At some point next week, we will turn our attention toward the new year. 2024 is only days away. If you are someone whose New Year’s Resolutions are usually broken by Valentine’s Day, here is one with some shelf-life.
Why not read a book by an author you’ve not read before?
Volunteers with the Tucson Festival of Books were asked which books they want to read next year. They were happy to share their own must-reads, some by authors who will attend the festival this spring.
“A Woman I Know” by Mary Haverstick introduces us to a woman who should need no introduction … but does. In 1960, Jerrie Cobb passed the same tests as the original Mercury 7 astronauts. Cobb never went into space, but while researching that story, Haverstick uncovered a bigger one. Jerrie Cobb was also known as June Cobb — a Cold War spy who was among the women whose spycraft came to light after the assassination of President Kennedy. It’s a true story that reads like a Tom Clancy thriller. — Thea Chalow
“Remedial Magic” by Melissa Marr will be released in February and should be worth the wait for those who love fantasies. It features a librarian who falls in love with a witch … then learns she is a witch … and then must attend magical community college to learn how they can save the world. Thank you, Melissa Marr. — Mira Domsky
“Tripas” by Brandon Som was a finalist for this year’s National Book Award in poetry. The collection features Som’s multigenerational, multicultural childhood home. There was his Chicana grandmother, who worked nights on the assembly line at Motorola. Som’s Chinese father and grandparents ran the family’s corner store. The book illuminates the struggles faced by neighborhoods in transition. — Estella Gonzalez
“Poverty, by America” by Matthew Desmond is a deeply researched, carefully presented study of poverty in the United States. We live in the richest nation in history, yet 40 million of us live below the poverty line … 160 years after the Civil War. Desmond wanted to know why. “Poverty” is one of the year’s best books, and the paperback edition will release in March. — Caitlin Schmidt
“Raiders of the Lost Heart” by Jo Segura takes us to the Mexican jungle, where two rival archaeologists are looking for the remains of an ancient Aztec warrior. Eventually, they realize they must join forces with each other. Who said the adventure romance is a lost art? — Jessica Pryde
“Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The author is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, which believes we must learn from plants and animals. If we will just listen, they will talk to us. Only then will we understand the generosity of this world we live in. — Sara Hammond
“Beautiful Country” by Qian Julie Wang. In Chinese, the term for America is “Mei Guo,” which translates to “beautiful country.” That’s not what 7-year-old Qian saw when her family came to New York as immigrants. Her parents had been professors in China. Here, they were forced to work in sweatshops. Money was tight, life as an “illegal” was hard, and Qian was shunned by classmates in school. Still, despite everything, Qian managed to see a beautiful country. — Lynn Wiese Sneyd
“Lunar New Year Love Story” is a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham that will be released Jan. 9. Val is ready to give up on love, beginning to think it might be genetic. For generations, her family has never really been bitten by the love bug. And then … — Kathy Short
“Nowhere Like Home” by Sara Shepard will be released in February, and fans of the “Pretty Little Liars” series are counting the days. It begins when Lenna receives a phone call from an old friend. This was startling because Rhiannon had disappeared without a trace years earlier. Now, she was a mom living with a group of women in an Arizona “mommune.” Each is running from something. They invite Lenna to join them. — Tricia Clapp
“A Love Song for Ricki Wilde” by Tia Williams is a love story that unfolds in February of a leap year. Since 2024 comes with a Feb. 29 – and “Love Song” will release Feb. 6 – the stars are aligned for Ricki Wilde. The daughter of a wealthy and powerful father in Atlanta, she has left home and rented an apartment in Harlem. She has dreams of opening a flower shop. Enter the tall, dark, handsome stranger. — Jeaiza Quinones Ivory
“Three-Inch Teeth” will be the 24th installment of the Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box. This time, the sheriff is faced with double-barrel challenges. First, there is a grizzly that has developed a taste for humans. Then there is Dallas Cates, now walking free after years in prison. Cates is bent on revenge against the men who sent him there … one being Pickett. “Teeth” will be released Feb. 27, two weeks before Box appears at the Tucson Festival of Books. — Bill Viner
