The 16 Best Books Hitting Shelves in January

Neel Mukherjee's A State of Freedom has a central focus on migration — but through the five central characters (all of whom have very, very different lives) we are shown a portrait of contemporary India unlike anything you've ever read. At the end of the day, it's one hell of a book about the human condition.

Out Jan. 2

Nick Harkaway — better known as the son of legendary author John Le Carre — is a force to be reckoned with, and his new novel, Gnomon, is strikingly original and downright addictive. Harkaway brings the reader into another world and presents them with a puzzle that can only be unwound through compulsive, line-by-line reading — and even then, you'll still be searching for clues long after you've put the book down.

Out Jan. 9

Will Self's latest novel, Phone, is a dizzying, riveting, genre-bending romp that is utterly without comparison and will transport you to a slightly off-kilter world that leaves you questioning what you thought you knew at every step of the way.

Out Jan. 9

Chloe Benjamin's The Immortalists tells the story of four children who seek out a fortune teller who claims to be able to tell you the day on which you'll die — and how it is that they choose to live the lives that unfurl before them in the lead up to those fateful dates. Beautifully written and intricately detailed, it's impossible to put down and sure to be one of those books you've got to re-read again and again

Out Jan. 9

In Thomas Pierece's The Afterlives, a 30-year-old man dies — except not really, because suddenly there's a question of what's real, what isn't, and what happens exactly after you end your term on planet earth.

Out Jan. 9

Jillian Medoff's This Could Hurt is the latest entry into the work-life cannon, and like Then We Came to the End before it, it's a thoroughly enjoyable exploration of what it means to run an office in the 21st century. Through the lens of five members of an HR team, we see all the highest highs — and lowest lows — of what it takes to keep a company afloat.

Out Jan. 9

Nathaniel Rich's King Zeno takes readers back to New Orleans in 1918, where jazz is just coming into its own, a flu is running rampant, and a murderer is on the loose. Not sold? Well you should be, because very rarely does a book so completely transport the reader to a place and time — and it's one hell of a wild ride.

Out Jan. 9

Leni Zumas's Red Clocks is the book you've been waiting for in the wake of The Handmaid's Tale, and it's every bit as good as one might hope. In a near future in which abortion is illegal and embryos have rights, five women in the same town attempt to navigate motherhood in the best way they know how. But when their doctor — who happens to live in the woods and may be some sort of spiritual being — is put on trial, everything is thrown into jeopardy, and all five women must band together in order to survive.

The Largesse of the Sea Maiden is the final work to be published by Denis Johnson, a posthumous collection of unpublished stories that show the true range of his wholly unmissable talent.

Out Jan. 16

A moving novel of love, family, and loss, Stefan Merrill Block's Oliver Loving pulls on every heart string and leaves no stone unturned throughout one man's quest to escape the paralysis that has ensconced him and live a normal, happy life.

Out Jan. 16

Tim Wirkus' The Infinite Future is one book that contains two stories. The first is the quest to find the text that may or may not hold the secrets of the universe, and the second, the actual book itself — which, excitingly, is left to the readers to interpret as a complete and utter failure or the masterwork of a lifetime.

Out Jan. 16

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir is Patrisse Khan-Cullors' riveting story, one that unfolded over the past few years and is still playing out on a very public stage. It's an exploration of what it means to enact change — and how that change (or the process of it) affects the lives of those involved with a movement.

Out Jan. 16

The world which Chandler Klang Smith puts forth in The Sky is Yours defies all logic and knowledge of modern cities, and yet, within its bounds are characters so richly real and honest that you can't believe that such wild things are happening. In other words, I loved it — and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Out Jan. 23

Thisbe Nissen's Our Lady of the Prairie is an exploration of what it means to be a levelheaded individual who suddenly has a life that is anything but level. At times it will leave you in stitches, at others, in tears — but it's one hell of a read.

Out Jan. 23

Anatomy of a Scandal is Sarah Vaughan's deeply researched and thoroughly thrilling exploration of the British justice system — and it will leave you on the edge of your seat from cover to cover.

Out Jan. 23

Beloved author Jojo Moyes' latest work is Still Me, and it's the continuation of Louisa Clark's journey as featured in Me Before You and After You. Even if you haven't read the previous books, it's a wild ride watching someone settle into the groove of New York City life — and as always, Moyes delivers a scorching commentary on modern life as we know it.

Out Jan. 30