Heading into 2024 with Some Great Books

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a relaxing and joyful holiday. For 2023, I set a goal of reading more because sometimes it can be hard to actually find the time to read. I happily accomplished that. My goals for 2024 are to track my reading better and to read more historical fiction and more narrative nonfiction.  

2023 was a very good year for books, and if early 2024 is any indication, it should be the same. Today I am highlighting some titles coming out in January through March about which I am most excited. I have read some of these books already (I starred those and only included those that I really liked), and the rest are high on my list to read.

Family Family is an absorbing drama that focuses on the meaning of family.

Fiction:

• Mercury by Amy Jo Burns (Jan. 2)
• *Family Family by Laurie Frankel (Jan. 16) (A January Buzz Reads pick)
• *Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford (Jan. 30)
• The Young of Other Animals by Chris Cander (Feb. 1) (local author)
• Dixon Descending by Karen Outen (Feb. 6)
• The Things We Didn’t Know by Elba Iris Pérez (Feb. 6)
• A Fire so Wild by Sarah Ruiz-Grossman (Feb. 20)
• Blank by Zibby Owens (Mar. 1)
• *Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle (Mar. 5)
• Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange (Mar. 5) 
• Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan (Mar. 5)
• Victim by Andrew Boryga (Mar. 12)

Historical Fiction:

• Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook (Jan. 16)
• *The Queen of Sugar Hill by ReShonda Tate Billingsley (Jan. 30) 
• The Women by Kristin Hannah (Feb. 6)
• The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn & Janie Chang (Feb. 13)
• *The Turtle House by Amanda Churchill (Feb. 20)
• *The Hidden Life of Cecily Larson by Ellen Baker (Feb. 20)
• The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin (Feb. 27) 
• Can’t We Be Friends by Denny S Bryce & Eliza Knight (Mar. 5)
• The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez (Mar. 5)
• Becoming Madame Secretary by Stephanie Dray (Mar. 12)
• In the Shadow of the Greenbrier by Emily Matchar (Mar. 12)
• *The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan (Mar. 12)

Cindy Burnett said First Lie Wins is one of the best thrillers that she's read in ages.

Mystery/Thriller:

• *First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (Jan. 2) (A January Buzz Reads pick)
• The Ascent by Adam Plantinga (Jan. 2)
• *Cold Victory by Karl Marlantes (Jan. 9)
• *Northwoods by Amy Pease (Jan. 9) (A January Buzz Reads pick)
• The Fury by Alex Michaelides (Jan. 16)
• *Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson (Jan. 30) 
• End of Story by A.J. Finn (Feb. 20)
• *The Hunter by Tana French (Mar. 5)
• Murder Road by Simone St. James (Mar. 5)
• Watch It Burn by Kristin Bird (Mar. 12) (local author)

What books are you excited for in 2024?

For more book recommendations and bookish thoughts, see Cindy’s monthly Buzz Reads column, her Thoughts from a Page Podcast or follow @ThoughtsFromaPage on Instagram. Find upcoming Conversations from a Page events here.