Boy George’s Dishy Tell-All Memoir Karma and More of PEOPLE's Best New Books to Read in January 2024

See our picks for the best reads of the month

Family secrets uncovered, a murderer awakened, and a conflagration in Greece — here are PEOPLE's picks for the best new books of January.

The "Karma Chameleon" singer writes of his childhood in England, his iconic music career and his relationship with Culture Club bandmate Jon Moss. Oh, and that memorable Janet Jackson interaction. Written like a good talk with an old friend.

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After Daniel Karmody cheats on his cellist fiancée, Alma Soon Ja Lee, with violinist Emi Tokugawa, this particular “fetishist” learns that objectifying Asian women can have consequences. In his case: payback of operatic proportions. Bursting with wit and insight, Min’s novel is a wild delight. — Marion Winik

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Filmmaker Joni Ackerman and her leading lady and best friend, Val, were rising stars in Hollywood until their careers were derailed: Joni’s by marriage to Paul and motherhood, Val’s by a violent rape the women agreed to keep secret. Decades later Paul is the star and Joni adrift when Val’s attacker is accused of multiple sexual assaults. A darkly clever thriller about women’s thwarted ambitions, celebrity, the Time’s Up movement and revenge — Mary PolsBuy it: Amazon, Bookshop.org

Scandal sends professor Cecily Kemp’s career into a tailspin just as her bohemian-to-a-fault mom drops a bombshell about Cecily’s paternity. A wryly funny family drama interlaced with astute observations on aging and academia. — Claire Martin

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After a teenage boy i -

Bill Hayes, Longtime Star of ‘Days,...

s found dead in a Wisconsin resort town, and a girl he knew goes missing, the local sheriff and her troubled son start digging—and wind up entangled in a web of addiction and profiteers. A riveting debut by a nurse practitioner with an insider’s view of the opioid epidemic. — Richard Eisenberg

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Seventeen and rootless, Marley West is captivated by the close-knit Joseph family, owners of a roofing business in small-town Pennsylvania. But once she marries into the clan, its hidden dysfunction becomes evident. Marley spends years trying to earn the Josephs’ respect and prop up their struggling business—and then a body discovered under the collapsed roof of a church threatens to bring all their lives crashing down. An exquisitely observed tale about blood bonds and the toll of secrets. — Robin Micheli

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Steeped in mythology, psychology and true-crime lore, Blake’s cliff-hanger features a young woman who’s been asleep since she murdered her two besties four years earlier. Now it’s time to wake up Sleeping Beauty . . . and unleash a cascade of twists likely to outfox all but the sharpest thriller mavens. — Marion Winik

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Five months after a wildfire nearly destroys her small Greek town, Irini encounters the man who started it. Then he dies mysteriously—and she finds herself under suspicion. A tender depiction of loss and healing that raises compelling questions about guilt and blame in the age of climate change. — Mary Pols

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Federico Luis’ Sometimes Playful, ,...