New month, new books! Book Light is our Dandelion Chandelier curated list of the most-anticipated new book releases every month, and next up is December 2020. If you ask us, the perfect December read has both the bitter and the sweet of the holiday season and the year’s end: hidden treasures, happy surprises, heartbreak and the start of something new. So what are the 10 best new books to read coming out in December 2020 (and the winter 2020-21 season)? Our intrepid team has been exploring and here’s what we found.
what are the most-anticipated new book releases for December 2020?
Wondering what to read in December 2020? We’ve surveyed the landscape, and rounded up a list of the 10 best new books coming this December – which are some of the best new books of the winter 2020-21 season.
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Traditionally, December is a slow month in book publishing, since all of the “big books” of the year have been published, as have all the gift-ready volumes. So what’s left? Some years, dear reader, not much. But happily, this year there are actually some interesting new book releases coming in December 2020. What the month may lack in quantity, it may very well make up in quality!
The best new books of winter 2020-21.
new book releases in December 2020
In the world of fiction, there’s a new novel from Jane Smiley. And a new sparkling New Year’s Eve romance. In the non-fiction aisle, there are several new biographies and memoirs with a focus on unsung heroines and overlooked scoundrels.
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the best new books coming in December 2020
Many of the best books of winter 2020-21 are coming this month. COVID-19 may have thrown the entire world into the upside-down – but at least we’ll have some great reads to distract us during our winter of social distance and Lockdown 35.0.
So, here are our picks of the top 10 new book releases of December 2020 – novels, essay collections, and non-fiction – that we cannot wait to read. You can pre-order them now if you like.
The best new book releases coming in December 2020. Courtesy Photos.
New book releases the week of November 30, 2020
1. Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley
In this latest novel from the great Jane Smiley, we’re off to Paris, where a curious racehorse nicknamed Paras, short for “Perestroika,” makes a jail break and ends up in the Place du Trocadero. Teaming up with a street-savvy German shorthaired pointer named Frida, Paras begins to build a new life. The pair are joined by two irrepressible ducks and an opinionated raven. But then Paras meets a human boy, Etienne, and discovers the ivy-walled house where he and his nearly-one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother live in seclusion – Publication date: December 1, 2020.
2. This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens
There’s always room on our nightstand for a good holiday-themed rom-com and this month, it’s This Time Next Year. Minnie and Quinn are both born at the same hospital just after midnight on New Year’s Day. But Quinn was given the cash prize for being the first baby born in London in 1990 – a prize that Minnie feels was rightfully hers. When the two meet on their 30th birthday, it’s clear that they’re living very different lives and have little in common. But if Quinn and Minnie are from such different worlds, why do they keep bumping into each other? – Publication date: December 1, 2020.
3. Rest and Be Thankful by Emma Glass
In this new novel, a pediatric nurse is on the edge of burnout. When she sleeps, she dreams of water; when she wakes, she finds herself lying next to a man who doesn’t love her anymore. And there is a strange figure dancing in the corner of her vision, always just beyond her reach –Publication date: December 1, 2020.
The best new book releases coming in December 2020. Courtesy Photos.
4. Black Futures by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham
In Black Futures, the two authors set out to address the question “What does it mean to be Black and alive right now?” Filled with photographs, illustrations and even recipes, this is a remarkably creative way to wrestle with one of the most painful and fraught questions we can ask right now – Publication date: December 1, 2020.
5. Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo
In Mediocre, the author of So You Want to Talk About Race returns with a subversive history of white male American identity. From Reconstruction to the present day, she excavates the devastating consequences of white male supremacy on women, people of color, and white men themselves. With a humanistic lens, Oluo investigates the real costs of this history in order to imagine “a new white male identity, one free from racism and sexism” – Publication date: December 1, 2020.
6. All The Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks and Kevin Carr O’Leary
In this deeply poignant memoir, we learn of how in 1986 at the age of 26, Ruth Coker Burks decided to take a proactive act of compassion for a dying young man in a hospital who was a stranger to her. When no one on the medical staff would tend to him, she did – later learning that the scourge of AIDS was what killed him. Rather than joining the numerous people who shunned those stricken by the disease, Burks became their advocate. She helps some find jobs, other medical care, and tragically for some the only service she can provide is finding a funeral home willing to bury them. Ultimately, Governor Bill Clinton appoints her as an advisor on the HIV-AIDS crisis that is devastating the nation – Publication date: December 1, 2020.
What to read in December 2020. Courtesy Photos.
7. Sometimes you have to lie by Leslie Brody
In Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy, the author illuminates the life of the creator of the beloved children’s classic Harriet the Spy. Upon closer examination, she argues that Harriet is a literary feminist in the same vein as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan. If you’re looking for inspiration to chase your dreams, this is a great reminder of the power of fiction to empower us. And the gifts that writers can bestow on readers in the subtlest of ways – Publication date: December 1, 2020.
New book releases the week of December 6, 2020
8. Bag Man by Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz
There were actually several scandals during the Watergate era, and Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-Up and Spectacular Downfall of Brazen Crook in the White House is a window into one that is often forgotten. Spiro Agnew was Richard Nixon’s first Vice President. Previously the Governor of Maryland, he entered the White House with a reputation for corruption. Federal prosecutors were determined to expose him and remove him from office, lest he succeed Nixon when the President resigned. You know how it ends – but’s a wild ride. And it’ll make you really grateful for Gerald Ford – Publication date: December 8, 2020.
9. The Invention of Medicine: From Homer to Hippocrates by Robin Lane Fox
In The Invention of Medicine, the author begins with the Greeks to explore the Western ideas of sickness and healing. – Publication date: December 8, 2020.
The best new books of winter 2020-21. Courtesy Photos.
New book releases the week of December 13, 2020
10. Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel by Rachel Holmes
In this biography of Sylvia Pankhurst, the trailblazing English suffragette comes to vibrant life. An advocate for social justice for all, she fought for worker’s rights, and universal suffrage for women. But she was also against colonialism, fascism and more. The author argues that Pankhurst understood intersectionality long before most, bringing a sharp intellect to the intersections of race, class and gender. After hearing her story, it’s hard to argue with the assertion that Pankhurst was “one of the greatest unsung political figures of the twentieth century” – Publication date: December 15, 2020.
the 10 most-anticipated new books December 2020
Those are our picks for the best and most-anticipated new book releases coming in December 2020. And an overview of options to answer the pressing matter of what to read in December 2020. What’s at the top of your list?
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