The 20 books you need to read in February 2019

01 of 21

Get cozy with these must-reads

february-books — Ecco; Berkley; Riverhead Books; Knopf; Simon + Schuster

Lush romances just in time for Valentine's Day, steamy thrillers to get you through sub-freezing temperatures, and a few brilliant literary achievements should keep you busy during the shortest month of the year.

02 of 21

The Age of Light, by Whitney Scharer

Whitney Scharer, The Age of Light Publisher: Little, Brown and Company — Little, Brown and Company

Scharer’s splashy first book is a lush fictionalized study of Lee Miller, the photographer who struck up a passionate dalliance with the artist Man Ray. Read a preview. (Feb. 5)

03 of 21

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, by Marlon James

Teased as the “African Game of Thrones,” this epic fantasy by the Man Booker Prize winner (A Brief History of Seven Killings) is set to kick off a new trilogy called The Dark Star. Read an excerpt. (Feb. 5)

04 of 21

Bowlaway, by Elizabeth McCracken

Elizabeth McCracken, BowlawayCredit: Ecco — Ecco

The brilliantly witty writer returns with her first novel in 18 years, an incisive and generous portrait of a New England clan who operate a candlepin bowling alley. (Feb. 5)

05 of 21

The Collected Schizophrenias, by Esmé Weijun Wang

Esme Wang, The Collected Schizophrenias Publisher: Graywolf Press — Graywolf Press

Wang won a prestigious Whiting Award for this utterly unique book of essays: a deep, illuminating, and explosively written dive into a life of living with mental illness. (Feb. 5)

06 of 21

How to Be Loved, by Eva Hagberg Fisher

Eva Hagberg Fisher, How to Be LovedPublisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Fisher recounts the harrowing fallout of the rupture of an undiscovered mass in her brain at age 30, as well as the people — a few friends in particular — who helped bring her back to herself. (Feb. 5)

07 of 21

The Lost Man, by Jane Harper

The best-selling author (The Dry) delivers a nuanced but pulse-pounding thriller set in the heart of the Australian Outback, where two brothers find their sibling dead. (Feb. 5)

08 of 21

Merchants of Truth, by Jill Abramson

Jill Abramson, Merchants of TruthPublisher: Simon & Schuster — Simon + Schuster

The product of a seven-figure book deal, Merchants of Truth explores the disruption of the news media over the last decade. Abramson, the former executive editor of The New York Times who was controversially fired in 2014, seems like the perfect person to tell that story, though the book has drawn allegations of poor fact-checking and misleading readers in advance of publication. (Feb. 5)

09 of 21

On the Come Up, by Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas, On the Come UpPublisher: Balzer + Bray — Balzer + Bray

Thomas had a big 2018 without even publishing a book, as the film adaptation of her red-hot debut, The Hate U Give, hit theaters to great acclaim. Now the author has her encore: the story of aspiring rapper Bri, and an ode to hip-hop. Read a preview. (Feb. 5)

10 of 21

The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides

the-silent-patient-1-2000 — Celadon Books

Optioned for film by Brad Pitt's Plan B and breaking presale records, The Silent Patient is one of the year's most highly anticipated thrillers. It depicts the high-stakes relationship between an obsessive psychotherapist and a woman who's just killed her husband. Read an excerpt. (Feb. 5)

11 of 21

Where Reasons End, by Yiyun Li

Coming off her gorgeously devastating memoir Dear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life, Li turns back to fiction with this dark, moving novel. Where Reasons End imagines a series of conversations between a mother and her son, who has just died by suicide. (Feb. 5)

12 of 21

American Spy, by Lauren Wilkinson

This ingenious update on the spy novel is set in the heart of the Cold War, and combines the comforting thrills of espionage classics with an urgent interrogation of race in America. (Feb. 12)

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The Heavens, by Sandra Newman

We're in New York in the summer of 2000, at a spacious apartment where a gorgeous young couple fall in love. But both harbor secrets, and one seems to be losing her grip on reality. (Feb. 12)

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Leading Men, by Christopher Castellani

Christopher Castellani, Leading Men Publisher: Viking — Viking

A slice of queer historical fiction that we hope is as delectable as it sounds. Castellani examines the relationship between Tennessee Williams, his lover Frank Merlo, and the mysterious young beauty Anja Blomgren that formed over the hot, fateful summer of 1953. (Feb. 12)

15 of 21

Lost Children Archive, by Valeria Luiselli

Valeria Luiselli, Lost Children ArchivePublisher: Knopf — Knopf

This could be a major moment for Luiselli, the two-time National Book Critics Circle Award finalist behind Faces in the Crowd and The Story of My Teeth. Her new book is in many ways a classic American family road-trip novel, only one that confronts our ongoing immigration border crisis. (Feb. 12)

16 of 21

The Source of Self-Regard, by Toni Morrison

A new collection from essays and speeches from one of our greatest living writers includes explorations of culture, art, and society. These pieces have been drawn across four decades of Morrison's writing. (Feb. 12)

17 of 21

Bangkok Wakes to Rain, by Pitchaya Sudbanthad

bangkok-wakes-to-rain-1-2000 — Riverhead Books

In his lyrical debut novel, Sudbanthad spans an entire century in his vast, illuminating portrait of Bangkok, bringing together a cast of characters as they experience love, revolution, and sorrow. (Feb. 19)

18 of 21

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls, by Anissa Gray

ravenously-hungry-girls-1-2000 — Berkley

This intimate family saga, sure to appeal to fans of Tayari Jones and Celeste Ng, follows the Butlers, pillars of their community, and the aftermath of an arrest that leaves them in disgrace. (Feb. 19)

19 of 21

The Raven Tower, by Ann Leckie

With just four books to her name, Leckie (Ancillary Justice) has emerged as one of the most game-changing speculative-fiction authors around, netting Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke awards. The Raven Tower is her first fantasy novel. (Feb. 26)

20 of 21

Vacuum in the Dark, by Jen Beagin

Fans of Beagin's spiky debut Pretend I'm Dead should cheer the author's quick follow-up, which brings back the character of Mona (now in Taos, New Mexico) and trades her first boyfriend, Mr. Disgusting, for an equally, unconventionally memorable new romantic partner. (Feb. 26)

21 of 21

We Cast a Shadow, by Maurice Carlos Ruffin

Ruffin's pointed satire imagines a near-future in which racism has been further normalized in American society, centering on a multiracial family vying to protect themselves from an increasingly unsafe world. (Jan. 29)