We may not be able to predict everything the near year will bring. But based on 2023’s new book releases, we have a feeling we’ll be reading all year long.Below, we’re highlighting just a few of the new books coming out in 2023 that you may want to check out.
Abolish the Monarchy: Why we should and how we will by Graham Smith
This is the book I have been waiting for. The lack of accountability of the monarchy is disgraceful. The privileges they have are indefensible. Step forward Graham Smith. He is not afraid to speak the truth so many people feel but find difficult to express. Reading this book will give you the confidence to speak up, and to understand that we, the British people, (and I must say, those in the land of my parents), deserve a fairer society.
A LIFE OF ONE’S OWN by Joanna Biggs
Biggs’s brilliant book does the project of making sense of and finding a shape to one’s life within the context of literary predecessors. It combines incisive biographies with a personal story of starting over. This book reframed my own life in surprising and enlightening ways. It illuminated complex desires and lifelong debates through the absorbing stories of nine women authors who I now see as sisters, teachers, and kin. It deeply moved me as it meditated on reading and writing, friendship, desire, the life of the mind, and the perennial yearning of women writers to be free.
Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990 by Katie Hoyer, Allen Lane
In 1990, a country vanished as East Germany ceased to exist when the Iron Curtain fell. The GDR, with its unique German identity shaped by socialist solidarity, secret police, central planning, and barbed wire, emerged from the aftermath of World War II and thrived until the brink of the new millennium. In “Beyond the Wall,” historian Katja Hoyer presents a vibrant and comprehensive account of this vanished nation. Starting from the struggles of German Marxists exiled by Hitler, Hoyer traces the creation of the state under Stalin’s watchful eye and its distinct German evolution. Hoyer reveals a dynamic political, social, and cultural landscape in East Germany, challenging the Western Cold War stereotype. Drawing from previously unseen interviews, letters, and records, this book offers the definitive history of the Germany that existed beyond the Wall.
Bodies under Siege by Sian Norris
Investigative journalist Sian Norris uncovers far-right extremists in Europe. They employ abortion attacks to promote fascist ideologies and have ties to the American far right. Surprisingly, anti-abortion movements today are primarily funded and orchestrated by these extremist groups. Embracing fascism and white supremacy openly, they fear the “great replacement” of the white population. Their concerted efforts aim to reshape governments and policies worldwide, including Europe and North America. Alarmingly, feminist and left movements have largely overlooked this far-right network. Norris’s undercover investigations expose the infiltration of fascist ideas into mainstream debates and governmental policies across Europe. This extends from authoritarian regimes like Hungary to liberal democracies like Britain. By tracing the money trail connecting American think tanks to far-right fascist groups, Norris reveals how women’s reproductive rights and autonomy are suppressed, enabling the acceptance of fascism in the Global North.
Cry of the Wild: Eight Animals Under Siege by Charles Foster
Cry of the Wild: Eight Animals Under Siege is a unique take on nature writing, blurring the lines between non-fiction and fiction and harking back to Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter and Richard Adams’ Watership Down. Written by the author of several loved books such as The Screaming Sky and Being a Beast, it is an original and creative book that aims to change our perspective on how the way we live is impacting animals. The book is split into eight chapters (plus an epilogue), each following a species ‘under siege’, beginning with foxes and ending with eels. The chapters follow the stories of anthropomorphised individuals as they try to navigate life impacted by the human world.
Dust Child By Nguyen Phan Que Mai
In Dust Child, the bestselling author of The Mountains Sing weaves a captivating tale set in war-torn and modern-day Việt Nam. Trang and Quỳnh, sisters driven by debt, become bar girls, entangled in relationships with American GIs. Trang finds love with a charismatic pilot, Dan, while Phong, the son of a Black American soldier and Vietnamese woman, seeks his parents and a better life. Years later, Dan returns with his wife, Linda, on a quest for healing and redemption. The story converges as these characters confront their pasts, transcending barriers of race, generation, and culture. Dust Child is an evocative, suspenseful, and compassionate exploration of love, forgiveness, and the quest for a brighter future.
Orwell by DJ Taylor
D.J. Taylor’s biography of George Orwell, “Orwell,” provides a revealing look at the acclaimed writer’s life and work. In the past fifty years, his books “Animal Farm” and “1984” have sold over forty million copies, establishing Orwell as an influential figure. However, Taylor’s assessment uncovers Orwell’s concealed totalitarian tendencies. And highlights the myths he created around himself during his literary career in the 1930s and 1940s. Through the use of previously unseen material, this biography presents a vivid and powerful portrait of Orwell, challenging the perception of him as a secular saint and offering a more human perspective on his extraordinary life.
Revolutionary Spring by Christopher Clark, Allen Lane
Exhilarating, heroic, horrifying and tragic, the events of the mid-19th century in Europe invite a good retelling … Christopher Clark’s new book is, arguably, the best to date … deeply researched, rich, engaging and though-provoking. There is now no better place to turn for readers. Who want to immerse themselves in this period and to reflect on how it resonates today.
Siblings By Brigitte Reimann
In 1960, the border between East and West Germany closes, dividing siblings Elisabeth and Uli. While Elisabeth sees the GDR as a chance for a promising socialist future. Uli experiences it as a realm of restrictions and oppression. The Party’s widening divide further separates them, haunted by the presence of their defector brother Konrad. Brigitte Reimann’s powerful prose delves into the clash of idealism And suppression, familial loyalty, and desire, creating a groundbreaking post-war East German literary masterpiece.
THE HAPPY COUPLE by Naoise Dolan
A cracking ensemble, The Happy Couple is a beautiful sonata about our relationships. And a sad fugue for fear and loneliness. The book is a tough, all-engrossing love-test. Dolan’s acerbic humour is unapologetically analytical. She breaks the rule of intimacy with wit and panache that are second to none. Endlessly funny, endlessly inventive – a bold and stylish novel that slipped down and burned like a shot of something lovely.
