My books to start off the new year
My rom com, cozy mystery request was finally approved, just in time for Chinese/Lunar New Year 2024, which begins February 10
The Good, the Bad and the Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
March 26, 2024; Berkley, NetGalley
Setting: Jakarta, Indonesia
Book description: What should have been a family celebration of Chinese New Year descends into chaos when longtime foes crash the party in this hilariously entertaining novel by the author of Dial A for Aunties.
After an ultra-romantic honeymoon across Europe, Meddy Chan and her husband Nathan have landed in Jakarta to spend Chinese New Year with her entire extended family. Meddy and her Aunties however become helpless pawns in a decades-long war between Jakarta’s most powerful business factions. Determined to rescue her loved ones, Meddy embarks on an impossible mission—but with the Aunties by her side, nothing is truly impossible…
After an ultra-romantic honeymoon across Europe, Meddy Chan and her husband Nathan have landed in Jakarta to spend Chinese New Year with her entire extended family. Meddy and her Aunties however become helpless pawns in a decades-long war between Jakarta’s most powerful business factions. Determined to rescue her loved ones, Meddy embarks on an impossible mission—but with the Aunties by her side, nothing is truly impossible…
Click on title to see my review
This next book title grabbed my attention
Book description: A bracing, wildly entertaining satire about a small Southern town set in Georgia, a pitched battle over banned books, and a little lending library that changes everything
Publication: June 18, 2024; William Morrow, NetGalley
Click to see my review
Click to see my review
A collection of short stories also caught my eye
Book description: The Un-Inquired is the confession of refugees, families, and lovers. It chronicles the stories of those who are struggling to find their voice in society and discover themselves, recollecting their trauma and memories, from the loss of a foster brother in a shooting incident to the hallucinations of a Japanese American immigrant with schizophrenia.
An antiheroic tale of finding a way to survive in a world, the collection is at times emotional and tender, at times melancholy, lonely, and wryly introspective.
Publication: January 12, 2024; Querencia Press, NetGalley
Can't omit a thriller
The title The Plus One and book cover made me request this ARC
Book description: The wedding of Radhika Singh and Raj Josh at a luxury resort in Cabos will mark the union of two influential and wealthy Indian-American families. No expense will be spared for what Radhika and Raj have coined “R&R,” a week of rest, relaxation, and celebrating their love.
Shaylee “Shay” Kapoor is an outsider, dating Raj’s best friend, Caleb Prescott III, and is sucked into this world of wealth and excess. But on the morning of the wedding festivities, the wedding coordinator Daniela makes a frightening discovery: Raj and Radhika are dead, gunshots to the head.
Shay may be an outsider but she may be the only person with enough perspective to untangle everyone’s lies, and discover the motive for the murder. See my review
And for later, a book on the Booker Prize 2024 list
Book Description: Memorably introduced by Ishiguro himself, The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain collects the lyrics of sixteen songs he wrote for world-renowned American singer Stacey Kent, which were set to music by her partner, Jim Tomlinson. An exquisite coming together of the literary and musical worlds, the lyrics are infused with a sense of yearning, melancholy, love, and the romance of travel and liminal spaces.
Illustrated by the acclaimed Italian artist Bianca Bagnarelli
Publication: March 5, 2024; Knopf
What are your first reads for 2024?
Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday
