Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For January, we’re looking at historical fiction set in 18th century colonial India and 1950s North Carolina, Viking fantasy, lots of horror, a thriller about a party gone very wrong, and audiobooks galore. Since last month was all nonfiction, this month it is all fiction!
If you love historical fiction:
Tania James’s Loot (2023)*
In this historical novel set against the backdrop of colonialism in 18th and 19th century India, teenaged Abbas is recruited by the local sultan to apprentice under a French toymaker. The two work together on an elaborate automaton of a tiger, but Abbas is parted from both his mentor and the tiger in the wake of a British takeover. Complications ensue.
*Also available as an ebook and audiobook on Libby
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Anuradha Roy, Yann Martel, and Orhan Pamuk.
Ron Rash’s The Caretaker (2023)**
If you prefer your historical fiction with a more contemporary setting, try this novel. In rural 1950s Appalachian North Carolina, Blackburn Gant lives a solitary existence tending to the cemetery. Jacob is his only friend, but he’s been conscripted to serve in the military. In his friend’s absence, Blackburn finds himself drawn to Jacob’s wife, a fellow social outcast.
**Also available as an ebook and audiobook on Libby
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Wiley Cash and Amy Greene.
If you prefer historical fantasy:
Genevieve Gornichec’s The Weaver and the Witch Queen (2023)***
Set in 10th century Norway, The Weaver and The Witch Queen follows three girls–two sisters and their friend–who form a blood oath. In the years that follow, the sisters are separated during a Viking raid, while their one-time friend studies magic in the far north. This book has a historical setting but is also a fantasy novel that draws heavily from Icelandic mythology.
***Also available as an ebook and audiobook on Libby
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Katherine Arden.
If you enjoy horror:
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Silver Nitrate (2023)****
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s vivid horror novels with historic Mexican settings have been bestsellers and garnered a lot of critical acclaim. Her latest book takes on a more contemporary time period–1990s Mexico City–as it follows sound editor Montserrat and her childhood friend Tristán, a washed-up actor. Tristán’s neighbor is a former horror director, and he promises them their wildest dreams if only they’ll help him finish a cursed magical film. As you can probably guess, things don’t go according to plan.
****Also available as an ebook and audiobook on Libby
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Isabel Cañas and Jessica Johns.
Jo Nesbo’s The Night House (2023)*****
Jo Nesbø is better known for his gruesome Scandinavian Noir thrillers, but The Night House marks his first venture into the horror genre. When fourteen-year-old Richard comes to town, everyone keeps their distance after mysterious reports of his parents dying in a fire. He’s the obvious suspect when a classmate disappears, but Richard swears Tom was sucked into a phone booth during a prank call. Nobody but Karen, another misfit at school, believes him. Then another classmate disappears and the eerie abandoned house Tom had tried to call starts threatening Richard. . . .
*****Also available as an ebook and audiobook on Libby
Recommended for those who enjoyed Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island.
Tananarive Due’s Joplin’s Ghost (2005)
Tananarive Due and her horror novels have generated a lot of buzz lately, and you can now check out both her newest work and her older books. Joplin’s Ghost is an earlier title that involves an up-and-coming R & B singer being haunted by Scott Joplin. The Good House is a haunted house tale set in the Pacific Northwest, while The Reformatory, her latest book, depicts a reform school in Jim Crow Florida and is based on Due’s family history.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Anne Rice and Octavia E. Butler.
If you like thrillers:
Danielle Stewart’s The Girl at the Party (2023)******
It’s all fun and games until someone ends up murdered. That’s certainly the case for the narrator and her close-knit group of friends. One minute, they’re enjoying a party. The next minute, they’re grappling with Stephanie disappearing from the event and being found dead. Even years later, nobody is quite sure why Stephanie left the party. And as the narrator begins to delve into the mystery more, she starts to realize she knows less about Stephanie and their group of friends than she thought.
******Also available as an audiobook on Libby
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Megan Miranda and Lisa Jewell.
If you need audiobooks:
Jojo Moyes’s Someone Else’s Shoes (2023)*******
Last year, our theme was Walk a Mile in My Shoes, and this book is all about walking in someone’s shoes . . . literally. More specifically, down-on-her-luck Sam accidentally grabs the wrong gym bag and finds herself in possession of a stunning pair of six-inch Christian Louboutin red crocodile heels. She starts wearing them, and the ensuing confidence they give her seems to cause her bad luck to start to turn. Meanwhile, the shoes’ rightful owner Nisha is undergoing her own personal crisis and is determined to get her shoes and her old life back, thank you very much.
*******Also available as an ebook and audiobook on Libby. Physical copies also available at the library.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Beth O’Leary.
Jacqueline O’Mahony’s Sing, Wild Bird, Sing (2023)
Irishwoman Honora flees the horrors of the Potato Famine in 1849 for America. However, her new home is not without its own tragedy and hardship for her. Nonetheless, Honora works her way farther west, an adventure that takes her from New York City to Oregon Territory.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Amy Harmon and Olive Collins.
Alice McDermott’s Absolution (2023)********
When Tricia’s husband is posted to Saigon in 1963, the shy housewife is lonely and finds herself part of the circle of expat wives ruled by the charismatic but domineering Charlene. The two women’s frenemy relationship develops as the Vietnam War escalates around them. Decades later, Charlene’s daughter reaches out to Tricia, forcing the older woman to reconsider those long-ago days in Saigon.
********Also available as an ebook and audiobook on Libby. Physical copies also available at the library.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Alice Hoffman.
What’s your favorite new-ish books? What books are you buzzing about these days? Have you read any of these books? Tell us in the comments! As always, please follow this link to our online library catalog for more information on any of these items or to place them on hold.
Berryville Book Buzz 