Spend the shortest month of the year with a book that is worth your time. The best new books to read in February include best-seller Ali Hazelwood’s latest romance, transgender activist Jennifer Finney Boylan’s second memoir, and Virginia Feito’s blood-soaked sophomore novel about a sociopathic governess.
Get ready to fall in love with critic Sarah Chihaya’s debut memoir, which looks at her obsession with books, or Cristina Rivera Garza’s subversive thriller about a poetry-obsessed serial killer. Allegra Goodman uses the true story of Marguerite de La Rocque, a French noblewoman who was abandoned in 16th century Canada, as inspiration for her new novel, Isola. And Rich Benjamin’s debut memoir is a deeply reported love letter to his mom, the daughter of Haitian politician Daniel Fignolé.
Here, the 11 new books you should read in February.
Cleavage, Jennifer Finney Boylan (Feb. 4)
In 2003, Jennifer Finney Boylan released her groundbreaking first memoir She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, which chronicled the earliest years of her gender transition. More than two decades later, she is once again reflecting on what it means to be a trans person in America. With Cleavage, her new memoir-in-essays, she examines the growing gender divide at this critical juncture in the U.S. She reflects on the differences between manhood and womanhood as she has experienced them since her transition in 2000, as well as the experiences of those who exist outside the binary, in hopes of narrowing the gap between us all.
Buy Now: Cleavage on Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Bibliophobia, Sarah Chihaya (Feb. 4)
In 2019, essayist Sarah Chihaya had a nervous breakdown that coincided with a bout of the titular anxiety disorder, which causes someone to have an intense and irrational fear of books and writing. With her memoir, Chihaya explores her lifelong struggle with mental illness and obsession with books—specifically those she refers to as “Life Ruiners,” the literature that became integral to her being, sometimes in a negative way. She shares how those books, which range from Anne of Green Gables to The Last Samurai, fueled her descent into madness — and how they helped her find her way out.
Buy Now: Bibliophobia on Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Victorian Psycho, Virginia Feito (Feb. 4)
Virginia Feito’s grisly follow-up to her 2021 debut, Mrs. March, centers on a sociopathic English governess with a taste for vengeance. When Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House, she plans to do nothing more than teach the children how to read and write. But as Christmas rolls around, she succumbs to her bloodthirsty ways in this tongue-in-cheek thriller set to become an A24 film starring The Substance’s Margaret Qualley.
Buy Now: Victorian Psycho on Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Isola, Allegra Goodman (Feb. 4)
Three years after the release of her best-selling novel, Sam, Allegra Goodman returns with a thrilling tale of resilience inspired by the true story of Marguerite de La Rocque, the 16th-century French noblewoman who was abandoned on a deserted island. In Isola, Marguerite’s jealous guardian accuses her of having an affair with his servant. He dumps her and her lover on a hidden isle off the coast of Canada that is full of polar bears and little else. In order to survive, Marguerite must do what she’s never had to before: fend for herself.
Buy Now: Isola on Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Deep End, Ali Hazelwood (Feb. 4)
Take a dive into the Deep End, Ali Hazelwood’s steamy new romance set in the world of collegiate swimming. Scarlett Vandermeer is a talented Stanford diver who is recovering from an injury that almost ended her career and far too busy studying to become a doctor to even think about dating. That is, until she meets Lukas Blomqvist, a popular competitive swimmer and her best friend’s former crush. They couldn’t be more different on paper—he’s the life of the party, she’s more likely to be found in the library—but they both share an interest in BDSM. When the two embark upon a mutually beneficial and consensual sexual relationship, Scarlett questions whether she’s looking for more than just a good time.
Buy Now: Deep End on Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Pure Innocent Fun, Ira Madison III (Feb. 4)
With his debut essay collection, Pure Innocent Fun, Ira Madison III takes the pop culture that made him who he is today very seriously. Across 16 essays, the critic, TV writer, and host of the Keep It podcast writes about the effect Oprah’s weight-loss odyssey, Jennifer Hudson’s American Idol loss, and his genuine love of Coldplay had on him while growing up as a gay Black man in Milwaukee. As he gives new consideration to the cultural touchstones of his youth, he explores how each helped him find his critical voice as an adult.
Buy Now: Pure Innocent Fun on Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Talk to Me, Rich Benjamin (Feb. 11)
In his debut memoir, Talk to Me, cultural critic Rich Benjamin unearths the secrets of his family’s hidden past in hopes of better understanding his mother. In 1957, a coup ended the presidency of his grandfather, the Haitian folk hero Daniel Fignolé, and shattered the lives of the entire family. But no one, including Benjamin’s mom, an advocate for children who was often cold to her own son, ever talked about the events of that time. Through intense research, Benjamin looks to understand the far-reaching consequences of the devastating political event.
Buy Now: Talk to Me on Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Alligator Tears, Edgar Gomez (Feb. 11)
Alligator Tears, the follow-up to Edgar Gomez’s 2022 memoir, High-Risk Homesexual, offers a look at the author’s experience growing up poor, queer, and Latinx in Florida. Across 10 essays, he chronicles years of working thankless jobs, including a stint as a flip-flop salesman, and the difficult choices his family had to make to get by, including whether or not to call an ambulance they knew they couldn’t afford. Throughout the book, he also shares how he was able to crawl his way out of poverty through a mix of hard, often low-paying work and more than a few well-timed scams.
Buy Now: Alligator Tears on Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
You Didn’t Hear This From Me, Kelsey McKinney (Feb. 11)
Kelsey McKinney, the former host of the Normal Gossip podcast, uses her latest book to explore society’s obsession with hearsay — and why that’s not such a bad thing. Well, until it is. You Didn’t Hear This From Me, a mix of cultural criticism, modern history, and personal memoir, breaks down the differences between harmless rumors and outright lies in order to show the important role gossip plays in human connection.
Buy Now: You Didn’t Hear This From Me on Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
The World After Gaza, Pankaj Mishra (Feb. 11)
With The World After Gaza, award-winning journalist Pankaj Mishra looks to reevaluate, recontextualize, and reframe the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. He does this by taking a closer look at how the Holocaust became a way for the U.S. and other Western nations to justify Israel’s actions. From there, Mishra explores how the selective reading of global history is hardening us to the tragedies happening not only in Gaza, but also all around the world.
Buy Now: The World After Gaza on Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Death Takes Me, Cristina Rivera Garza (Feb. 25)
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cristina Rivera Garza’s 2007 lyrical novel, newly translated from the original Spanish by Robin Myers and Sarah Booker, is a serial killer tale with a twist. Death Takes Me begins with a literature professor finding the body of a mutilated man only to discover that she has an odd connection to the crime scene. The police find lines of poetry from the late real-life Argentine poet Alejandra Pizarnik, who she has studied for years. As more bodies pile up, the professor is enlisted to help catch the poetry-obsessed murderer. But when she starts receiving cryptic notes from the mysterious killer, she begins to worry that she could be the next victim.
Buy Now: Death Takes Me on Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
