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 2022. We think the perfect December reading list should capture the feeling of an ending, and a beginning. So what are the best new book releases of December 2022? Our intrepid team has been exploring and here’s what we found: the best, most anticipated new novels, poetry and essay collections and non-fiction books coming out in December 2022.
what are the most anticipated new book releases coming in December 2022?
Wondering what to read in December 2022? We’ve surveyed the landscape, and here’s our take on the best new novels and non-fiction books coming in December 2022. You can pre-order them now if you like.
Our list of the best releases and most anticipated new novels, essay collections and non-fiction books coming out in December 2022.
1. Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy.
The second volume of The Passenger series, Stella Maris is an intimate portrait of grief and longing, as a young woman in a psychiatric facility seeks to understand her own existence.
2. No One Left to Come Looking for You by Sam Lipsyte.
3. Terra Nova by Henriette Lazaridis
Set in 1910, the novel Terra Nova chronicles a love triangle that spans the globe. Two Antarctic explorers, Watts and Heywoud, are racing to the South Pole. Back in London, Viola, a photo-journalist, harbors love for them both. The narrative weaves back and forth from the austere polar landscape of Antarctica to the bustle of early twentieth century London.
As Viola comes into her own as an artist, the men return, eager to share news of their triumph. But in her darkroom, Viola discovers a lie. The explorers have doctored their photos of the Pole to fake their success. Now she has to decide whether to expose them – or to use their fame to advance her own career.
4. To The Realization Of Perfect Helplessness by Robin Coste Lewis.
The National Book Award–winning poet and author of Voyage of the Sable Venus returns with a cross-disciplinary volume that melds poetry, photography, and the story of human migration. After discovering a treasure trove of photographs decades after her grandmother died – works that documented the daily experiences of Black families in the Great Migration – she decided to caption each one with a poem. The result is a luminous exploration of Black life, and Black joy. From glamorous outings to graduations, birth announcements, baseball leagues, and back-porch delight, this is lyrical homage to Black intimacy.
5. How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler.
The author of How Far the Light Reaches says that they have always been drawn to the mystery of life in the sea, and particularly to creatures living in hostile or remote environments. Each essay in this debut collection profiles one such creature: the mother octopus who starves herself while watching over her eggs. The Chinese sturgeon whose migration route has been decimated by pollution and dams. The bizarre Bobbitt worm (named after Lorena!). And 7 other uncanny creatures lurking in the deep ocean.
6. Your Table Is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D’ by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina.
Everyone who wanted to see and be seen at the hottest restaurants in New York City came to the places the author of Your Table is Ready helped run. His career at the front of the house unfolded during the decades when restaurants replaced clubs and theater as the platforms for New York society’s good and great to take center stage. From the River Café on the Brooklyn Esplanade to Minetta Tavern and Le Coucou, we get an insider’s view of what it takes to take a restaurant to the top in a city like New York – and keep it there.
7. Orchid Muse: A History of Obsession in Fifteen Flowers by Erica Hannickel.
A lighthearted look at the difficulties of keeping an orchid alive in your home, this is for everyone who, like us, have failed at this seemingly simple task. Following plant hunters, royalty like Empress Eugenie and Queen Victoria, and artists like Frida Kahlo, and Margaret Mee, this is “a kaleidoscopic look at orchidomania, including tips on how to keep them alive.”
8. A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley.
Set in Monterey in 1851, Dangerous Business is a tale of women making their way in the world in the West. And also a murder mystery. Eliza and her friend Jean work in a brothel under the supervision of the madam, Mrs. Parks. When the dead bodies of young women start appearing outside of town, a darkness descends that she can’t resist confronting. Side by side with her friend Jean, and inspired by her reading, especially by Edgar Allan Poe’s detective Dupin, Eliza pieces together an array of clues to try to catch the killer,
As Mrs. Parks says, “Everyone knows that this is a dangerous business, but between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
9. Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood by Jessica Grose.
In Screaming on the Inside, the New York Times opinion writer weaves together her personal journey as a mother with scientific, historical, and contemporary reporting to debunk the myth of the perfect mom. Reflecting on pregnancy, identity, work, social media, and the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic, this is a passionate assessment of how we got to this point, why the current state of expectations on mothers is unsustainable, and how we can move toward something better.
10. Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains by Bethany Brookshire
Pests is a fascinating and revealing study of why we deem certain animals “pests” and not others. We love cats but not rats, robins but not pigeons. Why? The author examines what this tells us about our own perceptions, beliefs, and actions, as well as our place in the natural world.
11. Young Bloomsbury: The Generation That Redefined Love, Freedom, and Self-Expression in 1920’s England by Nino Strachey.
Young Bloomsbury is an exploration of the second generation of the iconic Bloomsbury Group who inspired their elders to new heights of creativity and passion while also pushing the boundaries of sexual freedom and gender norms in 1920s England.
most anticipated new book releases coming in December 2022
That’s our roundup of the of the best releases and most anticipated new novels, essay collections and non-fiction books coming out in December 2022. What’s at the top of your list, dear reader?
