What better month to snuggle up with a good book than February? And what better book to snuggle with than an anticipated debut!
Below are a dozen exceptional books that will publish in February, all by first time authors, including four novels, two story collections, four nonfiction works and two books for younger readers.
These books are selected from our February Preview issue, that profiles almost 90 notable books publishing next month,
Enjoy!
Davina, BookBrowse editor
 The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey Novel, 400 pages Publishers February 1 Reagan Arthur Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart - he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone - but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.... Full description & reviews |
 A Good American by Alex George Novel, 400 pages Publishes February 7 Amy Einhorn Books It is 1904. When Frederick and Jette must flee her disapproving mother, where better to go than America, the land of the new? Originally set to board a boat to New York, at the last minute, they take one destined for New Orleans instead ("What's the difference? They're both new"), and later find themselves, more by chance than by design, in the small town of Beatrice, Missouri. Not speaking a word of English, they embark on their new life together... Full description and reviews, including 21 reviews by BookBrowse members |
 Red Plenty by Francis Spufford Novel, 448 pages Publishes February 14, Graywolf Press Red Plenty is history, it's fiction, it's as ambitious as Sputnik, as uncompromising as an Aeroflot flight attendant, and as different from what you were expecting as a glass of Soviet champagne.... Full description & reviews |
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 Monstress: Stories by Lysley TenorioStories, 240 pages Publishes: January 31 Ecco Already the worthy recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Whiting Writer's Award, and a Stegner Fellowship, Tenorio brilliantly explores the need to find connections, the melancholy of isolation, and the sometimes suffocating ties of family in tales that range from a California army base to a steamy moviehouse in Manilla, to the dangerous false glitter of Hollywood. Full description & reviews |
 Drifting House by Krys Lee Stories, 224 pages Publishes: February 2 Viking Spanning Korea and the United States, from the postwar era to contemporary times, Krys Lee's stunning fiction debut, Drifting House, illuminates a people torn between the traumas of their collective past and the indignities and sorrows of their present. Full description & reviews |
 Gypsy Boy: My Life in the Secret World of the Romany Gypsies by Mikey Walsh Memoir, 288 pages February 14 Thomas Dunne Gypsy Boyshows, for the first time, what life is really like among the Romany Gypsies. A surprise #1 bestseller in Great Britain, this is a one-of-a-kind memoir of a little-seen world, one both fascinating and heartbreaking. Full description & reviews |
 King Peggy: An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village by Peggielene Bartels & Eleanor Herman Biography, 352 pages February 21 Doubleday The charming real-life fairy tale of an American secretary who discovers she has been chosen king of an impoverished fishing village on the west coast of Africa. King Peggy has the sweetness and quirkiness of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and the hopeful sense of possibility of Half the Sky. Full description & reviews, including 24 reviews by BookBrowse members |
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 Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo Social Science/Current Events, 288 pages Publishes February 7 Random House A brilliantly written, fast-paced book, based on three years of uncompromising reporting from Annawadi, a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport. With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects human beings to one another in an era of tumultuous change, Behind the Beautiful Forevers carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first century's hidden worlds, and into the lives of people impossible to forget. Full description & reviews, including 25 reviews by BookBrowse members |
 The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth Young Adults, 480 pages Publishes February 7 Balzer + Bray A stunning and unforgettable literary debut about discovering who you are and finding the courage to live life according to your own rules. Full description & reviews |
 Wonder by R. J. Palacio Ages 8+, 320 pages February 14 Knopf Children's Books August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school - until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances? Full description & reviews |
