Whether you’re looking for a magical adventure or an activist’s handbook, there’s something in here for everyone…

Fiction

1. Luster by Raven Leilani is published in hardback by Picador, priced £14.99 (ebook £7.99). Available January 21

Many books have been touted as the biggest debut of the year, but it’s hard to believe the hype for all of them. However, it might just be true for Raven Leilani’s Luster. Edie is a rudderless black woman in her 20s living in New York, feeling out of place in all-white workplaces and unable to do what she really wants: art. She begins an affair with a middle-aged, married white man and somehow finds herself living in his New Jersey suburban house, showing his adopted black daughter how to do her hair and tiptoeing around his wife. At times it’s darkly funny and devastatingly sad – particularly when Leilani drip feeds details of Edie’s traumatic past. Ultimately, the book is as evocative and moving as the paintings Edie creates in private, hidden from the world she doesn’t feel welcome in.9/10(Review by Prudence Wade)

2. The Survivors by Jane Harper is published in hardback by Little, Brown, priced £14.99 (ebook £8.99). Available January 21

Murder mystery author Jane Harper turns to the sea in The Survivors, a smart, thoughtful whodunnit that moves rapidly, without eroding its emotional core. Kieran, his wife Mia, and new baby Audrey, return to Kieran’s coastal hometown of Evelyn Bay to help his mum prepare to move his father – suffering with dementia – into a home. When a young woman is found dead on the beach, the Evelyn Bay residents find themselves swirling back to the tragic events of a storm that struck 12 years earlier. Harper tempers an unrelenting feed of intrigue and information with a real emotional sensitivity. She is mindful of, and vocal about, it being largely women at risk of brutality – in life and in fiction; is deft with red herrings; and tackles guilt, grief and fraught friendship. She also articulates the destructive impact of bravado and machoism on young men. The writing isn’t always full of flair, but The Survivors is atmospheric and quite enthralling.8/10(Review by Ella Walker)

3. The Death Of Francis Bacon by Max Porter is published in hardback by Faber & Faber, priced £6.99 (ebook £3.99). Available now

There’s a reason Max Porter has garnered a cult following: his previous two books, Grief Is The Thing With Feathers and Lanny, were experimental, moving, funny and philosophical. His latest offering is another slight tome at under 80 pages, but the similarities end there. Tracking the end of painter Francis Bacon’s life, it demands a steep pre-existing knowledge about the artist – new readers would probably find it helpful to know he died in Madrid cared for by a nun. Porter toes the line between poetry and prose, but the result is often impenetrable and tough to get your teeth into. It’s a challenging read – and perhaps one you’ll need to revisit to really understand what’s going on – which begs the question: is it worth it? Perhaps not.6/10(Review by Prudence Wade)

Non-fiction

4. Make It Happen: How To Be An Activist by Amika George is published in hardback by HQ, priced £12.99 (ebook £4.99). Available January 21

Free Periods founder Amika George shines in her debut book. George started the movement for free sanitary products in schools at just 17 after reading horrific statistics on period poverty in the UK. Make It Happen deftly walks the tightrope between handbook and memoir; it’s crammed with insightful, step-by-step instructions on how to get behind one’s chosen cause, while laying bare her own journey to activism. George also touches on race, gender and mental health, and brings in other activist voices both large and small to create a quintessential guide to being the change one wants to see in the world.9/10(Review by Sophie Hogan)

Children’s book of the week

5. Amari And The Night Brothers by BB Alston is published in hardback by Egmont, priced £12.99 (ebook £5.99). Available January 21

As a young black kid from the projects, Amari doesn’t feel like she fits in at her elite, white school – particularly as the mean girls taunt her about her missing brother. However, Amari soon realises her brother hasn’t been caught up in gang business, but rather was part of a magical alternate universe – one she soon dives into, to find out what really happened to him. While a few aspects of the book draw similarities to the Harry Potter series, Amari And The Night Brothers still has bags of imagination and quirky details. At its heart, it’s a story about a plucky girl finding her place in the world – and it helps it’s a fast-paced, action-packed tale that will captivate young readers.7/10(Review by Prudence Wade)

BOOK CHARTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING JANUARY 16

HARDBACK (FICTION)1. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman2. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart3. Troy by Stephen Fry4. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell5. One August Night by Victoria Hislop6. Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan7. The Betrayals by Bridget Collins8. Ghosts by Dolly Alderton9. The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab10. Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith(Compiled by Waterstones)

HARDBACK (NON-FICTION)1. A Promised Land by Barack Obama2. Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given3. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse by Charlie Mackesy4. Ottolenghi Flavour by Yotam Ottolenghi & Ixta Belfrage5. Pinch of Nom Quick & Easy by Kay Featherstone & Kate Allinson6. Word Perfect by Susie Dent7. Cook, Eat, Repeat by Nigella Lawson8. Limitless by Tim Peake9. UnPresidented by Jon Sopel10. My Garden World by Monty Don(Compiled by Waterstones)

AUDIOBOOKS (FICTION AND NON-FICTION)1. A Promised Land by Barack Obama2. Orwell Collection by George Orwell3. The Beekeeper Of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri4. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman5. Bedlam by LJ Ross6. HG Wells: The Science Fiction Collection by HG Wells7. The Human Factor by Graham Greene8. Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse by David Mitchell9. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey10. The Monster Collection by Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, Maria Mellins & Peter Howell(Compiled by Audible)