We are excited to share 12 highly anticipated debut novels ( with discussion guides ) to introduce to your book club in 2023. From multi-generational sagas to thought-provoking literary fiction, meet the authors who are generating buzz. If you have a Bookclubs account, click on the book images below to add the books to your Books I Want to Read shelf or to recommend them to one of your clubs. If you don’t have a Bookclubs account yet, it’s easy and free to get started here!
Paper Names by Susie Luo
Release date: May 2, 2023
An unexpected act of violence brings together a Chinese-American family and a wealthy white lawyer in this propulsive and sweeping story of family, identity, and the American experience. Set in New York and China over three decades, Paper Names explores what it means to be American from three different perspectives. Taut, panoramic, and powerful, debut novelist Susie Luo's Paper Names is an unforgettable story about the long shadows of our parents, the ripple effect of our decisions, and the ways in which our love transcends difference.
Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
Release date: March 7, 2023
A blazing novel set in the world of Ancient Greece for fans of Jennifer Saint and Natalie Haynes, this is a thrilling tale of power and prophecies, of hatred, love, and of an unforgettable Queen who fiercely dealt out death to those who wronged her.
The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland
Release date: March 7, 2023
Collette LeSange is a lonely artist who heads an elite fine arts school for children in upstate New York. Her youthful beauty masks the dark truth of her life: she has endured centuries of turmoil and heartache in the wake of her grandfather’s long-ago decision to make her immortal like himself. Now in 1984, Collette finds her life upended by the arrival of a gifted child from a troubled home, the return of a stalking presence from her past, and her own mysteriously growing hunger.
Smart, funny, and deeply affecting, Jessica George's Maame deals with the themes of our time with humor and poignancy: from familial duty and racism to female pleasure, the complexity of love, and the life-saving power of friendship. Most important, it explores what it feels like to be torn between two homes and cultures―and it celebrates finally being able to find where you belong.
Everything's Fine by Cecilia Rabess
Release date: June 6, 2023
When Jess lands a job as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, she’s less than thrilled to learn she’ll be on the same team as Josh, her preppy, white, conservative sparring partner from college. Josh loves playing the devil’s advocate and is just…the worst.
But when Jess finds herself the sole Black woman on the floor, overlooked and underestimated, it’s Josh who shows up for her in surprising—if imperfect—ways. Before long, an unlikely friendship—one tinged with undeniable chemistry—forms between the two. A friendship that gradually, and then suddenly, turns into an electrifying romance that shocks them both.
Your Driver is Waiting by Priya Guns
Release date: February 28, 2023
In this electrifyingly fierce and funny social satire—inspired by the iconic 1970s film Taxi Driver—a ride-share driver is barely holding it together on the hunt for love, dignity, and financial security...until she decides she's done waiting.
"A biting and uproarious take on the gig economy, capitalism, and race, this is the kind of book you read in one sitting—preferably not in an Uber." —BuzzFeed
My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin
Release date: February 14, 2023
It’s 1998 and Isabel Rosen, the only daughter of a Lower East Side appetizing store owner, has one semester left at Wilder College, a prestigious school in New Hampshire. Desperate to shed her working-class roots and still mourning the death of her mother four years earlier, Isabel has always felt like an outsider at Wilder but now, in her final semester, she believes she has found her place—until a non-consensual sexual encounter with one of the only other Jewish students on campus leaves her reeling.
The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent
When Clare meets Tabitha, a charismatic, beautiful, and intimidatingly rich girl from her art history class, she knows she’s destined to become friends with her and her exclusive circle: raffish Samuel, shrewd Ava, and pragmatic Imogen. Clare is immediately drawn into their libertine world of sophisticated dinner parties and summers in France. The new life she always envisioned for herself has seemingly begun.
Reimagining the classic themes of obsession and ambition with an original and sinister edge, The Things We Do to Our Friends is a seductive thriller about the toxic battle between those who have and those who covet—between the desire to truly belong and the danger of being truly known.
Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin
Release date: March 31, 2023
There are the goodbyes and then the fishing out of the bodies—everything in between is speculation.
After the last American troops leave Vietnam, siblings Anh, Thanh, and Minh begin a perilous journey to Hong Kong with the promise that their parents and younger siblings will soon follow. But when tragedy strikes, the three children are left orphaned, and sixteen-year-old Anh becomes the caretaker for her two younger brothers overnight.
The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore
Release date: May 16, 2023
Forbidden, passionate, and all-encompassing, Margo and Richard’s love affair was the stuff of legend—but, ultimately, doomed. When Richard walked out, Margo locked herself away, leaving her three daughters, Rachel, Imogen, and Sasha, to run wild.
The Garnett Girls, the captivating debut novel from Georgina Moore, asks whether children can ever be free of the mistakes of their parents.
Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey
Maggie is fine. She’s doing really good, actually. Sure, she’s broke, her graduate thesis on something obscure is going nowhere, and her marriage only lasted 608 days, but at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, Maggie is determined to embrace her new life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée™.
Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul
Release date: May 9, 2023
A celebrity in her own right, Elise St. John would rather focus on sorting out Kitty’s affairs than deal with the press. But what she discovers in one of Kitty’s journals rocks her world harder than any other brewing scandal could—and between a cheating fiancé and fallout from a controversial social media post, there are plenty. The truth behind Kitty's ascent to stardom from her beginnings in the Jim Crow South threatens to expose a web of unexpected family ties, debts owed, and debatable crimes that could, with one pull, unravel the all-American fabric of the St. John sisters and those closest to them.
These book picks are a combination of titles chosen by the Bookclubs editorial staff, and the top titles recommended for book clubs by our publishing sponsors, including Avon, Bantam, Doubleday, Flatiron, Hanover Square Press, Henry Holt, and St. Martins. If you buy books through links on this page, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Related content: Check out our book club tips and inspiration guides or check in every month to see which books are trending as most popular book club books of the month.
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COMMENTS
Anisha
Apr 17, 2023 - 2 years
I would like to read your driver is waiting and wandering souls.