The new year is right around the corner, and we have our sights set on all the 2023 book releases! Keep reading to see which titles the FBC staff is most looking forward to. Caution: Your TBR might fall over.
Steph’s Picks:
When we received Dial A for Aunties in one of our Feminist Book Club boxes, I wasn’t sure it would be my bag. Comedic thriller-romances just… aren’t my thing? It ended up being my #1 favorite read in 2021, out of 172 reads for the entire year. So obviously I’m highly anticipating Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, about an elderly shopkeeper who decides she’d be better than the police at solving a suspicious death that occurs on her doorstep. This is going to be so much fun! Eee! – Steph
Release date: March 14, 2023
Full disclosure: I already read an advance copy of Maggie Smith’s You Could Make This Place Beautiful on my Kindle, but I loved it so much, I plan to get a hard copy for my bookshelf. This lyrical memoir is an exploration of the author’s divorce: the time leading up to it, the time when she was in the thick of it, and the time that came after. I found much to relate to in its parsing out of what makes a loving, supportive marriage, and the narrative arc ends in a place of beautiful hope and happiness. Smith is a poet, so you know the language is gorgeous. – Steph
Release date: April 11, 2023
Yasi’s Pick:
The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama. This book just came out at the end of 2022, but my excitement for it is carrying over into 2023! Michelle’s first book, Becoming, shed light on her and Barack’s journey to the White House. I loved Michelle’s ability to tell a story in a way that makes you feel like you are a fly on the wall in her life. Although she had extraordinary history and experience in politics, I’m excited for her next book about overcoming obstacles during uncertain periods. I feel it’s something everyone can relate to in these — in the words of Bernie Sanders — unprecedented times. – Yasi
Release date: November 15, 2022
Synopsis: Part autobiography, part self-help, The Light We Carry is former first lady Michelle Obama’s guide to staying hopeful in an uncertain world. She offers wisdom and strategies through stories from her own life.
Mariquita’s Pick:
The Hacienda was my most favorite book from 2022, and I couldn’t be more excited for her new book, Vampires of El Norte. But I have to wait until August for it! She captured post-colonial gothic fiction so expertly that I have maybe unrealistically high expectations for what she can do in the realm of a supernatural western, but I’m here for it and for the dog, Pollo, too. Cañas infuses her work with a lot of historically-accurate details, so not only should it be entertaining, but it should be enlightening, as well. – Mariquita
Release date: August 29, 2023
Synopsis: Vampires of El Norte follows Nena, a curandera, and Néstor, a vaquero. Their paths collide as they navigate a community at risk of attack by threatening Anglo settlers and something that is draining locals of blood left and right.
Renee’s Picks:
Bad Cree by Jessica Johns – I’m hooked on Indigenous horror thanks to Stephen Graham Jones and Erika T. Wurth. I eagerly await this debut. – Renee
Release date: January 10, 2023
Synopsis: In this horror debut, supernatural elements emerge and push Mackenzie to return home to Alberta, where her family is welcoming but is also plagued with traumas stemming from a past tragedy. This trauma seeps into Mackenzie’s dreams until she begins to question not only her past but her present as well.
Your Driver is Waiting by Priya Guns – This might be my first read of 2023 since I have an ARC. But a gender-flipped retelling of Taxi Driver? I’m in. – Renee
Release date: January 5, 2023
Synopsis: A dark comedy that follows the life and times of Damani, a disillusioned driver who struggles to find hope in a world that treated her unfairly. She then meets and falls in love with Jolene. Just as Damani is learning to trust again, Jolene does something unforgivable that sets things off in an unexpected direction.
American Mermaid by Julia Langbein – I actually read an ARC of this already and it is weird and wonderful. I can’t wait to see the buzz it gets. – Renee
Release date: March 21, 2023
Synopsis: When a high school teacher’s debut novel about a fierce wheel-bound scientist who discovers she’s a mermaid becomes a bestseller, she heads to L.A. to co-write a screenplay adaptation. There, the boundaries between reality and her story begin to blur and chaos ensues.
Sally’s Pick:
Speaking of Stephen Graham Jones! My most anticipated release is definitely Don’t Fear the Reaper. I had such a fun time with My Heart Is a Chainsaw, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what comes next. I have an ARC I’ve been saving for my holiday break, cuz nothing says holiday like slashers, right? – Sally
Release date: February 7, 2023
Synopsis: This horror novel takes place four years after the events of My Heart is a Chainsaw. Jade Daniels returns to her hometown of Proofrock, Idaho, the same day convicted serial killer Dark Mill South shows up seeking revenge on the community.
Sam’s Pick
Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock. I loved Odell’s How to Do Nothing. I think she is perceptive and innovative in her writing and I am really looking forward to more. – Sam
Release date: March 7, 2023
Synopsis: In this nonfiction book, Odell lays out the argument for the need to reframe our thinking of time, with the goal of getting away from the world of work and profit.
Nina’s Picks:
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo is coming out in January, which feels so close yet so far considering that Ninth House released in late 2019. I cannot wait to see what the next book holds for Alex Stern. I’m considering doing a reread of Ninth House before the release date to be properly prepared. – Nina
Release date: January 10, 2023
Synopsis: Hell Bent seems to pick up right where Ninth House left off: Galaxy “Alex” Stern is faced with breaking all the rules in order to save a soul from hell itself. Along the way is guaranteed mystery and suspicious death.
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert. After reading the Brown sisters series, I am confident that I will read anything that Talia Hibbert writes. So excited for this! – Nina
Release date: January 3, 2023
Synopsis: This young adult romance features two ex-best friends who find themselves having to work together in a survival course out in the woods. Sparks may or may not be reignited in a new way here.
