January 15, 2022
Jumpstart your January reading with books that just won’t let up, whether due to eccentric lead characters, a plot that drives you forward into a new world or a quest that keeps the narrative at a persistent pace in fiction or memoir. Two of these (for adults and for teens) reflect this moment in history, while other titles are a welcome distraction during these times.
Happy reading,
Melanie Fleishman
Buyer, The Center for Fiction Bookstore
Featured Books
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Joan Is Okay
By WEIKE WANG
Published by RANDOM HOUSE
You’ll fall in love with Joan, a true original—complex and poignant. A 30-something Chinese American woman, she is a loner, married to her job at the ICU in a New York hospital, a work ethic she inherited from her father. He has just had a stroke in China—which in turn alters her quiet life in America. As a first-person narrator she is completely charismatic. “I read somewhere that empathy is repeating the last three words of a sentence and nodding your head.” Wang effortlessly captures the mind of this young woman, at once naïve and brilliant.
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Anthem
By NOAH HAWLEY
Published by GRAND CENTRAL
What is more apt than a novel set at a Float Anxiety Abatement Center? Hawley mashes up genres like fairy tales and traditional thrillers in a fiction full of conspiracy theories and magical thinking. As he describes it: a fantasy novel about our real world, or a realistic novel about a fantasy world. The story includes characters called The Wizard and The Prophet, and one not unlike Jeffrey Epstein. Hawley (Before the Fall) displays his cinematic credentials—recently screenwriter for the TV series Fargo—in this flashy, insistent story about the resiliency of young people, searching for answers, trying to stay afloat.
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Ain't Burned All the Bright
By JASON REYNOLDS
Published by ATHENEUM
Illustrated by Jason Griffin
Jason Reynolds, a favorite of The Center, has a new hybrid novel for all ages. He has collaborated with longtime pal Griffin to create a combination of art, text and verse that completely captures the present era. Through stories of Black families living through recent violence and the threat of COVID, this a snapshot of our time in history, made even more powerful and resonant for its comment on the status quo through a mixed media approach.
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The Maid
By NITA PROSE
Published by BALLANTINE BOOKS
Written with an Agatha Christie-style flourish, The Maid is just the tonic you need in the dreary days of January. Starring another singular character, the story unfolds as the housekeeper Molly encounters a dead hotel guest when she enters the suite to clean. Molly is grieving her recently dead gran, an outsider with perfect cheekbones and an obsession for order and cleanliness. She must exonerate herself when the police come to investigate, and she becomes the primary suspect. Her travails form an enchanting mystery that will undoubtedly lift dark spirits.
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Fiona and Jane
By JEAN CHEN HO
Published by VIKING
Two young Taiwanese American women who grew up together in Los Angeles, are now in their 20s—best friends forever. Fiona, from a working-class background raised by a single mother, eventually moves to New York; and Jane, who came out to her mah at nineteen, mourns her deceased father and looks for love as she remains in California. Their 20-year friendship evolves through highs and lows, and bumpy relationships with men and women and each other. These wonderful, connected stories introduce an irresistible duo, fleeing toward and away from one thing or another, including each other.
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The Vanished Collection
By PAULINE BAER DE PERIGNON
Published by NEW VESSEL PRESS
Translated by Natasha Lehrer
Pick it up for the eye-catching Pierre Le-Tan cover and delve into a fascinating literary mystery. The author finds to her surprise that her great-grandfather amassed an extraordinary art collection at his grand Parisian apartment during the war. The paintings ranged from Italian 18th century masters like Tiepolo to Impressionists Monet and Degas. They were confiscated by the Nazis—but what happened to them? Uncovering the story through intense research at museums including the Louvre she seeks the answers to the puzzle. De Perignon provides both historical and personal context for this riveting treasure hunt.
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