The end of the year is upon us, which means that between the shopping, cooking, decorating, and parties, we’re also hustling to get through that “to read” stack of books sitting tauntingly by our bedside. Yet even as we page through the backlog of delayed beach reads and best of the year that squeaked in under the wire, our minds are also turning toward the exciting new stories heading our way in the new year. Here, a selection of some of the lit we’re adding to our 2018 list.

The Immortalists’ by Chloe Benjamin
Courtesy

Is there such a thing as knowing too much? That’s the question four siblings have to grapple with in Benjamin’s inventive second novel, which opens with a psychic telling the Gold children the precise dates of their deaths in 1969 New York. The tale continues into their disparate adulthoods—happily married or resignedly alone, tightly regimented or unabashedly free-spirited, selfish or self-proclaiming selflessness—as the choices they’ve made with the ticking clock of mortality in mind raise quandaries about predetermination and the nature of self-fulfilling prophesies.

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin, $18, amazon.com on January 9.

PRE-ORDER

 So You Want to Talk About Race’ by Ijeoma Oluo
Courtesy

The Establishment editor-at-large Oluo crafts a straightforward guidebook to the nuances of conversations surrounding race in America, with topics ranging from white supremacy and Black Lives Matter to the “N” word. Read it, then recommend it to everyone you know. —Julie Kosin

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, $18 on amazon.com on January 16.

PRE-ORDER

Brave’ by Rose McGowan
Courtesy

Actress and activist McGowan releases her long-awaited memoir chronicling her childhood in a cult and her complicated, painful experiences at the hands of the Hollywood machine. A must-read as the era of #metoo moves into a new year. —Julie Kosin

Brave by Rose McGowan, $18, amazon.com on January 30.

PRE-ORDER

 Feel Free: Essays’ by Zadie Smith
Courtesy

Iconic White Teeth and Swing Timeauthor Smith trains her elegant critical eye on culture, politics, and herself in this essential collection. —Julie Kosin

Feel Free: Essays by Zadie Smith, $28 on amazon.com on February 6.

PRE-ORDER

 The Female Persuasion’ by Meg Wolitzer
Courtesy

As she did in 2013’s The Interestings, Wolitzer highlights her ability to find the yearning that lives in all of us: to be seen, to be admired, to be whatever we imagine as the best version of ourselves. For college freshman Greer that means becoming someone like Faith Frank, an icon of the women’s movement who takes on Greer as a protégé. Once nestled under Faith’s wing, though, Greer is forced to reckon with what transforming into the kind of woman she wants to be actually means for the woman she actually is, the things she stands to gain, and the parts of herself she might have to sacrifice.

The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer, $15, amazon.com on April 3.

PRE-ORDER

The Elizas’ by Sara Shepard
Courtesy

Shepard brings her knack for the tightly-wound thriller that earned Pretty Little Liars its runaway success to a whole new demographic. As novelist Eliza Fontaine delves into the investigation of her own attempted murder, things quickly take a turn for the meta-textual. Embroiled in situations that eerily mirror her fiction, the lines between reality and Eliza’s own imaginings rapidly blur. Clever and attention-grabbing, this is one book you won’t be able to leave sitting on the nightstand for long.

The Elizas by Sara Shepard, $26, amazon.com on April 17.

PRE-ORDER

Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture’ edited by Roxane Gay
Courtesy

Gay follows up her prolific 2017 with an anthology of rising and established authors examining the realities of living in a society where men pose the greatest threat to a woman’s safety and well-being. —Julie Kosin

Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture edited by Roxane Gay, $14, amazon.com on May 1.

PRE-ORDER

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’ by Stuart Turton
Courtesy

Pop your favorite Agatha Christie whodunnit into a blender with a scoop of Downton Abbey, a dash of Quantum Leap, and a liberal sprinkling of Groundhog’s Day and you’ll get this unique murder mystery. The twisting, cleverly-written debut revolves around Aiden Bishop, forced to relive the day of socialite Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder over and over until he can track down her killer and break the cycle. The trick? Each day Aiden finds himself reliving things in the body of a different guest at Lord and Lady Hardcastle’s masquerade, making the information he’s able to gather and the relationships he forges in his search increasingly complicated.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastleby Stuart Turton, amazon.com on September 1.

PRE-ORDER

The Flame’ by Leonard Cohen
Courtesy

Shortly before his passing in late 2016, beloved singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen sat down to assemble this collection of previously unpublished poems (his original occupation before turning to music), selections from his private notebooks, and song lyrics from his extensive musical career. Completed just days before his death, the book represents not just a portion of Cohen’s voluminous life’s work, but also a window into the mind of an exceptional artist.

The Flame by Leonard Cohen, release date TBD.

 

The Winds of Winter’ by George R.R. Martin.
Courtesy

Dare we even dream? We’ve been burned by George R.R. Martin before, and there has been distressingly little word in recent months on the progress of his hotly-anticipated sixth novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series (on which HBO’s mega-hit Game of Thrones is based). Still, until we get confirmation otherwise, we choose to keep believing that (The Winds of) Winter is coming—soon.

The Winds of Winter by George R.R. Martin, release date TBD.

For more information, visit harpersbazaar.com