Four exciting new titles that provide distinct worlds and emotional experiences are coming out this week. Readers have a lot to choose from, including high-concept speculative thrillers, grand fantasy epics, and intimate tales of family and identity. These novels cover a wide range of genres and themes, so whether you’re interested in stories about love, consciousness, resistance, or multiverse intrigue, now is the ideal time to update your reading list and discover new authors and daring stories.
Evensong by Stewart O'Nan
The Humpty Dumpty Club is a group of Pittsburgh women who help one another deal with the difficulties of aging, illness, and grief. Stewart O’Nan’s Evensong is a heartwarming and wryly humorous book about this club. They find humor, grace, and meaning in community, compassion, and the little things that make up a life. When their leader, Joan, falls, the others band together to help friends and neighbors—running errands, taking care of pets, and keeping vigil.
Next Time Will Be Our Turn by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Izzy Chen is taken aback when her glitzy grandmother, Magnolia, shows up for a difficult family New Year’s celebration with a woman on her arm—and gives her a kiss. Magnolia tells her own forbidden love story from the 1960s in Los Angeles, where she disregarded gender and cultural norms to follow her heart, after noticing Izzy’s bewilderment. Jesse Q. Sutanto’s expansive novel, which spans generations and continents, examines love, identity, and having the guts to live true to oneself.
The Merge by Grace Walker
Two consciousnesses can combine into one body through a drastic operation in a near-future world that is on the verge of collapsing. Amelia agrees to participate in the experiment in an attempt to save her mother Laurie, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. However, disturbing facts surface as they join other participants in an enigmatic rehabilitation facility. A compelling and intensely emotional debut, The Merge explores love, memory, and the cost of giving up control for connection.
The Strength of the Few by James Islington
A mysterious gadget copies Vis Telimus into numerous identities, causing him to become fragmented across three parallel realms in the epic sequel to The Will of the Many. Vis must discover the reason for his separation and avert an impending apocalypse that might wipe out everything as he battles, hides, and plots in each realm. This amazing tale, which is full of political intrigue, emotional depth, and dramatic surprises, redefines power, identity, and destiny.
