What To Read

Every month, we share the books we can’t wait to read. Our January staff picks include a new novel by George Saunders, a novel Stephen King called “one of the best novels I’ve ever read about friendship,” a memoir of growing up chronically ill and homeschooled, and the fiction debut from Jennette McCurdy.

Fiction

Vigil by George Saunders (Jan 27)

Selected by Emmanuel Hidalgo-Wohlleben

I love George Saunders. Pastoralia is one of my favorite short story collections for making offbeat reflections on our culture feel profound. This new novel follows an oil tycoon's final hours as he reckons with his life, narrated by Jill "Doll" Blaine, a psychopomp who ferries souls between worlds. It's an audacious setup for what sounds like a sharp, politically charged meditation on power, mortality, and our current moment.

Crux by Gabriel Tallent (Jan 20)

Selected by Fernanda Gorgulho

A novel about kids with big dreams and a friendship that feels life-defining makes for a compelling way to start the year. Set in California's Mojave Desert, it follows two teens bound together by rock climbing, cold nights, and the shared conviction that they can claim something extraordinary before adulthood closes in. Stephen King calls it "one of the best novels I've ever read about friendship," and that's enough to make me want to follow these characters wherever their bond leads.

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy (Jan 20)

Selected by Fernanda Gorgulho

The smash success of I’m Glad My Mom Died made me curious about McCurdy as a writer, and this novel feels like a great place to start. It promises the same directness and refusal to soften uncomfortable truths that made her memoir such a phenomenon.

This Is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin (Jan 13)

Selected by Romina Raimundo

This Is Where the Serpent Lives sounds like exactly the kind of sweeping, character-driven novel I crave—one that takes you from glittering Pakistani cities to feudal farmlands. What really hooks me is the idea of following a dozen interconnected lives and seeing how class, loyalty, love, and survival force people into impossible compromises. Sounds like the kind of epic that gets under your skin and keeps you thinking about the moral cost of just surviving days after you finish it.

With Love from Harlem: A Novel of Hazel Scott by Reshonda Tate (Jan 27)

Selected by Iliyah Coles

Harlem is so easy to fall in love with. The culture feels like it's seeping from the sidewalks. I absolutely love a historical retelling--and this one features figures like Adam Clayton Powell Jr,. Langston Hughes, and Billie Holiday. I can't wait to enjoy this cozy read by my creaky radiator.

Nonfiction

Homeschooled: A Memoir By Stefan Merrill Block (Jan 6)

Selected by Lynda Hammes

I've had galley envy hearing the rave reviews from early readers of this memoir by fiction writer Stefan Merrill Block about his experience being homeschooled. Then his op-ed in the New York Times clinched it for me. The detail that I cannot unsee is the anecdote of his crawling around the house on hands and knees at age 12 because his mother thought this exercise of his fine motor control might improve his handwriting.

The Oak and the Larch: A Forest History of Russia and Its Empires by Sophie Pinkham (Jan 20)

Selected by Emmanuel Hidalgo-Wohlleben

When I think about Russia, I'll admit my mind goes straight to authoritarianism, Putin, the war in Ukraine—the heavy political stuff that dominates headlines. But Russia is also this vast, ancient land that holds one-fifth of the world's forests. Pinkham's book uses those forests as a lens to understand the country and its culture, weaving in art, literature, and history along the way. There's something really appealing about approaching such a massive, complicated nation from a completely unexpected angle—through its trees, its wilderness, the landscape that shaped it long before any of the politics we associate with it today.

Intentional: How to Finish What You Start by Chris Bailey (Jan 6)

Selected by Iliyah Coles

The more tasks I add to my to-do list, the less connected I am to them. They don't feel like anything more than boxes to check. I think this book will help with making sure tasks still feel purposeful. No matter how many things there are to do any given day, my goal this year is to stay present in them!

Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy by Chris Duffy (Jan 6)

Selected by Romina Raimundo

This is the kind of book I want to read when life starts to feel overly serious and a little too heavy. Humor Me promises laughter, of course, but what really draws me in is the idea that humor can be learned and practiced—not just as entertainment, but as a way to connect more deeply and move through hard moments with grace.

Storm at the Capitol: An Oral History of January 6th by Mary Clare Jalonick (Jan 6)

Selected by Emmanuel Hidalgo-Wohlleben

The AP's Mary Clare Jalonick recounts the harrowing January 6th assault on the Capitol by right wing extremists. It was a moment, that to this day five years later, defies belief. But despite the severity of the attack, it has continuously been downplayed by President Trump and his supporters. I desperately hope this book plays some role in changing the narrative, and reminds Americans about how fragile our democracy really is.