 Hello, book lovers! Each week, dozens of new releases hit the shelves. Here are our favorites. ❤️📚 –The BuzzFeed Books team
Literary Fiction  Credit: FSG Originals, Ecco, Scribner, Riverhead, Mariner Books The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott (FSG Originals) "The Rain Heron centers on a mythic rain heron that turns out to be quite real. In Part 1, bad luck follows a farmer until the rain heron saves her from a flood. Part 2 is told from the perspective of a hermit named Ren, who lives on a mountain where her grandmother showed her the rain heron long ago. In the next section, a girl learns from her aunt how to extract magical squid ink using her blood. This girl grows up to be a soldier charged with capturing the rain heron by using whatever means necessary. Each narrator’s story builds upon the one that came before, depicting a dark world where the mythic natural world and humanity collide with sometimes violent consequences. It’s a gorgeous and spellbinding eco-fantasy." —Margaret Kingsbury
We Play Ourselves by Jen Silverman (Random House) "Young NYC playwright Cass finally gets her big break, only to swiftly lose any respect she garnered when a public scandal and shaming leads to her being shunned from the theater community. She decides to reinvent herself and her career in LA, where she becomes enthralled by her charming new neighbor who's working on a movie inspired by a group of teen girls running an underground fight club. But the further she falls into their world, the darker it becomes, and Cass has to contend with her ideas about the ethics of turning lives — and people — into art." —Arianna Rebolini
The Weak Spot by Lucie Elven (Soft Skull) "Lucie Elven's dreamy, hypnotic debut follows a woman working as a pharmacist's apprentice in a tiny, remote European village only accessible via cable car. While there, she falls under the spell of townspeople who confide in her not only their ailments but also their anxieties, and as she becomes more and more enmeshed in these stories she starts to suspect there's a secret darkness underlying the town. It's an eerie and resonant modern fable." —Arianna Rebolini
Rabbit Island by Elvira Navarro, trans. Christina Macsweeney (Two Lines Press) "Elvira Navarro (included in Granta magazine's roundup of best young Spanish-language novelists) marries surrealism, horror, and irony in this eerie collection, featuring stories that will leave you feeling unsettled, including about a scientist whose experiment on an uninhabited island goes awry, a man of nobility who encounters a long-extinct beast, and a woman who finds her late mother’s memories mysteriously posted on Facebook." —Arianna Rebolini
Kink: Stories, edited by R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell (Simon & Schuster) "Literary superstars Garth Greenwell and R.O. Kwon have curated a smart and scintillating collection of stories about love, desire, sex, and power, including revelatory work from Alexander Chee, Roxane Gay, Chris Kraus, Carmen Maria Machado, Brandon Taylor, and more." —Arianna Rebolini
Get it from Bookshop for $15.64, or Amazon for $14.54
Catch a live event this Friday, Feb. 12: R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell discuss the book with contributors Carmen Maria Machado and Alexander Chee — hosted by Politics & Prose, 6 p.m. ET. More info.
Nonfiction & Poetry  Credit: Milkweed Editions, Crown Self-Portrait with Cephalopod by Kathryn Smith (Milkweed Editions) "A gutting poetry collection that can be read in a sort of conversation with Elizabeth Kolbert's outstanding Under a White Sky (also out today), Self-Portrait with Cephalopod ruminates on the contradictions of existing in deteriorating world — making sense of the minutiae and drama of our daily lives while forever aware of the underlying existential anxiety that can't be fully ignored. It's about nature and loss, passion and hypocrisy, and the balance of pragmatism and faith." —Arianna Rebolini
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert (Crown) "Elizabeth Kolbert’s groundbreaking book The Sixth Extinction (for which she won a Pulitzer Prize) was an explicit examination of the destructive effects of humanity on Earth. Here, she takes a critical look at the future we’ve created and analyzes our various methods of salvation. In the same hold-no-punches style that has made her a standout in the genre, Kolbert presents a difficult truth without the nihilism that might make a reader apathetic." —Arianna Rebolini
Gay Bar: Why We Went Out by Jeremy Athertin Lin (Little, Brown and Company) "Jeremy Atherton Lin's intimate history of gay culture — from the 18th century to today — is electric, immersive, and impossible to look away from. Centered on a variety of queer spaces, and weaving in his personal history, Lin explores the pubs, discos, tunnels, and alleys that have offered fleeting freedom to those made to live on the fringe. It's an illuminating, sexy, vibrant examination of place and identity." —Arianna Rebolini
Fantasy & Sci-Fi  Credit: Tordotcom, Viking Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom) "This lush and beautiful sapphic novella explores themes of colonization in a Vietnamese-inspired fantasy setting. Thanh is the youngest princess of Bìanh Hả. When she was a child, her mother, the queen, sent her as a hostage to Ephteria, a powerful country that seeks to colonize Bìanh Hả and all other countries. There, she survives a traumatic fire and falls in love with the Ephteria heir, Eldris. She's returned to Bìanh Hả when she comes of age, and her mother expects her to take over negotiations with Ephteria. When Eldris and a council member come to Bìanh Hả to renegotiate the treaty’s terms, Thanh finds herself sliding back into her romance with Eldris. But she’s wiser than she once was and is now repulsed by Eldris’s internalized colonizer attitudes of privilege. While Thanh struggles with her feelings for Eldris, her mother’s expectations, and her inadequacy at sparing Bìanh Hả from what seems inevitable, she also keeps secret a blazing magic born in that fire she survived as a child." —Margaret Kingsbury
The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox (Viking) "Since Taryn’s sister was murdered years ago, she has tried to move on: She’s married, divorced, and has written a popular book about the history of libraries. Her sister’s murderer mysteriously died after his release, and she’s tried to put the past behind her. But when she’s hospitalized for seizures and blackouts, she realizes an entity is possessing her body, and the entity is searching for something lost in a library fire from her childhood. Meanwhile, the detective who investigated her sister’s murderer’s death has begun following her. Full of intrigue, mystery, magic, and history, this is a fascinating read that, despite its length, is hard to put down." —Margaret Kingsbury
Romance  Credit: Berkley, Avon, St. Martin's A Lady's Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett (Berkley) "Lady Violet Hughes has quite a few secrets: First, she started a sanctuary for England's best women scientists; then she took a confidential job for the Crown; and then she developed feelings for her hunky hired bodyguard, Arthur — feelings she will NOT let distract her from her mission. But Violet and Arthur will have to put their chemistry aside when Violet's experiments (and her life) are threatened." —Kirby Beaton
Wild Rain: Women Who Dare by Beverly Jenkins (Avon) "Spring Lee hasn’t had it easy. Between getting banished from home at 18 and the Civil War consuming America, things have been challenging. But Spring has managed to create a little slice of paradise in Wyoming, running her own ranch and being free to live life as she chooses. She’s independent and likes it that way...but that’s also what former slave turned reporter Garrett likes about her too. When he arrives on the ranch to interview her brother, he’s instantly captivated by her. But love is the last thing on her mind when a figure from Spring’s past returns and threatens everything she holds dear." —Shyla Watson
Hit Me With Your Best Scot by Suzanne Enoch (St. Martin's) "Viscount Coll MacTaggert is a big, brawny Scottish Highlander who — much to the annoyance of his English mother — is determined to never settle down. Then he meets Persephone Jones, a smart, independent, and famous woman who also has no intention of ever getting married. Except the more time they spend together, the more Coll realizes he might want to walk down the aisle after all. When Persephone’s secret inheritance is discovered and someone tries to kill her for it, Coll vows to not only save her life, but win her heart." —Shyla Watson
Young Adult  Credit: Simon & Schuster, Delacorte, Heartdrum, Razorbill, HarperTeen, Viking A Pho Love Story by Loan Le (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers) "Le’s sparkling debut is a dual POV contemporary novel about two Vietnamese teens who work at rival pho restaurants run by their parents. Bao Nguyen and Linh Mai’s parents have been in competition for years, although they suspect that the reasoning behind why is layered. But when Linh and Bao begin to connect on a deeper level, they're not sure if their feelings for each other can survive the wrath of their feuding families. This book is an absolute delight — and will have you craving pho!" —Farrah Penn
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna (Delacorte Press) "Sixteen-year-old Deka is approaching her coming of age ceremony, where girls are cut to ensure their blood runs red, signifying their purity. When her time comes, Deka’s blood runs gold. Because of her so-called impurity, she’s cast out of her village and from everything she’s ever known. A woman warrior finds Deka and asks her to join her and a group of other similar girls with rare powers to train for the emperor’s army and fight the monstrous deathshrieks. This action-packed West African-inspired epic fantasy with feminist themes is both brutal and hopeful." —Margaret Kingsbury
Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids edited by Cynthia L. Smith (Heartdrum) "This anthology is a collection of intersecting Indigenous authored stories set at a powwow, and one of the first books of the new Heartdrum imprint led by Cynthia Leitich Smith that is focused on stories by Native creators. Some of the best authors today (including Rebecca Roanhorse, Joseph Bruchac, Christine day, Eric Gansworth, and Leitich Smith herself) provide stories, which are an absolute joy to read." —Rachel Strolle
Stormbreak by Natalie C. Parker (Razorbill) "The final book in the excellent pirate fantasy that began with Seafire — in which Caledonia Styx and her crew of girls and women seek to take down Aric Athair, the corrupt warlord that killed her family — Stormbreak follows Caledonia after Aric’s death. Caledonia’s nemesis, Lir, has taken control of Arics army, and Caledonia and crew are preparing for war." —Rachel Strolle
The Electric Kingdom by David Arnold (Viking Books for Young Readers) "One of my favorite authors is back with a new sci-fi that is sure to leave you thinking. Nico and her dog are among the survivors of a deadly Fly Flu, and they’re in a quest to find a mythical portal. Kit is another survivor, a going artist raised in an abandoned cinema. And the Deliverer lives Life after Life, trying to put the world back together." —Rachel Strolle
Hot British Boyfriend by Kristy Boyce (HarperTeen) "Ellie Nichols is so embarrassed when she’s rejected by her crush, she flees the country... on her high school’s study abroad trip. Determined to pick up the pieces of her reputation, she decides to find the perfect British boyfriend. To make sure there are no mishaps with her English crush, Will, she enlists the help of Dev, an overachieving classmate who she hasn’t necessarily gotten along with. She’ll help him woo his crush, if he helps her woo Will. But as time passes, Ellie begins to wonder if a hot British boyfriend is actually the answer to all her problems...especially when she starts to have feelings for someone else." —Shyla Watson
Now in paperback: Amnesty by Aravind Adiga: Adiga burst onto the literary scene with his Booker Prize–winning debut, White Tiger: a withering indictment of class inequality and a darkly comic story of a poor Indian driver who murders his boss. Amnesty, his fifth book, similarly deals with the haves and the have-nots. Danny is an undocumented immigrant originally from Sri Lanka who lives and works in Australia as a cleaner. When a client he works for is murdered, Danny must choose between admitting what he knows — that his client was having an affair with a doctor whose jacket was found at the scene of the crime, thus risking deportation — or staying silent. —Tomi Obaro
It’s Not All Downhill From Here by Terry McMillan: McMillan's latest novel tells the story of Loretha, a middle-aged woman dealing with the unexpected loss of her beloved husband, Carl, the grueling realities of aging, a life-changing diabetes diagnosis, and the dysfunction that comes with family and friends. In the midst of grieving, Loretha, or "Lo," finds herself taking on the responsibility of everyone around her. From an estranged daughter who pushes Lo away whenever she gets too close, to a best friend who's on the brink of ruining her marriage — no matter what, Lo is reliably the person they can always count on. Unfortunately, sometimes she forgets to pour that same love and dedication into herself. With helpful reminders from her sincere tell-it-like-it-is friends and family, Lo quickly learns there isn't any battle she has to face alone and that getting older doesn't have to be something you dread, especially when you have people to do it with. —Morgan Murrell
Devolution by Max Brooks: Brooks's latest thriller is an eco-horror story set in Greenloop, a community designed as the perfect back-to-nature experience with the full amenities of modern living provided by solar smart houses. But when Mount Rainier erupts, residents are cut off from the rest of the world with no weapons and dwindling supplies. They're completely unprepared for actual survival — especially when faced with an actual monster. The novel is told through the journals of resident Kate Holland, discovered years after the town's unexplained massacre. —Arianna Rebolini
Good Citizens Need Not Fear by Maria Reva: An apartment building in Soviet-era Ukraine is accidentally erased from municipal records — and, in nine absurdist stories, the residents figure out how to survive when their existence isn't recognized. —Arianna Rebolini
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore: It's New Year's Eve in 1982 and Oona Lockhart, who will turn 19 right as she welcomes the new year, is full of optimism about all of the possibilities unfolding before her. But just before the clock strikes midnight, she faints and wakes up 32 years in the future. Soon she finds out that at every following New Year she will travel to a random year of her life, slowly making sense of this out-of-order life and figuring out who she is along the way. —Arianna Rebolini
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