Charleston Reporter

 by Lily King

What it is: a short story collection from a novelist the Chicago Tribune describes as "wildly talented." These short stories explore strength, grief, violence -- but at the edges of it all, a longing for love. Unlikely pairings appear throughout, from college students who offer unexpected refuge to a teen house sitter, to complex mother-daughter relationships laced with a bitter bite and a youthful nanny's obsession with Jane Eyre.

What to read next: Readers captivated by the yearning, bittersweet elements of King's short stories will find similarly moving, character-driven fare in the debut collection Objects of Desire by Clare Sestanovich. 

 by Aysegül Savas

What it's about: An unnamed art history grad student researching nudity in medieval art rents a studio space occasionally shared by her landlord's wife, Agnes, whose subdued white-on-white paintings slowly reveal an unraveling psyche.

Who it's for: This leisurely-paced novel will interest fans of Claire Messud's The Woman Upstairs. While both are novels about art-obsessed women whose relationship devolves from passionate admiration to distrust, White on White has more menacing overtones -- so buckle up.

 by Mario Vargas Llosa

The setup: 1950s Guatemala is a powder keg of big business and political turmoil, which the CIA leverages to cement US interests. A 1954 coup ousts President Arbenz; his successor, Castillo Armas, is assassinated after only three years in power. But it is Armas' lover, Marta, who drives much of the story -- first as his advisor...then as his betrayer.

Read it for: a riveting exploration of the shadowlands where political history and fiction meet, when -- decades later -- a writer (implied to be a stand-in for Vargas Llosa himself) interviews Marta on her role in events.

Critical acclaim: "History here gets a compelling human face through an artist’s dramatic brilliance" (Kirkus Reviews).

 by Jung Yun

Starring: forty-ish Elinor, a former model and would-be journalist whose Korean mother abandoned the family when Elinor was just a pre-teen.

What happens: Elinor's former lover (and writing mentor) sends her back to her hometown of Avery, North Dakota, to cover a story on the town's explosive oil boom and its aftereffects. As Elinor investigates, she must confront the town's sharp divides of race, class, and gender -- and her own unresolved identity issues.

What's the buzz? "Yun successfully takes on a host of hot button subjects, drilling through them with her protagonist’s laser-eyed focus" (Publishers Weekly). 

 by Megan Angelo

What happens: Two storylines unfold, one set in 2016, and one in 2051. Separating the two is a catastrophic data hack.

Why you might like it: Exploring the pitfalls of social media, this debut novel takes contemporary interest in celebrity culture to its logical extreme.

For fans of: Dave Eggers' The Circle; Courtney Maum's Touch, or Connie Willis' Crosstalk -- all of which touch on different aspects of the trouble with technology and social media. 

 by Sophie Cousens

What happens: New Year babies Minnie and Quinn (with Quinn in the lead) are born just minutes apart in London, on January 1, 1990. While Quinn seems born under a lucky star, Minnie's misfortunes multiply...especially on her birthday. After decades of near-misses, their 30th birthdays finally see them brought together.

Why you might like it: This rom-com read delivers a likeable blend of destiny, mischance, and zany humor in the vein of Bridget Jones' Diary. Perfect seasonal reading to kick off 2022!

 by Asha Lemmie

What it's about: Born in the aftermath of WWII as the  illegitimate child of a Japanese noblewoman and a Black American GI, at age eight Nori Kamiza is left with her strict Japanese grandparents. She is locked away for years, beaten regularly, and subjected to bleach baths as they try to erase her biracial identity. Nori eventually escapes and finds refuge with her half-brother, Akira. However, her fate is far from a pat happily ever-after.

Read it for: a sweeping and heartwrenching coming-of-age story set against the tides of war and a family's struggle with the particular (often cruel) norms of their time and place.

 by Peace Adzo Medie

Starring: young Ghanaian Afi Tekple, who escapes poverty with an arranged marriage to wealthy Eli, who does not attend his own wedding and prioritizes his business (and his mistress) over Afi.

What happens: Making full use of her new family's connections, Afi learns new skills and gains confidence -- and soon wants to be the only woman in her husband's life.

Reviewers say: "an emotional rollercoaster" (Booklist).  

 by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Where it starts: Fifteen-year-old Vanessa, struggling with the loss of her best friend, finds herself drawn into an illicit affair with her English teacher at a Maine boarding school.

Where it goes: Seventeen years later, a younger student is raising allegations of sexual misconduct by the same professor. A dual narrative emerges, in which an adult Vanessa must confront her past and reframe its reality in a post-#MeToo society.

Have a taste: "Because even if I sometimes use the word abuse to describe certain things that were done to me, in someone else's mouth the word turns ugly and absolute...It swallows me and all the times I wanted it, begged for it."