FEBRUARY 2023 ANTICIPATED BOOK RELEASES 

Hello MA Readers! I’m back again with the most anticipated books to watch out for this month. But before we get into that…did you get the chance to read any of the books from last month? (Giving you the side eye.) I had the chance to read Prince Harry’s Spare and my oh my! All the juice in the book! Be on the lookout for my review on it because there’s a lot to unpack in that memoir.

Now to the main business. Last month’s releases were definitely a good way to kick-off the reading year, and this month’s releases are equally good, if not better. I am personally looking forward to two titles that I know are going to be worth my money and time. Let’s get on to the February 2023 book releases so you too can fill up your TBR (to-be-read) list.

Memoirs & Non-Fiction

Wanting: Women Writing About Desire by Margot Kahn & Kelly McMasters (February 14)

What is desire and what are its rules? In this daring collection, award-winning and emerging female writers share their innermost longings, in turn dismantling both personal and political constructs of what desire is or can be.

The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg (February 14)

If you are a lover nature and a climate change activist, then this one is for you. From Greta Thunberg, the world’s leading climate activist, comes the essential handbook for making it possible to change the world for the better. You might think it’s an impossible task: secure a safe future for life on Earth, at a scale and speed never seen, against all the odds. There is hope – but only if we listen to the science before it’s too late.

Two Weeks’ Notice by Amy Porterfield (February 21)

Online marketing expert Amy Porterfield knows just how scary it is to leave a 9-5 corporate job to step out on your own. Now the owner of a successful business and host of the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast, Porterfield gives you a detailed blueprint to show you just what it takes to build your own business.

Sink: A Memoir by Joseph Earl Thomas (February 21)

Sink follows Joseph Earl Thomas’s coming-of-age towards an understanding of what it means to lose the desire to fit in–with his immediate peers, turbulent family, or the world–and how good it feels to build community, love, and salvation on your own terms.

Drama Free by Nedra Glover Tawwab (February 28)

From the bestselling author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace, comes a road map for understanding and moving past family struggles — and living your life, your way.

Contemporary & Literary Fiction

Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes (February 7)

Globetrotting Nisha Cantor has the perfect life money can buy until her husband divorces her and cuts her off. Scrambling to hold on to her previous lifestyle, Nisha’s distress hits a peak when even her gym bag is stolen. Meanwhile, Sam Kemp is desperately trying to keep her family afloat. When she tries on a pair of expensive shoes from a gym bag she took by accident, the jolt of confidence inspires her to change her life.

A Spell of Good Things by Ayobami Adebayo (February 7)

One of the two books I am definitely adding to my TBR pile. If you have never read a book by this genius of a writer, perhaps, this should be your first. A Spell of Good Things is a dazzling story of modern Nigeria and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession, and political corruption. Her debut novel Stay With Me was a huge success, which had many book clubs talking, and I am pretty sure this one will follow suit.

What Napoleon Could Not Do by DK Nnuro (February 7)

Probably because it is written by a Ghanaian (yes, I am biased…just a little bit), this is the second book that I am looking forward to reading this month.

When siblings Jacob and Belinda Nti were growing up in Ghana, their goal was simple: to move to America. For them, the United States was both an opportunity and a struggle, a goal and an obstacle. Jacob, an awkward computer programmer who still lives with his father, wants a visa so he can move to Virginia to live with his wife—a request that the U.S. government has repeatedly denied. He envies his sister, Belinda, who achieved, as their father put it, “what Napoleon could not do”: she went to college and law school in the United States and even managed to marry Wilder, a wealthy Black businessman from Texas. Wilder’s view of America differs markedly from his wife’s, as he’s spent his life railing against the racism and marginalisation that are part of life for every African American living here.

For these three, their desires and ambitions highlight the promise and the disappointment that life in a new country offers. How each character comes to understand this and how each learns from both their dashed hopes and their fulfilled dreams lie at the heart of what makes such a compelling, insightful read.

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin (February 7)

A brilliantly original and funny novel about a sex therapist’s transcriptionist who falls in love with a client while listening to her sessions. When they accidentally meet in real life, an explosive affair ensues.

Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz (February 21)

When Alex is invited to attend a month-long writing retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo, she knows it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Upon arrival, Roza explains that each attendee has a month to write a novel from scratch and the winner will receive a large publishing deal. As strange things begin to happen and one of the writers vanishes in a storm, Alex goes from wanting to be published to wanting to make it out alive.

It’s One of Us by JT Ellison (February 21)

Olivia Bender wants nothing more than to be a mother but all of her attempts keep failing. Then, the police come to deliver news to Olivia and her husband, Park. Park’s son is the prime suspect in a murder investigation. Park reveals that he donated his sperm years ago and has no idea how many children he may have. Now, Olivia must decide if she can hold Park accountable for fathering a murderer, especially since she has so many secrets of her own.

Historical Fiction

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson (February 7)

Johnson’s suspenseful and thought-provoking latest follows two young Black women as they separately navigate mid-20th century America. In the fall of 1948, Ruby is a high school junior in Philadelphia who attends Saturday enrichment classes in hopes of winning a college scholarship and becoming an ophthalmologist. Eleanor, from a Cleveland suburb, is a sophomore at Howard University who is surprised by the campus’s social hierarchy, which is based on wealth and skin colour. The lives of both women change when they find love: Ruby with the sweet, bright son of her Jewish landlord; and Eleanor with a medical student who belongs to an upper-class Black family. Unexpected pregnancies threaten the plans and dreams of both women, and heighten the tensions caused by the gulfs between them and their lovers’ families.

Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein (February 7)

Trinidad in the 1940s, nearing the end of American occupation and British colonialism. On a hill overlooking Bell Village sits the Changoor farm, where Dalton and Marlee Changoor live in luxury, unrecognizable to those who reside in the farm’s shadow. Down below is the Barracks, a ramshackle building of wood and tin, divided into rooms occupied by whole families. Among these families are the Saroops—Hans, Shweta, and their son, Krishna, all three born of the Barracks. Theirs are hard lives of backbreaking work, grinding poverty, devotion to faith, and a battle against nature and a social structure designed to keep them where they are.

The Woman with the Cure by Lynn Cullen (February 21)

This Historical Fiction is based on the true story of Dorothy Horstmann, the woman who stopped the Polio pandemic. In the 1940s and 1950s, Polio was a terrifying disease that killed or paralyzed children. Dorothy wanted to find a vaccine, not engage in a competition. She was forced to decide what could and should be sacrificed for a cure.

The Porcelain Moon by Janie Chang (February 21)

At the end of the First World War, Pauline Deng runs away from her Chinese family in Paris to escape an arranged marriage back in Shanghai. In the French countryside, Pauline finds shelter with Camille, a French woman planning to escape her own abusive marriage. Until Pauline finds out a terrible secret about Camille, forcing them to make a decision that will bind them together forever.

Go As a River by Shelly Read (February 28)

Set amid Colorado’s wild beauty, a heart breaking coming-of-age story of a resilient young woman whose life is changed forever by one chance encounter. Inspired by true events surrounding the destruction of the town of Iola in the 1960s, Go as a River is a story of deeply held love in the face of hardship and loss, but also of finding courage, resilience, friendship, and, finally, home—where least expected. This stunning debut explores what it means to lead your life as if it were a river—gathering and flowing, finding a way forward even when a river is dammed.

Romance

Just My Type by Falon Ballard (7 February)

Lana Parker has never been single for long. After a disastrous break-up with her high school boyfriend, Seth Carson, Lana’s bounced from long-term relationship to long-term relationship. She’s an expert girlfriend, even acting as the resident dating and relationship columnist for one of Los Angeles’s trendiest websites. But now, at the age of thirty, Lana suddenly finds herself single again, and she’s determined to stay that way, no matter how challenging.

This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang (February 7)

When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin’s essay about meeting the love of her life unexpectedly goes viral, her entire life changes overnight. Now she has the approval of her classmates at her new international school in Beijing, a career-launching internship opportunity at her favourite magazine…and a massive secret to keep.

The Neighbour Favour by Kristina Forest (February 28)

Shy, bookish, and admittedly awkward, Lily Greene has always felt inadequate compared to the rest of her accomplished family, who strive for Black excellence. She dreams of becoming an editor of children’s books but has been frustratingly stuck in the nonfiction division for years without a promotion in sight. Lily finds escapism in her correspondences with her favorite fantasy author, and what begins as two lonely people connecting over e-mail turns into a tentative friendship and possibly something else Lily won’t let herself entertain–until he ghosts her.

That’s it folks! These are the books you are definitely supposed to be on the lookout for this month. If you do get the chance to read any of them, feel free to let us in on the tea via our social media platforms; on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn. And do well to share and comment on this post where ever you come across it. Happy reading month!