Ten new books for your 2024 reading list

From Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s long lost novel to acclaimed poet Kaveh Akbar's debut, the new year promises to be full of literary delights

2024 promises to be a year full of great novels, from debut authors to legendary storytellers, with unique premises and intriguing plots. Photo: Ultimo Press, Picador, Bloomsbury, Macmillan, HarperCollins, Penguin UK, W&N, Penguin Random HouseShow less

It’s time to start planning your reading for the year.

The new year promises to be full of great novels from debut authors to beloved storytellers, with unique premises and intriguing plots.

There is a story about a volcanic eruption that will ruin a wedding, the tale of an American nurse during the Vietnam War in 1965 and a dysfunctional Iranian-American family that must come to terms with who they really are before the world decides for them.

Here are the 10 new releases to keep in mind by writers from around the world.

Politica by Yumna Kassab

Release date: January 3

Politica is set in an unnamed country and depicts the effects of war and violence on civilians. Photo: Ultimo Press

The Lebanese-Australian author is known for her poetic prose in previous works such as The Lovers and The House of Youssef.

In her new novel Kassab pushes her storytelling boundaries by presenting a literary story that delves into the intertwined lives of a town, its people, and an unnamed region affected by revolution and war.

Readers will experience how the impact of violence affects those who choose to leave and those who were left behind.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

Release date: January 23

Exploring themes of displacement, family and friendship Martyr! is the first novel by Kaveh Akbar. Photo: Picador

The much-anticipated debut novel of Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar is being heralded as a new and important voice in the contemporary fiction landscape.

Martyr! follows the story of Cyrus Shams, a recently sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants searching for answers to a family secret. His search leads him to meet Orkideh, a terminally ill artist living out her days in the Brooklyn Museum where their newfound friendship and bond changes the course of both their lives.

Come and Get It by Kiley Reid

Release date: January 30

Come and Get It is the highly anticipated novel by Kiley Reid after her bestseller, Such a Fun Age. Photo: Bloomsbury

After her New York Times bestseller Such a Fun Age, Reid is back with a new novel about desire and consumption.

Come and Get It follows the ambitious Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant at the University of Arkansas who wants to graduate, get a job and buy a house. It all seems too good to be true when she is presented with an easy but slightly odd opportunity by a visiting professor which will help her make the money she needs.

But the perfect opportunity is suddenly at risk when strange new friends, dorm pranks and some illegal activities force Millie to think that nothing is as it seems.

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Release date: February 6

Kristin Hannah's new novel aims to depict the Vietnam war from the perspective of one woman while reflecting the experiences of many. Photo: Macmillan

Readers know they are in safe hands with Hannah. Her bestselling 2015 novel The Nightingale was one of the most talked about books on TikTok in 2023.

Her new novel The Women follows nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath, 20, who was raised by her conservative parents in Coronado Island. Her life and the world completely changes in 1965 when her brother sets off to serve in the Vietnam War. On a whim, Frankie decides to joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows in his path.

What unravels is not only the chaos and trauma of war but what happens in America, a nation divided by war and politics, and the experiences of many women just like Frankie.

End of Story by AJ Finn

Release date: February 20

End of Story looks at the way writers combine fact and fiction from their lives. Photo: HarperCollins

Known for his thrilling novel, The Woman in the Window, Finn’s latest is a mystery about a novelist with one last story to write.

When Nicky Hunter is invited by the reclusive mystery novelist Sebastian Trapp to stay with him and his family in his mansion, she has no clue what she is signing up for. Sebastian is dying and asks Nicky to write his personal memoir which is only to be seen by his immediate family.

Nicky is then trapped in between the intertwined lives and stories of Trapp’s family and the mysterious disappearance of his first wife and teenage son.

Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez

Release date: March 5

Xochitl Gonzalez moves between two characters living in different times connected by being talented outsiders to the art world. Photo: Macmillan

Raquel is a student of colour in her third-year art history degree at a prestigious university who feels out of place among the privileged students who already have their futures carved out for them.

But when she stumbles upon the story of Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world who was found dead in New York City in 1985, she sees eerie connections in both their lives. Raquel's life takes an even stranger turn when, simultaneously, she becomes romantically involved with a well-connected art student and finds herself rising up in the unwelcoming art world.

The novel by Xochitl Gonzalez, alternates between the perspectives of both women, revealing a series of events tied to themes of power, class, love and art.

Until August by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Release date: March 12

Exploring themes of meditation, grief and self-transformation Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel will be released a decade after his death. Photo: Penguin UK

Perhaps the most anticipated book of the year, Until August is the rediscovered novel of magic realism master Gabriel Garcia Marquez and is set to be released a decade after his death.

Ana Magdalena Bach is happily married but travels to an island every August to visit her mother's grave and, while there, for one night only, takes a new lover.

Not much else has been released about the plot of the novel except that it delves into themes of female freedom, desire, and transformation. The novel is also expected to reveal more about the renowned author's literary trajectory.

The Morningside by Tea Obreht

Release date: March 19

The Morningside is a dystopian story about family, secrets and discovering the self. Photo: W&N

From critically-acclaimed author Tea Obreht comes a new dystopian-themed novel that explores myth, storytelling and the relationship between mothers and their daughters.

After being expelled from their ancestral home, Silvia and her mother settle at the Morningside, a decaying luxury tower in Island City. Silvia feels unsettled in their new life, mainly because of her mother’s secretive nature about their family’s past.

This forces Sylvia to make sense of their present, their past and ultimately her own future, as she forms new relationships and discovers secrets that were never meant to come to light.

Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan

Release date: May 21

Kevin Kwan once again pulls open the curtain on a world of wealth and secrets. Photo: Penguin Random House

Kevin Kwan’s intriguing world of the rich and the super-rich that he so vividly depicted in Crazy, Rich Asians is once again the setting of his new novel, Lies and Weddings.

Rufus Leung Gresham, the future Duke of Greshambury, has the reputation and appearance of being filthy rich – but nothing could be further from the truth. As he and his family are feeling the weight of mounting debts, Rufus’s scheming mother suggest a plan. Rufus is to attend his sister’s wedding at a luxury eco-resort where he must seduce a very rich woman.

But when a volcano on the island erupts, not only putting a halt to the wedding but revealing old secrets of the Gresham family, it's up to Rufus to save his family's name and himself in the process.

Tehrangeles by Porochista Khakpour

Release date: June 11

Reality TV fame and its consequences on one family will be dissected in Porochista Khakpour's new book. Photo: Penguin Random House

From acclaimed Iranian-American writer Porochista Khakpour comes Tehrangeles, a novel about the hunger for fame and its consequences.

The novel follows Iranian-American multimillionaires Ali and Homa Milani and their four daughters who are about to strike a deal for their very own reality TV series.

However the dysfunctional family soon realises that their deepest darkest secrets might be dragged out into the open before the cameras even start to rolling. How will they cope with fame if all of them have something to hide?