Our 19 Most Anticipated New Reads of March 2020

Get Literary
February 26 2020
Share Our 19 Most Anticipated New Reads of March 2020

We know, we know, you have too many books to read already. We hear you, readers, and to you we say: here are 19 more coming out in March that you should probably read as well. Sorry, not sorry! To help you handle your TBR pile stress, we suggest starting a separate “when-the-mood-strikes” book list. The March books here will help you through any sorta mood, from the Make Good Trouble Mood to the Stare Forlornly Out the Window Mood. And, as always, there’s plenty for the Badass Feminist Mood

This post was originally published on GetLiterary.com.

Once Upon a Sunset
by Tif Marcelo

Nicole’s Pick #1

I always eagerly anticipate books featuring POC leads, and that is one of several reasons I’m excited for Tif Marcelo’s Once Upon a Sunset. It’s the story of a D.C. physician named Diana who, through a series of unexpected and unfortunate life circumstances, finds herself with lots of free time. Rather than wallow, Diana attempts to restore some order to her life and, in the process, she and her mother, Margo, discover old letters that lead them to uncover a family secret and surviving relatives in the Philippines. Diana decides to take the trip to the other side of the world, and learns more there about herself, her family, and life in ways that she could never have expected. Tif Marcelo is known for writing about complex family dynamics, and I’m eager to see how that plays out here, especially with the added layer of Filipino culture woven in.

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Once Upon a Sunset
Tif Marcelo

The author of The Key to Happily Ever After—“a true gem filled with heart, laughs, and a cast of delightful characters” (Nina Bocci, USA TODAY bestselling author)—returns with a heartwarming and charming novel about a woman who travels to the Philippines to reconnect with her long-lost family…and manages to find herself along the way.

Diana Gallagher-Cary is at a tipping point. As a Washington, DC, OB/GYN at a prestigious hospital, she uses her career to distract herself from her grief over her granny’s death and her breakup from her long-term boyfriend after her free-spirited mother moves in with her. But when she makes a medical decision that disparages the hospital, she is forced to go on a short sabbatical.

Never one to wallow, Diana decides to use the break to put order in her life, when her mother, Margo, stumbles upon a box of letters from her grandfather, Antonio Cruz, to her grandmother from the 1940s. The two women always believed that Antonio died in World War II, but the letters reveal otherwise. When they learn that he lived through the war, and that they have surviving relatives in the Philippines, Diana becomes determined to connect with the family that she never knew existed, though Margo refuses to face her history. But Diana pushes on, and heads on a once-in-a-lifetime trip that challenges her identity, family history, and her idea of romantic love that could change her life forever.

Infused with Tif Marcelo’s signature “sexy, adorable, and heartfelt” (Kate Meader, USA TODAY bestselling author) voice, Once Upon a Sunset is a moving and lyrical celebration of love, family, and second chances.

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House of Earth and Blood
by Sarah J. Maas

Heather’s Pick #1

Friends had been recommending Sarah J. Maas to me for years before I gave in and read Court of Thorns and Roses, the first novel in her YA fantasy series of the same name. My friends were right; of course they were right: I liked that first book and promptly inhaled the sequel, A Court of Mist and Fury, which had just the right blend of action and romance. I’m still working on Book 3 (A Court of Wings and Ruin), but that hasn’t stopped me from also eyeing Maas’s next release, her first adult series, House of Earth and Blood, which is set to launch with Crescent City. Our new heroine, Bryce, is half-human, half-fae, and 100% determined to track down the demon who killed her closest friends. Enter a fallen angel named Hunt, who’s still paying for a long-ago failed rebellion against the Archangels by unwillingly serving as their resident hit man. Looks like he teams up with Bryce for one reason (the Archangels will release him from captivity if he finds the demon), but sticks around for a whole other one (his feelings for Bryce). Sounds like a winning concept to me!

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House of Earth and Blood
Sarah J. Maas

Heather’s Pick #1 Friends had been recommending Sarah J. Maas to me for years before I gave in and read Court of Thorns and Roses, the first novel in her YA fantasy series of the same name. My friends were right; of course they were right: I liked that first book and promptly inhaled the sequel, A Court of Mist and Fury, which had just the right blend of action and romance. I’m still working on Book 3 (A Court of Wings and Ruin), but that hasn’t stopped me from also eyeing Maas’s next release, her first adult series, House of Earth and Blood, which is set to launch with Crescent City. Our new heroine, Bryce, is half-human, half-fae, and 100% determined to track down the demon who killed her closest friends. Enter a fallen angel named Hunt, who’s still paying for a long-ago failed rebellion against the Archangels by unwillingly serving as their resident hit man. Looks like he teams up with Bryce for one reason (the Archangels will release him from captivity if he finds the demon), but sticks around for a whole other one (his feelings for Bryce). Sounds like a winning concept to me!

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The Sinner
by J.R. Ward

Heather’s Pick #2

Everyone’s always working in today’s gig economy, and vampires are no exception. In J. R. Ward’s The Sinner, Syn’s pulling in extra cash as a mercenary when he meets Jo Early, who has no idea that she’s half vampire and starting to transition. They’re immediately drawn to each other, but only Syn understands, at first, that Jo’s going to die if she doesn’t listen to her instincts and embrace her fate as an immortal. Can he get through to her, and can love give them a new path forward, together?

While I read a lot of contemporary and historical romances these days, my reading diet wouldn’t be complete without paranormal romances, and nobody does it quite like J. R. Ward. I can’t wait to find out what happens next in her long-running Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

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The Sinner
J.R. Ward

A sinner’s only hope is true love in this passionate new novel in J.R. Ward’s #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

Syn has kept his side hustle as a mercenary a secret from the Black Dagger Brotherhood. When he takes another hit job, he not only crosses the path of the vampire race’s new enemy, but also that of a half-breed in danger of dying during her transition. Jo Early has no idea what her true nature is, and when a mysterious man appears out of the darkness, she is torn between their erotic connection and the sense that something is very wrong.

Fate anointed Butch O’Neal as the Dhestroyer, the fulfiller of the prophecy that foresees the end of the Omega. As the war with the Lessening Society comes to a head, Butch gets an unexpected ally in Syn. But can he trust the male—or is the warrior with the bad past a deadly complication?

With time running out, Jo gets swept up in the fighting and must join with Syn and the Brotherhood against true evil. In the end, will love true prevail...or was the prophecy wrong all along?

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Offerings
by Michael ByungJu Kim

Emily’s Pick

I absolutely loved Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, Michael Lewis’s The Big Short, and the HBO show Succession, so that should give you an idea of how excited I am for Michael ByungJu Kim’s Offerings. The main narrative follows Dae Joon, a Harvard-educated Wall Street banker who obtained his impressive career while abandoning his familial obligations as a firstborn Korean son. And if that doesn’t sound heartbreaking enough, when the 1997 Asian financial crisis hits, Dae Joon is forced to make even more tough decisions that’ll either affect his homeland of Seoul or his impressive high-stakes career. Based on that narrative and the book’s amazing endorsements, this sounds like a thoughtful, white-knuckle read. I’m ready to learn a little history and economics while engrossed in a good story.

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Offerings
Michael ByungJu Kim

The national bestseller that Gary Shteyngart has called, "A potent combination of a financial thriller and a coming-of-age immigrant tale. . . . Offerings is a great book."

With the rapidly cascading Asian Financial Crisis threatening to go global and Korea in imminent meltdown, investment banker Dae Joon finds himself back in his native Seoul as part of an international team brought in to rescue the country from sovereign default. For Dae Joon—also known by his American name of Shane, after the cowboy movie his father so loved—the stakes are personal.

Raised in the US and Harvard Business School–educated, Dae Joon is a jangnam, a firstborn son, bound by tradition to follow in the footsteps of his forebears. But rather than pursue the path his scholar-father wanted, he has sought a career on Wall Street, at the epicenter of power in the American empire. Now, as he and his fellow bankers work feverishly with Korean officials to execute a sovereign bond offering to raise badly needed capital, he knows that his own father is living on borrowed time, in the last stages of a disease that is the family curse. A young woman he has met is quietly showing the way to a different future. And when his closest friend from business school, a scion of one of Korea's biggest chaebol, asks his help in a sale that may save the conglomerate but also salvage a legacy of corruption, he finds himself in personal crisis, torn by dueling loyalties, his identity tested.

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The Hidden Things
by Jamie Mason

Molly’s Pick

I can’t wait to get a copy of the paperback edition of The Hidden Things by Jamie Mason. A viral video of fourteen-year-old Carly Liddell fending off home invaders leads to the unexpected reappearance of a 17th-century masterwork painting that was stolen during the very real and still-unsolved Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist in 1990. It’s up to Carly to uncover the truth as greed, revenge, secrets, and lies threaten to tear her family apart. Between its creative premise and whip-smart and plucky protagonist, it’s a Venn diagram of a book written especially for me. The Hidden Things publishes in paperback on March 3rd, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the still-unsolved heist.

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The Hidden Things
Jamie Mason

A brilliantly original thriller and “a startling, smart, vivid book” (Tana French, New York Times bestselling author) from the acclaimed author of Three Graves Full—inspired by the real-life unsolved theft of a seventeenth-century painting.

Twenty-eight seconds.

In less than half a minute, a home-security camera captures the hidden resolve in fourteen-year-old Carly Liddell as she fends off a vicious attack just inside her own front door. The video of her heroic escape appears online and goes viral. As the view count climbs, the lives of four desperate people will be forever changed by what’s just barely visible in the corner of the shot.

Carly’s stepfather is spurred to protect his darkest secret: how a stolen painting—four hundred years old, by a master of the Dutch Golden Age—has come to hang in his suburban foyer. The art dealer, left for dead when the painting vanished, sees a chance to buy back her life. And the double-crossed enforcer renews the hunt to deliver the treasure to his billionaire patrons—even if he has to kill to succeed.

But it’s Carly herself, hailed as a social-media hero, whose new perspective gives her the courage to uncover the truth as the secrets and lies tear her family apart.

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We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders
by Linda Sarsour

Saimah’s Pick #1

As a Muslim-American, I am really thrilled to read Linda Sarsour’s book. She was one of the organizers of the inaugural Women’s March. In We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders, she shares her story about how the racism and backlash after 9/11 affected her and the Muslim communities around the nation. She has spent her career fighting for women’s rights. She serves as an inspiration and role model not just for other Muslim-American women but for women of all backgrounds.

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We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders
Linda Sarsour

Linda Sarsour, co-organizer of the Women’s March, shares how growing up Palestinian Muslim American, feminist, and empowered moved her to become a globally recognized activist on behalf of marginalized communities across the country.

On a chilly spring morning in Brooklyn, nineteen-year-old Linda Sarsour stared at her reflection, dressed in a hijab for the first time. She saw in the mirror the woman she was growing to be—a young Muslim American woman unapologetic in her faith and her activism, who would discover her innate sense of justice in the aftermath of 9/11. Now heralded for her award-winning leadership of the Women’s March on Washington, in We Are Not Here to Be Bystanders Linda Sarsour offers a poignant story of community and family.

From the Brooklyn bodega her father owned, where Linda learned the real meaning of intersectionality, to protests in the streets of Washington, DC, Linda’s experience as a daughter of Palestinian immigrants is a moving portrayal of what it means to find one’s voice and use it for the good of others. We follow Linda as she learns the tenets of successful community organizing, and through decades of fighting for racial, economic, gender, and social justice as she becomes one of the most recognized activists in the nation. We also see her honoring her grandmother’s dying wish, protecting her children, building resilient friendships, and mentoring others even as she loses her first mentor in a tragic accident. Throughout, she inspires readers to take action as she reaffirms that we are not here to be bystanders.

In his foreword to the book, Harry Belafonte writes of Linda, “While we may not have made it to the Promised Land, my peers and I, my brothers and sisters in liberation can rest easy that the future is in the hands of leaders like Linda Sarsour. I have often said to Linda that she embodies the principle and purpose of another great Muslim leader, brother Malcolm X.”

This is her story.

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The Woman of a Thousand Names
by Alexandra Lapierre

Courtney’s Pick #1

A strong female lead who must depend on herself in order to survive? Sign me up! I’m pumped to read The Woman of a Thousand Names, written by Alexandra Lapierre, because of the strength and tenacity of the heroine, Moura. Moura was born into Russian aristocracy, never wanting for anything, until the Bolshevik Revolution leaves her life in ruins. In order to survive, Moura must stay on the move, leaving behind her past life and frequently changing her identity. Some of us occasionally daydream of leaving it all behind and starting over where no one knows our name, but what if you were forced to? Would you be able to? I’m not sure what the answer is for myself, but I can’t wait to dive into Moura’s story, based on the life of a real aristocrat, and follow along as she defies all expectations to survive.

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The Woman of a Thousand Names
Alexandra Lapierre

From the internationally bestselling author of the “fascinating epic” (Associated Press) Between Love and Honor comes a rich, sweeping tale based on the captivating true story of the Mata Hari of Russia, featuring a beautiful aristocrat fighting for survival during the deadly upheaval of the Russian Revolution.

Born into Russian aristocracy, wealth, and security, Moura never had any reason to worry. But in the upheaval of the Bolshevik Revolution, her entire world crumbles. As her family and friends are being persecuted by Vladimir Lenin’s ruthless police, she falls into a passionate affair with British secret agent Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart. But when he’s abruptly and mysteriously deported from Russia, Moura is left alone and vulnerable.

Now, she must find new paths for her survival, even if it means shedding her past and taking on new identities. Some will praise her tenderness and undying loyalty. Others will denounce her lies. But all will agree on one point: Moura embodies Life. Life at all cost.

Set against the volatile landscape of 20th-century Russia, The Woman of a Thousand Names brings history to vivid life in a captivating tale about an extraordinary woman caught in the waves of change—with only her wits to save her.

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We Ride Upon Sticks
by Quan Barry

Sara’s Pick

Witches are definitely having a moment, but back in the 1690s—and then again in the book’s setting of 1980s Salem—the occult was rather looked down upon. That doesn't matter much to the Danvers High School women’s field hockey team. They're looking to get a little help with their not-so-stellar playing, which goalie Mel Boucher seeks to do by having all the girls sign a book with a picture of Emilio Estevez on the cover and make a pact to follow “any urges you might get all the way to the end no matter what.” It seems silly at first...until they start winning games. Is it witchcraft or just coincidence? Only Emilio knows. A funny piece with an ensemble cast of team members, We Ride Upon Sticks takes a look at what it means to believe, both in oneself and in something bigger. An exploration of love, sexuality, friendship and what makes us who we are, this is a must-read if you're looking for a moving book that will make you fall in love with every character (and maybe fear the power of Emilio Estevez).

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We Ride Upon Sticks
Quan Barry

Sara’s Pick Witches are definitely having a moment, but back in the 1690s—and then again in the book’s setting of 1980s Salem—the occult was rather looked down upon. That doesn't matter much to the Danvers High School women’s field hockey team. They're looking to get a little help with their not-so-stellar playing, which goalie Mel Boucher seeks to do by having all the girls sign a book with a picture of Emilio Estevez on the cover and make a pact to follow “any urges you might get all the way to the end no matter what.” It seems silly at first...until they start winning games. Is it witchcraft or just coincidence? Only Emilio knows. A funny piece with an ensemble cast of team members, We Ride Upon Sticks takes a look at what it means to believe, both in oneself and in something bigger. An exploration of love, sexuality, friendship and what makes us who we are, this is a must-read if you're looking for a moving book that will make you fall in love with every character (and maybe fear the power of Emilio Estevez).

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Waiting for Bojangles
by Olivier Bourdeaut

Sabrina’s Pick

The thought of getting the paperback edition of Waiting for Bojangles into my hands makes my heart jump and ache all at once. I have heard that truth is only what people believe, and this epic fairy tale bends the parameters of truth in every way. Living in a world of fantastical realities, a young boy watches his father, George, call his mother, Louise, by a new name every day. Every evening their Parisian apartment is filled with guests and his parents dance wildly and freely to Nina Simone’s “Mister Bonjangles.” Yet, through all his efforts, George cannot shield his son from the reality of his mother’s mental illness. In Oliver Bourdeaut’s debut novel, as Louise sinks further into her mind, father and son learn the nuances of truth—and how to protect those you love.

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Waiting for Bojangles
Olivier Bourdeaut

An “oddball fairy tale” (The New York Times)—shortlisted for one of France’s highest literary prizes—a dark, funny, and wholly charming novel about a young boy and his eccentric family, who grapple with the realities of mental illness in unique and whimsical ways.

A young boy lives with his madcap parents, Louise and George, and an exotic bird in a Parisian apartment, where the unopened mail rises in a tower by the door and his parents dance each night to Nina Simone’s mellifluous classic “Mister Bojangles.” As his mother, mesmerizing and unpredictable, descends deeper into her own mind, it is up to the boy and his father to keep her safe—and, when that fails, happy. Fleeing Paris for a country home in Spain, they come to understand that some of the most radiant people bear the heaviest burdens.

Told from the perspective of a young boy who idolizes his parents—and from George’s journals, detailing his epic love story with his wife—Waiting for Bojangles is a “lighthearted and yet sorrowful tale” (San Francisco Chronicle) that will stay with you long after the final page.

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The Power Notebooks
by Katie Roiphe

Courtney’s Pick #2

One of the voices guiding me on my personal quest to take inventory of my life goals is Katie Roiphe and her latest book The Power Notebooks. As the title suggests, Roiphe shares her personal notebook entries—offering up insights on divorce, single motherhood, and being a female writer. She also intertwines her musings with those of famous writers such as Sylvia Plath and Simone de Beauvoir. From her first journal entry, you are immersed in Roiphe’s head and can feel the way she must have felt when writing each one. The book as a whole is more informal than most nonfiction I’ve read, and lends itself to creating an intimate connection with the author. As a reader, you’re drawn into Roiphe’s circular thought processes as she grapples with contemporary womanhood, her professional writer self, and the private person she is when she’s all alone in the early morning. You will find yourself relating to this feminist writer’s internal battle and, hopefully, at the end, leave with a bit more understanding of your own self and the world around you.

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The Power Notebooks
Katie Roiphe

Katie Roiphe, culture writer and author of The Morning After, shares a timely blend of memoir, feminist investigation, and exploration in famous female writers’ lives, in a bold, essential discussion of how strong women experience their power.

Told in a series of notebook entries, Roiphe weaves her often fraught personal experiences with divorce, single motherhood, and relationships with insights into the lives and loves of famous writers such as Sylvia Plath and Simone de Beauvoir. She dissects the way she and other ordinary, powerful women have subjugated their own power time and time again, and she probes brilliantly at the tricky, uncomfortable question of why.

In these informal musings and notes, Roiphe delves into treacherous, largely untalked about, contradictions of contemporary womanhood, going where few writers dare. The Power Notebooks is Roiphe’s most vital, thought provoking, and emotionally intimate work yet.

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A Conspiracy of Bones
by Kathy Reichs

Sue’s Pick

I’m so glad that Kathy Reichs is soon to publish Conspiracy of Bonesbecause it’s been a while since I’ve had the pleasure of diving into one of her novels. I’ve been a fan of the Temperance (Tempe to us die-hard groupies) Brennan series since her first book, Déjà Dead. You have to love that our Tempe is a beautiful, brainy, and really fearless chick. I’m guessing Conspiracy of Bones will have me glued to the page—and in Tempe heaven—as she works to put a name to a faceless corpse and figure out how it’s related to a cold case involving a missing child.

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A Conspiracy of Bones
Kathy Reichs

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with a new riveting novel featuring her vastly popular character forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who must use all her tradecraft to discover the identity of a faceless corpse, its connection to a decade-old missing child case, and why the dead man had her cell phone number.

It’s sweltering in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Temperance Brennan, still recovering from neurosurgery following an aneurysm, is battling nightmares, migraines, and what she thinks might be hallucinations when she receives a series of mysterious text messages, each containing a new picture of a corpse that is missing its face and hands. Immediately, she’s anxious to know who the dead man is, and why the images were sent to her.

An identified corpse soon turns up, only partly answering her questions.

To win answers to the others, including the man’s identity, she must go rogue, working mostly outside the system. That’s because Tempe’s new boss holds a fierce grudge against her and is determined to keep her out of the case. Tempe bulls forward anyway, even as she begins questioning her instincts. But the clues she discovers are disturbing and confusing. Was the faceless man a spy? A trafficker? A target for assassination by the government? And why was he carrying the name of a child missing for almost a decade?

With help from a number of law enforcement associates including her Montreal beau Andrew Ryan and the always-ready-with-a-smart-quip, ex-homicide investigator Skinny Slidell, and utilizing new cutting-edge forensic methods, Tempe draws closer to the astonishing truth.

But the more she uncovers, the darker and more twisted the picture becomes...

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The Upside of Being Down
by Jen Gotch

Heather’s Pick #3

Several members of my family suffer from depression, but until a few years ago, when winter blues hit me hard, I couldn’t truly understand what they experienced. Since then, my eyes have been opened to the mental health struggles so many of us face, and how important it is to talk about them in order to continue erasing the stigma. One person who has been using her platform to do just that is Jen Gotch, the founder and chief creative officer of the lifestyle brand ban.do. In her forthcoming memoir, The Upside of Being Down, Gotch reflects on everything from her childhood—in which her bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety, and ADD were misdiagnosed—to her unexpected career path as an entrepreneur. Can we thrive at work and in our personal lives not despite our struggles, but because of them? Jen Gotch says yes, and I can’t wait to read more of her uplifting message.

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The Upside of Being Down
Jen Gotch

An entertaining, humorous, and inspirational memoir by the founder and chief creative officer of the multimillion-dollar lifestyle brand ban.do, who “has become a hero among women (and likely some men too) who struggle with mental health (Forbes).”

After graduating from college, Jen Gotch was living with her parents, heartbroken and lost, when she became convinced that her skin had turned green. Hallucinating that she looked like Shrek was terrifying, but it led to her first diagnosis and the start of a journey towards self-awareness, acceptance, success, and ultimately, joy.

With humor and candor, Gotch shares the empowering story of her unlikely path to becoming the creator and CCO of a multimillion-dollar brand. From her childhood in Florida where her early struggles with bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety, and ADD were misdiagnosed, to her winding career path as a waitress, photographer, food stylist, and finally, accidental entrepreneur, she illuminates how embracing her flaws and understanding the influence of mental illness on her creativity actually led to her greatest successes in business and life.

Hilarious, hyper-relatable, and filled with fascinating insights and hard-won wisdom on everything from why it’s okay to cry at work to the myth of busyness and perfection to the emotional rating system she uses every day, Gotch’s inspirational memoir dares readers to live each day with hope, optimism, kindness, and humor.

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Procrastibaking
by Erin Gardner

Holly’s Pick

Bad day? Work stress? Too many chores? Or maybe you’re just plain bored. My ever-indulgent solution to all my problems is baking. When the weight of the world is just a bit too heavy, I say throw all your responsibilities aside and whip out your spatula. That’s why I am so ready for Procrastibaking by pastry chef Erin Gardner, who created ErinBakes.com to share tutorials for making cakes and other desserts. She’ll teach us how to procrastinate with “pride and purpose” through over 100 recipes, each one as sweet as the last. While it may take me days to answer your email or weeks to finally clean up my living room, with this book you can always count on me for a batch of cookies to be ready in the oven.

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Procrastibaking
Erin Gardner

Master the art of “doing nothing” in the most delicious way possible with this enticing collection of 100 recipes that are ideal for avoiding laundry, emails, cleaning the house, and well, everything else that wants your attention.

Sometimes you need to take a mini vacation from the demands of daily life, and the kitchen is the best space for it. How can you return those emails when there’s dough on your hands? It would be counterproductive to handle clean laundry after dipping chocolates all afternoon, right? It’s no coincidence that apple season coincides with tax time (for us extension filers, of course)—the universe is sending you a very clear message.

Pastry chef and beloved blogger Erin Gardner provides the ultimate guide to procrastibaking with pride and purpose in this inspired collection of 100 recipes, from easy one-hour projects to weekend affairs. From Case-of-the-Mondays Morning Treats, to Late-for-Everything Loaf Cakes and Fear-of-Success Snack Cakes, this book has a chapter for every procrastibaking need, and recipes to satisfy any craving for distraction. Not feeling that work project? Work on some Peanut Butter S’more Bars instead. Term paper due tomorrow? Making some No-Bake Cookies-n-Cream Pie will get the creative juices flowing. Does your mother-in-law have you channeling Scrooge? This calls for a procrasti-masterpiece, like a Gingerbread House...from scratch.

So don’t be ashamed. Put down the laundry basket. Ignore the emails.

It’s time to procrastibake.

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MENTIONED IN:

Our 19 Most Anticipated New Reads of March 2020

By Get Literary | February 26, 2020

Our 29 Most Anticipated New Reads of Spring 2020!

By Get Literary | January 21, 2020

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These Ghosts Are Family
by Maisy Card

Nicole’s Pick #2

My parents are both from the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada, and though Maisy Card’s These Ghosts Are Family is set in Jamaica, I can’t help but be eager to read a story from the West Indies—a place so familiar to me. The book tells the multigenerational story of a family dealing with trauma in the midst of tumultuous times in Jamaican and American history over the course of decades. Specifically, These Ghosts Are Family revolves around the consequences of Abel Paisley’s decision to fake his own death and assume the identity of his best friend, Stanford Solomon. My 2020 resolution continues to be to read more books by people of color, and I can’t wait to finish this one on my list.

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These Ghosts Are Family
Maisy Card

Longlisted for the 2020 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

A “rich, ambitious debut novel” (The New York Times Book Review) that reveals the ways in which a Jamaican family forms and fractures over generations, in the tradition of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

*An Entertainment Weekly, Millions, and LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2020 Pick and Buzz Magazine’s Top New Book of the New Decade*

Stanford Solomon’s shocking, thirty-year-old secret is about to change the lives of everyone around him. Stanford has done something no one could ever imagine. He is a man who faked his own death and stole the identity of his best friend. Stanford Solomon is actually Abel Paisley.

And now, nearing the end of his life, Stanford is about to meet his firstborn daughter, Irene Paisley, a home health aide who has unwittingly shown up for her first day of work to tend to the father she thought was dead.

These Ghosts Are Family revolves around the consequences of Abel’s decision and tells the story of the Paisley family from colonial Jamaica to present-day Harlem. There is Vera, whose widowhood forced her into the role of a single mother. There are two daughters and a granddaughter who have never known they are related. And there are others, like the houseboy who loved Vera, whpose lives might have taken different courses if not for Abel Paisley’s actions.

This “rich and layered story” (Kirkus Reviews) explores the ways each character wrestles with their ghosts and struggles to forge independent identities outside of the family and their trauma. The result is a “beguiling…vividly drawn, and compelling” (BookPage, starred review) portrait of a family and individuals caught in the sweep of history, slavery, migration, and the more personal dramas of infidelity, lost love, and regret.

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Woman on the Edge
by Samantha M. Bailey

Kristin’s Pick

Woman on the Edge, Samantha Bailey's debut novel is a white-knuckle thrill ride from page one. Imagine you're standing on a subway platform, idly awaiting the train, and just as it barrels into the station a perfect stranger addresses you by name, tosses you her CHILD, and jumps. RIGHT?! That's where this story begins. Poor Morgan Kincaid—she was already just trying to make lemonade out of some serious life lemons, and now she’s embroiled in a nightmare that just keeps getting creepier. With every new chapter comes a new twist. How did that woman she'd never met know her name? And why did the stranger beg Morgan to take her child, to "keep her safe"? Was she paranoid? Suffering from postpartum psychosis? I was myself a Woman on the Edge (of my seat), devouring this book to get all the answers. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.

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Woman on the Edge
Samantha M. Bailey

A moment on the subway platform changes two women’s lives forever—a debut thriller that will take your breath away.

A total stranger on the subway platform whispers, “Take my baby.”

She places her child in your arms. She says your name.

Then she jumps...

In a split second, Morgan Kincaid’s life changes forever. She’s on her way home from work when a mother begs her to take her baby, then places the infant in her arms. Before Morgan can stop her, the distraught mother jumps in front of an oncoming train.

Morgan has never seen this woman before, and she can’t understand what would cause a person to give away her child and take her own life. She also can’t understand how this woman knew her name.

The police take Morgan in for questioning. She soon learns that the woman who jumped was Nicole Markham, prominent CEO of the athletic brand Breathe. She also learns that no witness can corroborate her version of events, which means she’s just become a murder suspect.

To prove her innocence, Morgan frantically retraces the last days of Nicole’s life. Was Nicole a new mother struggling with paranoia or was she in danger? When strange things start happening to Morgan, she suddenly realizes she might be in danger, too.

Woman on the Edge is a pulse-pounding, propulsive thriller about the lengths to which a woman will go to protect her baby—even if that means sacrificing her own life.

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Please See Us
by Caitlin Mullen

Anne’s Pick #1

I’m calling it now: Caitlin Mullen is the feminist voice of crime fiction we need. This author’s atmospheric debut follows grisly Atlantic City murders and gives voices to the lost Jane Does. Please See Us was inspired by true events, and goes beyond true-crime tropes to explore women’s relationships with men of power and wealth. It’s a heart-pounding thriller that follows two young women’s race to find the killer before another victim disappears.

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Please See Us
Caitlin Mullen

In this sophisticated, suspenseful debut reminiscent of Laura Lippman and Chloe Benjamin, two young women become unlikely friends during one fateful summer in Atlantic City as mysterious disappearances hit dangerously close to home.

Summer has come to Atlantic City but the boardwalk is empty of tourists, the casino lights have dimmed, and two Jane Does are laid out in the marshland behind the Sunset Motel, just west of town. Only one person even knows they’re there.

Meanwhile, Clara, a young boardwalk psychic, struggles to attract clients for the tarot readings that pay her rent. When she begins to experience very real and disturbing visions, she suspects they could be related to the recent cases of women gone missing in town. When Clara meets Lily, an ex-Soho art gallery girl who is working at a desolate casino spa and reeling from a personal tragedy, she thinks Lily may be able to help her. But Lily has her own demons to face. If they can put the pieces together in time, they may save another lost girl—so long as their efforts don’t attract perilous attention first. Can they break the ill-fated cycle, or will they join the other victims?

Evocative, eerie, and compelling, Please See Us is a fast-paced psychological thriller that explores the intersection of womanhood, power, and violence.

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The Honey-Don’t List
by Christina Lauren

Anne’s Pick #2

Is there any better sign that winter is waning than an upcoming new spring romance? If you’ve been tearing through Jasmine Guillory, I highly recommend reading Christina Lauren. This best-friends writing duo behind one of my favorite 2019 reads, The Unhoneymooners, is back in perfect form with The Honey-Don’t List. It follows two young assistants who are desperate to keep their jobs despite the stresses of the work...which includes keeping their bosses’ crumbling marriage together on their media stardom book tour. Think the Netflix movie Set It Upmeets HGTV’s Fixer Upper stars Chip and Joanna. Absolute perfection!

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The Honey-Don’t List
Christina Lauren

From the New York Times bestselling author behind the “joyful, warm, touching” (Jasmine Guillory, New York Times bestselling author) The Unhoneymooners comes a delightfully charming love story about what happens when two assistants tasked with keeping a rocky relationship from explosion start to feel sparks of their own.

Carey Douglas has worked for home remodeling and design gurus Melissa and Rusty Tripp for nearly a decade. A country girl at heart, Carey started in their first store at sixteen, and—more than anyone would suspect—has helped them build an empire. With a new show and a book about to launch, the Tripps are on the verge of superstardom. There’s only one problem: America’s favorite couple can’t stand each other.

James McCann, MIT graduate and engineering genius, was originally hired as a structural engineer, but the job isn’t all he thought it’d be. The last straw? Both he and Carey must go on book tour with the Tripps and keep the wheels from falling off the proverbial bus.

Unfortunately, neither of them is in any position to quit. Carey needs health insurance, and James has been promised the role of a lifetime if he can just keep the couple on track for a few more weeks. While road-tripping with the Tripps up the West Coast, Carey and James vow to work together to keep their bosses’ secrets hidden, and their own jobs secure. But if they stop playing along—and start playing for keeps—they may have the chance to build something beautiful together…

From the “hilariously zany and heartfelt” (Booklist) Christina Lauren comes a romantic comedy that proves if it’s broke, you might as well fix it.

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In Five Years
by Rebecca Serle

Saimah’s Pick #2

Where do you see yourself in five years? It’s a question that is often asked during job interviews. Dannie Cohan always knew her answer. She had a vision of not just where she wanted to be in her career but also in her personal life. But on the day where she has a job interview for her dream post at a prestigious law firm in the city followed by a celebratory evening with her fiancé, she suddenly has a vision in her dream. She sees herself five years in the future, living in a new apartment, with a different engagement ring on her finger and a guy who is definitely not her current fiancé. When she wakes again (for real this time), she is back in 2020 with her life as it was when she first fell asleep. She shakes it off, thinking it was all just a dream.

The story then jumps ahead to 2025; Dannie is still engaged to her fiancé and working at the law firm. But when Dannie is out with her best friend, Bella, she suddenly runs into the mystery man from her dream four-and-a-half years ago. I could not believe the twist that Rebecca Serle introduced next—and this book had me rapidly flipping the pages to find out just how this story would end.

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In Five Years
Rebecca Serle

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A Good Morning America, FabFitFun, and Marie Claire Book Club Pick

In Five Years is as clever as it is moving, the rare read-in-one-sitting novel you won’t forget.” —Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists

Perfect for fans of Me Before You and One Day—a striking, powerful, and moving love story following an ambitious lawyer who experiences an astonishing vision that could change her life forever.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Dannie Kohan lives her life by the numbers.

She is nothing like her lifelong best friend—the wild, whimsical, believes-in-fate Bella. Her meticulous planning seems to have paid off after she nails the most important job interview of her career and accepts her boyfriend’s marriage proposal in one fell swoop, falling asleep completely content.

But when she awakens, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. Dannie spends one hour exactly five years in the future before she wakes again in her own home on the brink of midnight—but it is one hour she cannot shake. In Five Years is an unforgettable love story, but it is not the one you’re expecting.

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MENTIONED IN:

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Undercover Bromance
by Lyssa Kay Adams

Saimah’s Pick #3

After reading The Bromance Book Club, I was happy to discover there was an upcoming sequel following the story of my favorite character, Braden Mack. I was lucky to get an advanced copy and devoured this book in a couple of days. Mack is a swoon-worthy guy who loves to read romance novels because he thinks they make him a love expert. What he doesn’t realize is that an IRL romance can be even better than a story.

Braden is an entrepreneur who owns a nightclub and is trying to launch a new restaurant in Nashville. He’s friends with all the bigwigs in the industry. One night while dining at one of Nashville’s hotspots, Mack sees his friend’s sister-in-law, Liv, delivering the restaurant’s famous signature dessert. But when the encounter leads to Liv inadvertently dropping the dessert on Mack’s date, the restaurant owner is LIVID. When Liv heads to his office to discuss the incident, she catches the owner sexually harassing the restaurant’s young hostess. Liv decides to expose the dirtbag, but she needs a little help taking him down. Mack offers his assistance and recruits the guys from the Bromance Book Club to help. As Liv and Mack spend more time with each other while plotting to take down her former boss, they can’t deny the sparks that fly between them.

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Undercover Bromance
Lyssa Kay Adams

Saimah’s Pick #1:  After reading The Bromance Book Club, I was happy to find out there was an upcoming sequel following the story of my favorite character, Braden Mack. I was lucky to get an advanced copy and devoured this book in a couple of days. Mack is a swoon-worthy guy who loves to read romance novels because he thinks they make him a love expert. What he doesn’t realize is that an IRL romance can be even better than a story. Braden is an entrepreneur who owns a nightclub and is trying to launch a new restaurant in Nashville. He is friends with all the big-wigs in the industry. One night while dining at one of Nashville’s hotspots he realizes that his friend’s sister-in-law, Liv Papandreas is delivering the restaurant’s famous signature dessert. But when the encounter leads to Liv inadvertently dropping the dessert on Mack’s date, the restaurant owner is LIVID. When Liv heads to his office to discuss the incident, she catches the owner sexually harassing the restaurant’s young hostess. Liv decides to expose the dirtbag, but she needs a little help taking him down. Mack offers his assistance and recruits the guys from the Bromance Book Club to help. As Liv and Mack spend more time with each other while plotting to take down her former boss, they can’t deny the sparks that fly between them.

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MENTIONED IN:

Our 19 Most Anticipated New Reads of March 2020

By Get Literary | February 26, 2020

Our 29 Most Anticipated New Reads of Spring 2020!

By Get Literary | January 21, 2020

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