Browns Best New Books for January 2024
2nd January 2024
Every month we carefully select our favourites from the fabulous new titles on offer. It’s a brand-new year and there’s a bumper crop of great new books coming out in 2024. From returning authors with another reliable hit (we’re looking at you Holly Jackson, Elle McNicoll and Matt Haig!) to exciting newcomers ready to make their voices heard and put their stamp on the literary scene. We can’t predict everything the new year will bring but based on 2024’s new book releases we have a feeling we’ll spend a lot of it reading. Make it your New Year’s resolution to clear some space on your bookshelves and read those January blues away.
Check back next month for our picks of the new books February has to offer.
Adult Non-Fiction
Bored of Lunch Healthy Slow Cooker: Even Easier
Anthony, Nathan
Hardback
Take one social media sensation, add easy to follow recipes, a dash of affordable ingredients and a sprinkle of meal prep… give it a good mix and leave on high for 5-6 hours and you’ve got Bored of Lunch: Healthy Slow Cooker Even Easier! Nathan Anthony is the creator of hit food platform Bored of Lunch, launched during lockdown to help get people cooking healthier food. After the success of his first two books, he is back with another bestseller to transform your weeknight cooking.
More than ever, we are looking for ways to save on our household bills and slow cookers offer a low-energy alternative to a conventional oven. Anthony amazes us with what you can cook in these nifty little money savers; from curries, soups and pies to pastas, desserts and fakeaways. Focusing on only easy-to-find ingredients and as little meal prep as possible, food has never been so effortless and affordable. Whether you’re a cooking newbie or a Michelin star chef this book is a budget-friendly kitchen cupboard staple, especially during the winter months.
More DetailsAdult Fiction
The Atlas Complex
Blake, Olivie
Hardback
There have been two buzz words in the book world in 2023 - Dark Academia. Put simply, literary, moody and sinister and all within a school setting. Combine these with betrayals, twisted relationships and a magical library and you’ve reached Olivie Blake’s conclusion to the Atlas trilogy! It’s a series you never want to end but need answers for.
The Atlas Complex makes a devastating return to the library in which the Alexandrians are ready to kill for knowledge and deceive for power. This finale feels like an intricate puzzle with all the pieces slowly slotting into place. After learning about the past, secrets and motives of the initiates in the society we finally see who will compete for limitless supremacy, and who will be destroyed along the way. Without giving anything away, by the end of this fantastic book you will have to convince yourself magic isn’t real and question your own morals. Described as a ‘TikTok fantasy phenomenon’ the heart-shattering conclusion to the Atlas series is a gripping start to 2024.
More DetailsChildren’s Non-Fiction
Healthy Mind, Happy You: How to Take Care of Your Mental Health
MacDonagh, Dr Emily
Paperback / softback
After the success of Growing Up For Girls and Growing Up For Boys, Dr Emily MacDonagh is adding to the Growing Up series with a new fact-packed book about maintaining a good mental health. As a practicing NHS doctor, Emily MacDonagh advocates that looking after your mind is just as important as keeping your body healthy. We know books are a fantastic way to open up conversations about mental health and wellbeing in an age-appropriate way and this title aimed at 9 years old and over is a great addition to all school libraries or home bookshelves.
This reassuring book answers common questions amongst children in a friendly way, such as: what is anxiety and how can you manage it? Why do people have low mood and depression? And how can you understand and express your emotions? It also provides a handy recap on her previous books about what happens to boys and girls during puberty. Not many books talk about both the physical and emotional changes of adolescence and how this affects the world around you, which is why Healthy Mind, Happy You is the perfect tool to banish embarrassment and worries around asking difficult questions.
More DetailsChildren’s Fiction
Northern Soul
Earle, Phil
Paperback / softback
We’re incredibly fond of Phil Earle at Browns Books. Not only because he was born in the mighty city of Hull (as was Browns!) but also because of his belief that we are all readers and there is a story out there for every child. He writes with compassion, empathy and hope which is a perfect award-winning formula for children’s books!
Book 25, Northern Soul, is no exception… filled with awkwardness, second hand embarrassment and the hilarious horrors of teenage life, Earle has given teen boys a relatable tale about unrequited love. Aimed at young teenagers, this cringeworthy tale shows how falling in love doesn’t always quite go to plan (we’ve all been there!). Fourteen-year-old Marv has his emotions flipped upside down when the cool, new girl joins his school… it is love at first sight. Help miraculously arrives in the shape of a soul singer from the past, making this book a true homage to music. This is the Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging for boys, a perfectly pitched short read about the agonies of first love, and the power of music.
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