10 books we’re looking forward to this year

Welcome to the L.A. Times Book Club newsletter.

Hello, fellow readers. I’m culture critic and fervent bookworm Chris Vognar. Another year of reading has come and gone, leaving mental trails of books consumed and enjoyed. We’ll get to some of those shortly. But first, we look forward.

2025 promises to be a great year for books, with shelves full of killer fiction and nonfiction on the way. There are too many potential highlights to enumerate here, but here are some of the books scheduled to arrive in the next few months that have my bookworm blood pumping. As always, we also look at recent releases reviewed by Times critics.

(Please note: The Times may earn a commission through links to Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.)

Upcoming fiction

“Brother Brontë,” by Fernando A. Flores: In a Texas border town wasteland, circa 2038, reading has been outlawed and a powerful big tech tycoon has forced all mothers to toil at a toxic fish cannery. And yet somehow this contemporary twist on “Fahrenheit 451” exudes a morbid sense of humor, thanks largely to its characters, including a pair of rebellious young readers, an underground author — and a tiger. Lone Star dystopia with an insistent plea for the importance of reading. (Publishes Feb. 11)

“Fagin the Thief,” by Allison Epstein: This reimagining of Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” universe tells the origin story of the larcenous Jacob Fagin, from his childhood in a Jewish enclave of 19th-century London to his apprenticeship at the feet of a master pickpocket. Before long Fagin passes on his mastery to a new student who goes by the name of the Artful Dodger. No, not Shohei Otani. (Publishes Feb. 25)

“The Paris Express,” by Emma Donoghue: Donoghue (“Room”) writes historical fiction you can feel in your bones. Her latest tells the story of a real-life 1895 railroad disaster — captured for posterity in a series of photos — from the perspectives of those aboard, including a medical student, a young anarchist, and members of the French Parliament. (Publishes March 18).

“Big Chief,” by Jon Hickey: A young Anishinaabe law school grad and casino honcho is thrust into a battle of politics, power, protest and pride as he reckons with his ancestry and questions his purpose. It’s also a love story, and an examination of what it means to be Native American in the 21st century. (Publishes April 8)

“The Devil Three Times,” by Rickey Fayne: In this debut novel, a Black family in Tennessee is visited by the devil — again and again and again, spanning a period of 175 years from the Middle Passage onward. Is there sympathy for the devil? And why does he keep bothering the same beleaguered bunch? (Publishes May 13)

Upcoming nonfiction

“Magic in the Air,” by Mike Sielski: This history of the slam dunk looks at the racial and cultural connotations of one of sports’ most thrilling plays, featuring known stars (Michael Jordan, Ja Morant) and unsung heroes from periods when the dunk wasn’t just frowned upon, but actually banned (in high school and college basketball for most of the 1970s). Sports history as cultural history, or vice versa. (Publishes Feb. 11)

“We Tell Ourselves Stories,” by Alissa Wilkinson: A novel approach to the great Joan Didion based in the Hollywood and Washington, D.C., worlds she chronicled. Wilkinson uses a famous (and generally misunderstood) Didion quote — “We tell ourselves stories in order to live” — to ask not just what stories she was trying to tell, but what they tell us about America’s self-promulgated myths. (Publishes March 11)

“Lincoln’s Peace,” by Michael Vorenberg: The author, whose book “Final Freedom” was the basis for Steven Spielberg’s movie “Lincoln,” asks an elusive question: When, exactly, did the Civil War end? For that matter, how do we determine when any war ends? The answers suggest that defining a conflict’s conclusion goes a long way toward deciding that conflict’s meaning. (Publishes March 18)

“Miracles and Wonder,” by Elaine Pagels: A preeminent religious scholar (and author of “The Gnostic Gospels”) asks one of history’s key questions: How did an impoverished young Jewish man inspire a religion that shaped the world? A compelling story that shines light on some potent (if sometimes inconvenient) truths. (Publishes April 1)

“The Afterlife of Malcolm X,” by Mark Whittaker: Marking the centennial of his birth, this book examines Malcolm’s X’s long shadow on politics, civil rights and, most intriguingly, pop culture, from Spike Lee’s groundbreaking 1992 movie to the countless hip-hop artists who have evoked his name, spread his message and sampled his voice. It also looks at the broader question of how an icon is made. (Publishes May 13)

The week(s) in books

“He was a very sincere and studious writer and when you look at his process you see his humility,” Craig Fehrman, who has examined presidential writings, tells The Times of former President Jimmy Carter.

(David Goldman/AP)

Stuart Miller speaks with “Author in Chief” author Craig Fehrman about the late Jimmy Carter’s writing career. “When you look at him as a writer,” Fehrman said, “you can also see what he was like as a human being — he was a very sincere and studious writer and when you look at his process you see his humility.”

Roxsy Lin looks at recent books by Latino authors, including Ximena Vengoechea’s “The Life Audit.” The author calls her regimen “spring cleaning for the soul.”

Mary Ann Gwinn reviews Adam Haslett’s novel “Mothers and Sons.” Gwinn writes that “there’s no better writer at chronicling the highs and lows of familial love.”

And Chris Vognar — c’est moi — reviews Adam Chandler’s “99% Perspiration,” a lively look at the American way of work. Chandler “ventures into the past and the present, the real and the fictional, seeking insight into why we devote so much time and energy to work, at the expense of everything else, and with ever-decreasing dividends.”

Looking back

Rachel Kushner’s novel, “Creation Lake,” was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Before we go, here’s a quick look at five books from 2024 that have lingered in my imagination.

“American Scary,” by Jeremy Dauber: An authoritative and flavorful history of American horror in all forms, from witch trials to video games.

“Creation Lake,” by Rachel Kushner: A dryly unreliable narrator emerges as an ugly American agent as she infiltrates a group of rural French anarchists in Kushner’s latest novel.

“The History of Sound,” by Ben Shattuck: Artfully connected, New England-based short stories that speak to each other across centuries and different literary forms.

“There’s Always This Year,” by Hanif Abdurraqib: Poetic meditations on basketball, mortality, place and LeBron James’ hairline.

“When the Clock Broke,” by John Ganz: America’s 1990s nervous breakdown is presented as a harbinger of today’s upside-down reality.

That’s all for now. Until next time, keep turning the page.