New Book Releases: January 5, 2021

Each week, I’ll catalog the biggest and most exciting adult and YA fiction — and the occasional nonfiction — coming out that Tuesday.

BLACK BUCK, Mateo Askaripour. An unambitious 22-year-old gets a job doing sales at a buzzy new tech startup, where he finds himself transformed into a ruthless and determined ladder climber. “An intellectual and captivating work of satire,” writes Bookpage in a starred review. Bookshop.

NORA, Nuala O’Connor. A reimagining of the life of Nora Joseph Barnacle, James Joyce’s lifelong lover. “A moving examination of an unforgettable family,” writes Publisher’s Weekly. Bookshop.

THE LIFE I’M IN, Sharon G. Flake. In this companion novel to the beloved The Skin I’m In, a young girl is lured into a life of human trafficking. Bookshop.

A CROOKED TREE, Una Mannion. When a 15-year-old and her 12-year-old sister get in an argument on a drive with their mother, the 12-year-old is kicked out of the car, setting in motion a series of violent acts that will change the family forever. “Suspenseful, affecting, and disarmingly evocative of childhood,” says Kirkus. Bookshop.