Debut
Dirty Metal
Allison LaMothe
Synopsis: An electrifying new voice in crime fiction: Allison LaMothe’s debut is a gritty, fast-paced mystery about a reporter running down two huge stories at once.
Debut
How to Get Away with Murder
Rebecca Philipson
Synopsis: “If you picked up this book because you truly want to get away with murder, you will not be disappointed. Simply turn the page and we’ll get started.”
Debut
In Her Defense
Philippa Malicka
Synopsis: As a sensational celebrity libel trial unfolds, a young woman at the periphery secretly wields the power to make or break the case. But with her own hidden past, will she dare to speak up?
Debut
One of Us
Elizabeth Day
Synopsis: When Fliss, the eccentric grown daughter of the powerful Fitzmaurice clan, is found dead on beach in Bali, what seems like a tragic accident stirs more suspicion than closure for those who’ve traded favors with—and within—her family for decades. One of Us is a page-turner with teeth, a mash-up of The Wedding People and Succession—darkly comic and cutting, as well as unexpectedly hopeful.
Her Last Breath
Taylor Adams
Synopsis: From the bestselling author of No Exit and The Last Word comes a heart-pounding thriller that plunges readers into the suffocating darkness of a cave—and the even darker secrets that lie within.
Repeat Author
The Girls Before
Kate Alice Marshall
Synopsis: Stranger is trapped in the dark, with only her imagination and the scribbles on the wall left by long-dead girls to keep her company. Nearly out of food and water, she makes one last attempt to escape. But if the door opens at last, will it mean salvation, or only the beginning of her fight to survive? A search & rescue expert. A kidnapped woman. The lost girls who haunt them both.
Repeat Author
Horror & Gothic Fiction
I also considered She Made Herself a Monster by Anna Kovatcheva.
Cruelty Free
Caroline Glenn
Synopsis: A disgraced movie star returns to Hollywood 10 years after the kidnapping of her young daughter intent on seeking revenge, for fans of Monika Kim and Rachel Yoder.
Debut
The Bone Queen
Will Shindler
Synopsis: A chilling horror-thriller debut where a mother’s search for her missing daughter battles against the shadows of a historic, dangerous legend.
Debut
Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Magical Realism
I wavered whether to include Queen of Faces by Petra Lord, The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan, Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson, The Rainseekers by Matthew Kressel, and Songbird of the Sorrows by Braidee Otto, but I do not think they will be picks.
Weavingshaw
Heba Al-Wasity
Synopsis: This darkly romantic and completely absorbing slow-burn gothic fantasy romance follows a young woman haunted by the ghosts of her past and a ruthless merchant known as the Saint of Silence, who promises her greatest desire in return for her darkest secret. . . .
Debut
The Fox Hunt
Caitlin Breeze
Synopsis: Dive into the dark underbelly of England’s most ancient university, where behind closed doors a circle of privileged students enter into a dark pagan ritual—one that holds tantalizing power and comes at a terrible price.
Debut
You & Me and You & Me and You & Me
Josie Lloyd & Emiyn Rees
Synopsis: A grown-up love story that captures the beauty of not only finding your person but holding on to them. Throw in some time travel, great music, and ’90s nostalgia, and you have an unforgettable read.
Debut
The Lies that Summon the Night
Tessonja Odette
Synopsis: Lies, beauty, and seduction mingle in the first book of an enthralling romantasy series where making art is considered a sin, and the shadows born from it aren’t the only danger to the creators—from the bestselling author of Curse of the Wolf King.
Dawn of the North
Demi Winters
Synopsis: A new age begins in the Kingdom of Íseldur in this sizzling third installment of the Viking-inspired Ashen romantasy the series.
Repeat Author
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