Arts & Entertainment
10 Books To Read This January
From Liz Moore's latest thriller to Jeanine Cummins' new classic, these are the books that everyone's talking about this month.
The start of a new year gives you a chance to reset, re-evaluate your goals and, most importantly, read more books. Our first reading list of 2020 — a mix of picks from Patch staffers and Amazon editors —has something for everyone. There are thrillers, romances, memoirs, new classics and even a cookbook. So go ahead: Celebrate the new year with a new book (or 10). You deserve it.
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#1 "The Wives: A Novel" by Tarryn Fisher
Thursday's husband, Seth, has two other wives. She's never met either woman and knows nothing about them, but she agreed to this scenario because she's so infatuated with Seth. Then one day, Thursday finds something that changes everything. The man she married isn't just peculiar — he's a monster. In this twisted, shocking thriller, Thursday goes to disturbing lengths to discover the truth about the man she thought she loved.
#2 "Dear Edward" by Ann Napolitano
On a summer morning, 12-year-old Edward Adler boards a plane from Newark to Los Angeles with his brother, his parents and 183 other passengers. Halfway across the country, the plane crashes, and Edward is the only survivor. His story captivates the nation, but he struggles to move forward without his family. Then Edward discovers something unexpected that can lead him to the answers he desperately needs. This poignant, coming-of-age story is both heartbreaking and uplifting. As "Room"author Emma Donoghue put it, "'Dear Edward' made me think, nod in recognition, care about its characters, and cry, and you can’t ask more of a novel than that."
#3 "The Country Guesthouse: A Sullivan's Crossing Novel" by Robyn Carr
When Hannah Russell's best friend dies suddenly, she unexpectedly becomes the guardian for a 5-year-old boy named Noah. Hannah has no experience with motherhood, and in an effort to get to know Noah, she rents a country house on a lake in rural Colorado. The owner of the house, Owen Abrams, is dealing with his own grief. He promises to stay out of Hannah and Owen's way, but fate — and Owen's clumsy Great Dane, Romeo — have other plans. Sparks fly, but life throws more challenges at Hannah, Owen and Noah. Can the people of Sullivan's Crossing rally around them to offer the support this burgeoning family really needs?
#4 "Long Bright River: A Novel" by Liz Moore
Once inseparable, sisters Kacey and Mickey now pass each other on the streets of Philadelphia without speaking. Kacey is homeless and caught in the throes of drug addiction; Mickey is a police officer. But when Kacey suddenly goes missing at the same time as a string of murders, Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding her sister and the culprit before it's too late. This heart-wrenching thriller is a moving story about family, addiction and the ties that bind no matter where life takes us.
#5 "Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything" by BJ Fogg Ph.D
Changing your life for the better doesn't require huge steps and mass amounts of willpower. In fact, it's the tiny things that lead to big transformations. This book — based on 20 years of BJ Fogg's research and coaching of more than 40,000 people — is filled with simple, practical ways for you to achieve your goals. Whether you want to lose weight, be more productive, sleep better or something else, "Tiny Habits" breaks down the steps so it's easy to achieve.
#6 "Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity" by Peggy Orenstein
Peggy Orenstein's 2017 book "Girls & Sex" sparked conversations and shattered taboos, but it also led to the author realizing something: Talking about girls is only half the conversation. In "Boys & Sex," Orenstein turns her focus to the sexual lives of young men. She interviewed hundreds of young men, psychologists, academics and experts in the field to paint a full, nuanced picture of how cultural forces and stereotypes affect boys as they approach sexual and emotional relationships. The result is an eye-opening book that will help you understand and empathize with young men coming of age in today's world.
#7 "Unspeakable Things" by Jess Lourey
Cassie McDowell is a girl living on her family's rural Minnesota farm in the 1980s. Her life is pretty idyllic until someone comes hunting in Lilydale. One by one, local boys go missing, and when they return, they're violent and withdrawn. The unspeakable things that happened to them become the stuff of rumors. Gossip emerges about who's responsible, and dangerous secrets about the town begin to surface. Then Cassie's own sister goes missing and is subjected to the horrors. In order for her to survive, Cassie has to find her way into a dark, adult world filled with unforgivable truths.
#8 "Uncanny Valley: A Memoir" by Anna Wiener
In her mid-20s, Anna Wiener left her job in book publishing for gig at a big-data startup in the heart of Silicon Valley. The tech industry was transforming, and the company culture could be cruel. In "Uncanny Valley," Wiener recalls coming of age in this unchecked, unregulated and now-bygone era.
#9 "American Dirt: A Novel" by Jeanine Cummins
Lydia Quixano Pérez lives with her husband, a journalist, and her 8-year-old son, Luca, in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a book store, and one day a charming and knowledgeable man named Javier comes in and buys a few of Lydia's favorite works. What Lydia doesn't realize is that Javier is the jefe of the violent drug cartel that has taken over the city. And when Lydia's husband writes an exposé about Javier, her entire family is forced to flee. They're among the countless people trying to make their way to the United States, the only place Javier's reach doesn't extend. Lydia sees that everyone is running from something, but what exactly are they running to? Stephen King called this book, already being hailed as a new American classic, simply "extraordinary."
#10 "Ultimate Veg: Easy & Delicious Meals for Everyone" by Jamie Oliver
Whether you're living a vegetarian lifestyle or just trying to go meat-free for a day or two each week, Jamie Oliver's first-ever all-vegetarian cookbook is sure to please. It's filled with simple but delicious vegetarian dishes for simple suppers, soups, sandwiches, desserts and more. These recipes will leave you so satisfied that you won't even miss the meat from your plate.
Looking for more great reads? Check out Amazon's Best Books of 2019!
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