Last month R29 staffers raced their way through a range of interesting tales, including A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw, which dives into a mystery surrounding a secluded community in the 1970s. Others picked up Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit, which explores social justice and politics, alongside reads like The How by Yrsa Daley-Ward, which aims to serve as an accessible conversation about self-help.
This month Team R29 is leaping into fantasy with a time-travelling tale set across three different timelines. There is a selection of stories hitting closer to home too, including an exploration of the experiences of second generation immigrants and a page-turner set in a small community where a mysterious illness takes hold.
Whatever type of book you’re looking to read this January, click through the slideshow ahead to discover everything we’re picking up this month…
At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn a commission.
Book: Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho
Why? As a first generation immigrant, stories about the richness of the Asian experience – particularly in the midst of what has been a harrowing couple of years for us in the light of the pandemic and heightened anti-Asian sentiment – will always speak to my soul. This decades-spanning collection of linked stories about the loves, lives and coming-of-age of two daughters of Taiwanese immigrants in Los Angeles sounds absolutely perfect, and is first on my list for 2022. R&B mixtapes and drunk red faces on soju? Sounds reminiscent of my own teenage years (except it was sugary blue WKD not soju).
Jean Chen Ho Fiona And Jane: Stories, $, available at Amazon
Why? I love the writing of Anne Helen Petersen and Charlie Warzel (both their Substacks are excellent) so I am very excited to get into their first co-written title, which promises to thoughtfully and thoroughly explore all the ways that working from home can suck and what needs to be done to make it successful.
Anne Helen Petersen, Charlie Warzel Out of Office, $, available at bookshop.org
Book: To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
Why? I read a lot of dystopian fantasies as a teenager and this new story from A Little Life author Hanya Yanagihara looks to be an adult alternative. Taking place across three very different timelines, the book presents a fictional version of 1800s New York, where people are ‘free’ to love who they want; the 1990s version of the city, with the AIDS epidemic sweeping the US; and a 2093 timeline, where the world has fallen to plague and totalitarian rule. I’m not quite sure how the timelines will relate to one another just yet but the exploration of family and societal structures looks to be right up my street.
Hanya Yanagihara To Paradise, $, available at bookshop.org
Book: The Raptures by Jan Carson
Why? After a two year (two year!) reading slump I’m making a concerted effort to get back to my bookwormy ways. New year, old me, if you will. Where better to start than this darkly allegorical page-turner which imagines a small Irish village riven by tragedy? Just as school lets out for the summer, Hannah’s classmates start to succumb, one after another, to a mysterious and violent illness. Terrified, alone and guilt-ridden by her seeming immunity, can she find the courage to stay true to herself?
Waterstones The Raptures, $, available at Waterstones
Book: The Gift Of Everything by Lang Leav
Why? I don’t know whether it’s the influx of rom-coms popping up over the holidays but it’s got me feeling romantic – perhaps the only season this happens. With perfect timing, enter Lang Leav and her most definitive collection to date, featuring many of her finest pieces. Spanning prose and poetry (including a whole batch of new ones), this collection warms even my cold, wintry heart. As Leav says: “It’s so dark right now, I can’t see any light around me. That’s because the light is coming from you. You can’t see it but everyone else can.”
Lang Leav The Gift of Everything, $, available at Amazon
Book: Get Rich Or Lie Trying: Ambition and Deceit in the New Influencer Economy, Symeon Brown (out March)
Why? So you wanna be an influencer? This book is the first to truly take an in-depth look at career influencers and lift the lid on all the performative smoke and mirrors which is used to sell us ‘aspirational lifestyles’ on social media. It’s not hard to understand the appeal of being an influencer. The cost of living is rising and young people are struggling to buy houses of their own. Making money for posting about your fabulous life seems like a silver bullet but, as Symeon uncovers, it is a ruse – a pyramid scheme – which masks fraud, exploitation, misogyny and environmental destruction. Symeon, who can be found at Channel 4 News when not writing books and Orwell Prize-nominated long reads about influencer culture, is one of the greatest writers around. This is a must-read.
Symeon Brown Get Rich or Lie Trying: Ambition and Deceit in the New, $, available at Amazon
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