{"id":115109,"date":"2025-12-31T16:17:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T16:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/115109\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T16:17:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T16:17:14","slug":"10-best-books-to-read-in-january-new-releases-from-george-saunders-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/115109\/","title":{"rendered":"10 best books to read in January: New releases from George Saunders and more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reading List<\/p>\n

10 books for your January reading list<\/p>\n

If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org<\/a>, whose fees support independent bookstores.<\/p>\n

As the new year begins, novelists send characters to great heights in Tibet and Wyoming, to the great depths of the 19th century Atlantic and back in time, to early 20th century Pakistan. Meanwhile, nonfiction authors contemplate a Spanish shipwreck, a racially motivated murder, the origins of great ideas and how laughter can change our lives. Happy reading! <\/p>\n

FICTION<\/p>\n

\""Call <\/p>\n

Call Me Ishmaelle: A Novel<\/a>
By Xiaolu Guo
Grove Press: 448 pp., $18
(Jan. 6)<\/p>\n

Guo, whose 2017 memoir \u201cNine Continents\u201d detailed her difficult road to personal and artistic freedom, pours that experience into Ishmaelle, a young woman from England\u2019s coast who joins the crew of a whaling ship named the Nimrod. Yes, it\u2019s a retelling of Herman Melville\u2019s \u201cMoby Dick\u201d and yes, it\u2019s well worth your time. By adding in new characters while adhering to the original story, the author creates something new, strange and thrilling.<\/p>\n

\""The <\/p>\n

The Last of Earth: A Novel<\/a>
By Deepa Anappara
Random House: 252 pp., $29
(Jan. 13)<\/p>\n

Set in 1869, when Europeans were forbidden to enter Tibet, this slow-paced yet tense novel follows the perspectives of Balram, an Indian surveyor, and Katharine, a woman of mixed English and Indian heritage, as they both attempt expeditions for different purposes. During their treks both characters meet a man named Chetak, whose eerie folkloric tales underscore the power structures they\u2019ll each have to surmount before reaching their goals.<\/p>\n

\""This <\/p>\n

This Is Where the Serpent Lives: A Novel<\/a>
By Daniyal Mueenuddin
Knopf: 368 pp., $29
(Jan. 13)<\/p>\n

While most of this stunning book takes place in Pakistan, an important section leads two brothers to college at Dartmouth in the United States, a place about as far in every respect from their Rawalpindi origins as possible. Mueenuddin, whose gift for satire shines whether he\u2019s describing society matrons or gangsters, never loses sight of his theme: How do any of us ever manage to justify our treatment of the underserved?<\/p>\n

\""Crux: <\/p>\n

Crux: A Novel<\/a>
By Gabriel Tallent
Riverhead: 416 pp., $30
(Jan. 20)<\/p>\n

A \u201ccrux\u201d refers to the toughest point in a climb; it also means a decision point, as well as a place where two things cross. For Tallent\u2019s sophomore novel, two characters who are climbers have reached an important moment in their teenage lives. Daniel and Tamma (he\u2019s straight, she\u2019s queer) have been close friends for years, scrabbling all over Joshua Tree peaks, but as their home lives and individual paths diverge, their bond wavers.<\/p>\n

\""Vigil: <\/p>\n

Vigil: A Novel<\/a>
By George Saunders
Random House: 192 pp., $28
(Jan. 27)<\/p>\n

It seems unfair that, after his spectacular \u201cLincoln in the Bardo,\u201d<\/a> Saunders returns with not just another novel featuring a ghost, but with a new novel even more spectacular than the last. \u201cWho else could you have been but exactly who you are?\u201d says the newly incarnated Jill \u201cDoll\u201d Blaine, sent to comfort nefarious oil tycoon K. J. Boone in his last hours alive \u2014 a statement that in no way diminishes the political urgency of this spare, lovely book.<\/p>\n

NONFICTION<\/p>\n

\""Humor <\/p>\n

Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy<\/a>
By Chris Duffy
Doubleday: 272 pp., $29
(Jan. 6)<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all heard that laughter is the best medicine; funny stuff isn\u2019t merely diversion, but essential to our health. Author Duffy, who hosts the TED Talks podcast \u201cHow to Be a Better Human,\u201d believes that anyone, from age 10 to age 103 (he gives examples of each), can make you laugh, help you form community and even lead you to make better decisions. One of the latter? Learn to laugh at yourself; it can signal \u201cgeneral intelligence and verbal creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""The <\/p>\n

The Legend of Wyatt Outlaw: From Reconstruction Through Black Lives Matter<\/a> <\/p>\n

By Sylvester Allen Jr. and Belle Boggs
University of North Carolina Press: 296 pp., $30
(Jan. 27)<\/p>\n

The titular Outlaw was the first Black constable of Graham, N.C. In 1870, he was killed by lynching by members of the local Ku Klux Klan, no doubt in part due to his efforts to build coalition between members of different races and social classes. Allen, a native of Graham and a playwright who wrote a drama based on Outlaw\u2019s legacy, and Boggs, a scholar, connect the terrorism and hatred behind this man\u2019s murder to the present day.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How Great Ideas Happen: The Hidden Steps Behind Breakthrough Success<\/a> <\/p>\n

By George Newman
Simon & Schuster: 304 pp., $30
(Jan. 27)<\/p>\n

So many cartoons depict great ideas using light bulbs that we\u2019ve forgotten many of the greatest ideas come about from long deliberation and careful winnowing. Canadian professor Newman uses archaeological terms for the process: surveying, gridding, digging and sifting. Who knew that Jordan Peele rewrote \u201cGet Out\u201d 400 times, or that Paul Simon composed his \u201cGraceland\u201d album by combing through all of his previous work?<\/p>\n

\""Neptune's <\/p>\n

Neptune\u2019s Fortune: The Billion-Dollar Shipwreck and the Ghosts of the Spanish Empire<\/a> <\/p>\n

By Julian Sancton
Crown: 384 pp., $33
(Jan. 27)<\/p>\n

In 1708 the San Jos\u00e9, a treasure-laden Spanish galleon, sunk off the coast of Colombia. In 2015 a man named Roger Dooley found the galleon\u2019s wreck and brought back artifacts proving it. Unfortunately, with little education, few bona fides and a sketchy reputation, Dooley received no credit for the discovery. Sancton tracked down Dooley \u2014 now in his 80s and somewhat reclusive \u2014 and thus is able to provide a fascinating conclusion to the tale.<\/p>\n

\""Mattering: <\/p>\n

Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Meaning and Purpose<\/a> <\/p>\n

By Jennifer Breheny Wallace
Portfolio: 288 pp., $30
(Jan. 27)<\/p>\n

Loneliness pervades our society and to heal it, people need to feel that they actually matter to others \u2014 something author Wallace saw when she researched and wrote her 2023 bestseller \u201cNever Enough,\u201d which focused on adolescents and burnout. Now Wallace shares her findings from talking with people of all ages and hearing what a difference it makes when connections are made and individuals are recognized for even the smallest contributions.<\/p>\n

Patrick is a freelance critic and author of the memoir \u201cLife B.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reading List 10 books for your January reading list If you buy books linked on our site, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[9557,5661,6193,61528,55232,61527,7217,48,52,51,1637,47,50,49,1555,61529,24261,1410,45758,61526,315],"class_list":["post-115109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-age","tag-author","tag-character","tag-george-saunders","tag-graham","tag-great-idea","tag-jan","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-life","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-man","tag-motivated-murder","tag-novel","tag-place","tag-pp","tag-roger-dooley","tag-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}