Forget the summer novel—it’s in the second half of the year when reading season truly begins. By this point, you might have finally caught up with your overdue to-be-read list from the year past, and are ready to allow yourself to buy new books again. After all, there is no better feeling than ambling through a quaint bookstore (or scrolling through a virtual one) for hours as you fill your cart with new releases to put on your top shelf.
This year, a fresh slate of titles have arrived from the best and brightest minds in the literary world—and our favourite female authors, in particular. Enter the Rooney-verse with Irish novelist Sally Rooney’s upcoming novel, Intermezzo. Her first new release since Beautiful World, Where Are You in 2021, this book sees her venturing into themes of family and grief, no doubt plunging us into a deep existential crisis—as is her wont.
Miranda July is back too. True to form, the subversive artist and writer has penned what has been dubbed “the first great perimenopause novel.” Continuing her work in revealing the grittiest and most gratifying ways a woman’s life can take shape, July writes her way to freedom in her new release, All Fours.
Also on our shortlist is Butter, a translated title. Originally written in 2017 by Asako Yuzuki, the Japanese bestseller has now been translated into English for the first time, allowing audiences to experience it anew and realise that this story examining embedded issues of misogyny, fatphobia and loneliness in Japanese society through the eyes of a reporter hunting a female serial killer is no less relevant nearly a decade later.
1 / 9
'Alphabetical Diaries' by Sheila Heti
Reading a writer’s journal is like looking in their underwear drawer—unless they offer you a peek, of course. Sorting through 10 years’ worth of her own journal entries, Sheila Heti embarks on a grand project to rearrange them in novel ways to make new meaning. Rather than a cosmetic endeavour, Heti births something far more profound, at times redefining the very idea of writing.
2 / 9
'All Fours' by Miranda July
Your favourite author’s favourite author is back—this time, with a book explicitly about perimenopause: that oft-neglected period of time when a woman’s body starts transitioning out of her reproductive years. Standing at this cusp, Miranda July’s protagonist upends her seemingly settled domestic life through a series of simultaneously bizarre and titillating events that will leave you wondering what true freedom could look like.
3 / 9
'Butter' by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton
Manako Kajii, a serial killer convicted for the murders of lonely businessmen seduced by her delicious home cooking, is at the centre of Asako Yuzuki’s thrilling crime novel. Inspired by real-life events, the story vividly examines deeply embedded issues of misogyny, fatphobia and loneliness in Japanese society through the eyes of Rika, a journalist reporting on the case and—worryingly—finding more in common with Kajii than she once thought she had.
4 / 9
'Butcher' by Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates needs no introduction. At 86, Oates sets her 63rd novel—yes, you read that right—in the 19th century, where a disgraced doctor at the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics conducts grotesque medical experiments on women who have been neglected by the state. One of her most surreal and gruesome works yet, the gothic horror novel serves as a scathing commentary on the abuses of the patriarchy.
5 / 9
'Exhibit' by RO Kwon
South Korean–born author RO Kwon writes a hypnotic queer love story full of lust and longing, centred on an Asian American woman torn between her desires and her life. Poetry-like and deeply sensorial, the book fearlessly traverses through religion, kink and unbridled ambition, resulting in one of the sexiest, most thought-provoking novels of the year.
6 / 9
'The Grand Arcade' by Vinita Ramani
A new addition to the local literary landscape comes in the form of Vinita Ramani’s debut fiction collection, which explores the realities that often go unseen in Singapore’s regimented society. From immigrant loneliness to repressed female sexuality, the author takes on challenging themes with raw honesty and colour, bringing her characters to life with plenty of authenticity.
7 / 9
'Intermezzo' by Sally Rooney
If you’ve yet to be inducted into the Rooney-verse, Irish novelist Sally Rooney is best known for titles like Conversations With Friends and Normal People, the latter having spawned a limited series starring Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Set for release this year, her new title will tread fresh territory and venture into themes of family and grief, no doubt plunging us into a deep existential crisis—as is her wont.
8 / 9
'Parade' by Rachel Cusk
Known for subverting the conventions of storytelling, visionary Rachel Cusk produces an anti-novel in Parade—not only surging past the limits of plot, but dispensing with the need for characters themselves. Cusk moves liberally between the first and third person to tell the story of G, which happens to be the name of every protagonist we meet. Mind-bending, philosophical and pleasurably unsettling, this is some of Cusk’s most experimental work yet.
9 / 9
'Committed' by Suzanne Scanlon
In this raw and poignant memoir, Suzanne Scanlon recounts her time in a psychiatric institute following a suicide attempt in the ’90s, delving into the challenges of recovery and the broader cultural narrative surrounding madwomen. As she weaves her personal story with insights from writers like Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath and Audre Lorde, Scanlon reveals a compelling meditation on pain, identity and the transformative power of literature.
