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Make some time and room on your shelf, we’ve got the best new book releases to add to your reading list in 2024.
Calling all bookworms — here are the most highly-anticipated reads of 2024! It’s almost cruel to narrow it down but we’ve done the work and rounded up the 15 very best books coming out this year. From razor-sharp debuts to tender memoirs, non-fiction investigations of social structures and progress, poetry collections, long-needed biographies, some gorgeous cookbooks, and a romance or two, we wish you happy reading!
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Piglet by Lottie Hazell
Genre: Literary Fiction
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 27 February, 2024
Already called “the must-read literary fiction book of 2024 to discuss at your book club”, “Piglet” is Lottie Hazel’s clever, razor-sharp debut about women’s ambitions and appetites, and the truth behind “having it all”. Two weeks before up-and-coming cookbook editor Piglet is set to marry her handsome fiancé, he reveals a big, terrible secret — sending her spiralling, ravenousness and undone. Stylish and dialogue-driven, the heart of the novel promises to be about food and celebration, and the things we need and think we need.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $117.04 (Kindle) and $218.53 (Hardcover)
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Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly
Genre: Contemporary, Queer Romance
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 6 February, 2024
An acclaimed bestseller in New Zealand, “Greta & Valdin” follows a brother and sister as they navigate queerness, multiracial identity, and dramas big and small of their entangled, unconventional family, “all while flailing their way to love”. It’s been a year since Valdin’s ex-boyfriend dumped him and moved from Auckland, and he’s doing fine; he has a flat with his sister Greta, a good career where his colleagues only occasionally remind him that he is the sole Maaori person in the office, and a friend who he only sleeps with when he’s sad. But when work sends him to Argentina — and back in his former lover’s orbit — Valdin is forced to confront the feelings he’s been trying to ignore, and the future he wants.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $117.04 (Kindle), $180.36 (Paperback) and $218.61 (Hardcover)
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Imad’s Syrian Kitchen: A Love Letter from Damascus by Imad Alarnab, EVI-O Studios and Andy Sewell
Genre: Cookbook, Memoir
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 30 January, 2024
Our first cookbook on the list is already temporarily out of stock but it’s a moving debut collection with heartfelt stories, stunning photography, and beautiful illustrations. Renowned Syrian chef, restaurateur, and refugee Imad Alarnab writes of the immigrant and asylum-seeking experience, bidding farewell to his family and fleeing his beloved Damascus to escape war. Learn 90 traditional and adapted Syrian dishes (think hummus, baba ganoush, fattoush salad, falafel, kuftah, tabbouleh and more), details of Alarnab’s beautiful home country and his account of settling in London.
Temporarily out of stock, but keep an eye out for orders on Amazon
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Genre: Literary Fiction, Queer
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 23 January, 2024
From Iranian-American poet and writer Kaveh Akbar, this “Time” most-anticipated book follows a newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants on a remarkable search for a family secret. Guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, Cyrus Shams grapples with an inheritance of violence and loss, using his obsession with martyrs to examine the mysteries of his past. Too vague? We hear it’s funny and wholly original in the world of contemporary English-language fiction.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $117.04 (Kindle) and $185.82 (Paperback)
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The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Humour
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 30 July, 2024
Promising to be a breath of fresh air, Alison Espach’s “The Wedding People” balances being absurdly funny while being heartwarming and tender. It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn. Immediately, she is mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, despite being the only guest at the Inn who isn’t there for the big event. So begins confusion and confessions, as the bride has accounted for every detail and possible disaster of the weekend — except for, well, Pheobe.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $117.04 (Kindle) and $226.34 (Hardcover)
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Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes by Chantha Nguon with Kim Green
Genre: Cookbook, Memoir
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 20 February, 2024
Part beautiful cookbook, part haunting memoir, this pick is written by Chantha Nguon, a Cambodian refugee who lost her country and her family during Pol Pot’s genocide in the 1970s and found hope by reclaiming the recipes she tasted in her mother’s kitchen. “Slow Noodles” includes just over 20 recipes for Khmer dishes like chicken lime soup, banh sung noodles, pâté de foie, curries, spring rolls, and stir-fries, recreated as an act of resistance and reclamation, and to honour Nguon’s memory of her beloved mother.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $117.04 (Kindle) and $226.42 (Hardcover)
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
Genre: Literary Fiction
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 3 September, 2024
From Coco Mellors, the acclaimed author of “Cleopatra and Frankenstein”, comes “Blue Sisters”, a story of three exceptional — and exceptionally different — sisters who return to their family home in New York in the wake of the death of their beloved fourth sister. A tale of reuniting, coping with terrible loss, navigating addiction and grief, and learning to fall in love with life again.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $117.04 (Kindle) and $218.53 (Hardcover)
Be A Revolution by Ijeoma Oluo
Genre: Non-fiction, Social Justice
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 30 January, 2024
Haven’t picked up bestsellers “So You Want to Talk About Race” and “Mediocre” yet? Put them on your list and keep your eyes out for “Be A Revolution: How Everyday People are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World—and How You Can, Too”. Once you understand oppressive systems and their long, long histories, it’s time to do something about them! This book comes out of loving action: taking painful and traumatic conversations about race and racism and putting them into practice — resistance, revolution and making meaningful change. Detailed entryways into doing the work, so you can actively be anti-racist.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $109.23 (Kindle)
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Ward Toward by Cindy Juyoung Ok
Genre: Poetry
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 5 March, 2024
In the 118th volume of the Yale Series of Younger Poets, Cindy Juyoung Ok’s debut moves between divided countries and spaces, psych wards and prison cells sharing fractured private codes and arguments between institutionalised teens. Expect visual play, a counter to previously established narratives about mental illness, abuse and death, plenty of nostalgia and even a little comedy.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $156.15 (Paperback) and $351.34 (Hardcover)
The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
Genre: Historical Fiction
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 2 January, 2024
This historical fiction pick stands out from the array of novels set in WWII, by moving locations to Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger: her 15-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day. Cecily knows two things: this is all her fault and her family must never learn the truth.
Available for purchase on Amazon for $101.42 (Kindle), $179.18 (Hardcover) and $216.43 (Paperback)
How We Named the Stars by Andrés N. Ordorica
Genre: Literary Fiction, Queer
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 30 January, 2024
When Daniel de La Luna arrives as a scholarship student at an elite East Coast university, he bears the weight of his family’s hopes and dreams, and the burden of sharing his late uncle’s name. Floundering at first, everything changes for Daniel when finds himself in love with a man who helps him see himself in a new light. But a brutal turn of events sends our lead to his ancestral homeland in México; grappling with loss as he struggles to come to terms with what’s happened. Set between the United States and México, Andrés N. Ordorica’s debut novel promises to be tender as it explores belonging, grief and first love.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $78 (Kindle) and $140.15 (Paperback)
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Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong by Katie Gee Salisbury
Genre: Biography, Non-fiction
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 12 March, 2024
Set against the glittering backdrop of Los Angeles during the rise of Hollywood, this debut book by fifth-generation Chinese American Katie Gee Salisbury celebrates Anna May Wong — the first Asian American movie star. A legendary beauty, witty conversationalist, and fashion icon, this unsung heroine has always deserved more light and a rightful place in cinematic history, working in the States but also starring in acclaimed works in Berlin, Paris, and London, reshaping both Asian and Asian American representation in film.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $109.23 (Kindle)
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Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 16 January, 2024
A much-anticipated follow-up (the second in the series!) “Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands”, is on many a fantasy-lover’s list. This time, mysterious faeries from other realms appear at Professor Emily Wilde’s university, sending her to the infuriatingly charming exiled king (on the run from his murderous mother) whom she has plenty of feelings for. An enchanting adventure with romance and mystery.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $109.23 (Kindle)
Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 5 March, 2024
New York Times bestselling author Xochitl Gonzalez’s newest novel promises to be mesmerising. “Anita de Monte Laughs Last” follows Raquel, a third-year art history student preparing her final thesis in 1998, at a college where she’s a minority and outsider. After becoming romantically involved with a well-connected older student, she stumbles upon the story of Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world found tragically dead in New York City in 1985. Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, this novel examines power, relationship dynamics, love, art, and who gets to be remembered and who is left behind.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $117.04 (Kindle)
Koreaworld: A Cookbook by Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard
Genre: Cookbook
Release Date in Hong Kong: Tuesday, 23 April, 2024
A follow-up of sorts to “Koreatown”, which explored the foods of Korean American communities across the United States, join chef Deuki Hong and journalist Matt Rodbard in “Koreaworld”, as they take an insider’s look at the exciting global evolution of Korean food. Expect stories of chefs and home cooks and the recipes that are shaping modern Korean cuisine including over 75 bold, flavour-packed recipes and tons of stunning photography. From ancient plant-based cooking of famed Buddhist monk chefs to the bustling streets of Seoul, seafood on Jeju Island, late-night eats in Los Angeles and more.
Available for pre-order on Amazon for $117.04 (Kindle) and $273.27 (Hardcover)
All artwork property of Sassy Media Group using images courtesy of publishers and authors.
