11 of Our Team’s Latest Book Recommendations Perfect for the New Year

Check out our team’s latest book recommendations!

Calling all bookworms!
Looking to escape reality with a new book? We know the feeling, and it’s why we absolutely love getting lost in a good book. We’ve recently scouted the best team book recommendations, and the feedback we received is well-rounded enough for every fictional adventure you may be seeking.

Grabbing yourself a new book to kick off the new year is a great way to tap into any “read more” New Year resolutions on the horizon. As always, don’t forget to let us know any book recommendations you also have.

Here are our team’s top book recommendations:

1. If you like contemporary literature, read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

2. If you like suspenseful thrillers, read The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell.

Although this novel is not necessarily scary, it will keep you on the edge of your seat! Chelsey Mansion is an estate with a ton of secrets, and when a former orphan receives it as a distant inheritance, those who lived there in the past must return and try to protect their secrets from the house. What exactly happened in this mansion that needs to be protected?

3. If you like problem-solving novels, read Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell.

4. If you like war fiction, read Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams.

This story follows Janey, a photographer and war correspondent on a mission. She’s visiting Hawaii with hopes to write a biography on an aviation pioneer who’s been seemingly forgotten from the Spanish Civil War. The plot remains intriguing throughout, with turns and surprises you’d never expect!

5. If you like Sci-Fi, read The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes by Suzanne Collins.

If you’re a fan of The Hunger Games series, take a trip back in time in this prequel to the tenth annual Hunger Games. We follow a young Coriolanus Snow when he was just 18 years old as a mentor for the Games, and the preparation is not full of the glitz and glam we’ve seen. He’s matched with the humiliating task of mentoring District 12’s female contestant, Lucy.

Despite the dull hometown, Lucy is anything but boring, and, through their unexpected connection, we see the events that lead up to Snow becoming the infamous, and arguably heartless, President Snow we’ve seen him be. This novel was released in 2020, and it has rightfully been met with such praise. It gives you a better understanding of the trilogy and why Panem is the way it is!

6. If you like romance, read It Ends with Us and It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover.

If you’ve been on “BookTok” lately, you’ve likely heard of this series, especially since It Starts with Us was just released this year. It follows a woman named Lily who’s rebuilt her life in ways she never thought possible. She builds a life with her husband, Ryle, but, when Lily’s first love Atlas reappears, her new life may be jeopardized. The second book continues right where the first leaves off.

This is actually Collin’s top pick; it’s been taking her just three days to read each Colleen Hoover novel, and these two are her favorites!

7. If you like haunting non-fiction, read The Radium Girls by Kate Moore.

The Radium Girls covers an intense chapter of history where women fought America’s Undark danger during World War I. It covers issues including labor laws based on events that set the scenes for today’s working conditions.

While many of our team book recommendations are meant for adults, there is a young reader edition if you want your little ones to read this captivating novel without any overly haunting descriptions.

8. If self-improvement is what you’re seeking, read I Thought It Was Just Me by Brené Brown.

There is social pressure in every aspect of our lives. Whether your struggles are internal or societal, you deserve to be validated and feel supported.

This self-help novel alleviates your stress by providing ways to cope with these anxieties in a healthy way that won’t deter your life. It reminds us that we are in control of our own feelings and standards. Most importantly, it covers the differences between guilt versus shame, which is a recurring theme in many Brené Brown publications.

9. If you enjoy historical fiction, read The Alice Network by Kate Quinn.

An Amazon editors’ pick, this novel follows two stories that alternate per chapter about two cousins. After World War II, a young woman named Charlie is at odds with her extremely straight-arrow family after she finds out she is pregnant while unmarried in 1947.

While her family is blinded by disappointment, Charlie is more interested in finding her cousin, Rose, who has been missing in Nazi-occupied France. When she gets the boot, she heads to London to find her cousin, but Rose hasn’t been in the same kind of trouble Charlie originally thought.

Reviews mentioned that one story is told in a third-person perspective while the other is in a first-person perspective. Although that may seem tricky, the writer does a beautiful job of writing these two women’s stories clearly and eloquently. Our Hip sidekick Alli said she has not been able to stop thinking about this book since she finished it!

10. If you like thrillers, read The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

This novel is one of the most chilling yet incredible stories in the thriller genre. It follows the story of Alicia, an artist who seemingly lived the best life. This was turned upside down when she caused her husband’s death, which resulted in her refusing to speak even when arrested.

Her psychotherapist Theo is determined to crack this case, but his determination turns into an obsession regarding Alicia’s case.

11. If you like light reads, read Magical Midlife Madness by K.F. Breene.

Think of this novel as a coming of age but following a charismatic and hilarious female lead in her forties. After her husband of 20 years leaves and her son moves to college, this lead finds herself looking for a new adventure.

This novel is truly refreshing, light-hearted, and hilarious! It proves that, regardless of age, you can always find new adventures and start over.

Check out these 10 Best-Selling Kindle Unlimited eBooks on Amazon!