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Books

Thu Feb 6 2025

Clare Mulroy | Books Reporter

Hi booklovers! It's Clare Mulroy here, USA TODAY's Books Reporter. Here's this week's news in books.

Recently, I read a book that stopped me in my tracks. More specifically, it had me in tears within four pages, a feat that no other book has accomplished in my long journey as a reader. I'm talking about "This is a Love Story" by Jessica Soffer, which traverses a couple's decades together in the backdrop of Central Park. It's an exquisite ode to New York, dripping with vignettes of city life and love.

If that doesn't entice you (though I hope it will), we've got plenty more reads to recommend. Our monthly recap of January new releases includes 15 novels across genres for you to dive into, from contemporary romance to fantasy to historical fiction.

Some of my favorites are:

•	"Homeseeking," a story of childhood friends who fall in love, lose each other and reconnect across the Chinese diaspora and U.S. over sixty years.
•	"We Could Be Rats," a heart-wrenching (but also hilarious) tribute to sisterhood, queerness and mental health.
•	"Good Dirt," from the author of "Black Cake," which follows a wealthy Black New England family and the public spectacle that surrounds them after their son is murdered.

We think you should add these 15 January new releases to your TBR.

Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster

Also on our list is "Onyx Storm," which is still holding strong at the top of the USA TODAY Best-selling Booklist. Freida McFadden's latest, "The Crash," also joins the ranks this week at no. 3.

And if you haven't started reading for our Winter Book Challenge – there's still time! We're raffling off a $100 Bookshop.org gift card to those who submit a completed bingo card. See the full challenge rules here.