7 New Books Coming Out This Week You Should Definitely Read

When No One Is Watching is romance writer superstar Alyssa Cole’s debut thriller. It’s about a young Brooklyn woman named Sydney who responds to the rapid gentrification of her neighborhood by putting together her own historical walking tour, since all the other tours ignore the work and impact of Black residents. But as she’s looking into the history and goings-on of the community, she starts to figure out there’s something even more sinister than gentrification that’s leading to the disappearance of her Black neighbors. It’s a really creepy, smart page-turner. —Arianna Rebolini

Lux: The New Girl and Micah: The Good Girl are the first two books in the Flyy Girl series by Ashley Woodfolk, and both released today. Lux is about a girl who is on her last chance before military school. She's just transferred to a school of the arts where she meets a group of girls called the flyy girls. One of those girls is Micah, who's always been the good girl, but after her brother dies, she's having a little bit of trouble with that. This series is built especially for reluctant readers. Each book clocks in at under 150 pages and is written in really accessible text. —Rachel Strolle

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie is about Afi, a Ghanaian seamstress who agrees to marry a very wealthy man. His mother — who took Afi and her mother in after her father died — is hoping Afi can convince him to leave the woman he’s already living with, the mother of his child. And to reward her for this pretty thankless task, they set her up in a swanky apartment in Accra, with a chaffeur, all the money she could ever need, access to elite social circles — and Afi realizes that being in this new world, and finding her independence in it, is an adventure in itself. —Arianna Rebolini

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam is out today, and it is about a young boy named Amal, who is an artist and a poet, who is wrongfully incarcerated for a crime he did not commit only to find refuge in his art. It is a stunning verse novel that is moving and powerful and starts a conversation about the injustices within our police and prison systems. —Farrah Penn

In 19th century England, Lady Lucie and her fellow suffragists are in the market to buy a publishing house to help with their fight against Parliament. The only thing standing in their way, however, is Lord Tristan. Fortunately, he decides that he's willing to give up the publishing house for just one night with Lady Lucie. Of course, she refuses, because despite his handsome face and unreasonable charm, she cannot stand him. As the two butt heads fighting for what they want, they realize that what they actually want is each other. —Shyla Watson

The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg is a lyrical and complex fantasy novella featuring two elderly trans characters. Uiziya is trying to learn the four profound weaves. She's mastered three out of the four and lacks the bone cloth. In order to learn how to weave the bone cloth, she needs to go to her aunt Benesret, who is an outcast in the desert who is weaving bone cloth for the evil Ruler of Iyar's assassins. A nameless man referred to as nen-sasaïr recently changed into a man and is trying to learn about his identity in his heavily gender-stratified culture. He's also trying to lay some of his past demons to rest. Their two quests both lead them to confront the evil Ruler of Iyar. — Margaret Kingsbury

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas is about trans teen Yadriel, who is determined to prove to his traditional Latinx family that he is a real brujo. To do this, he is going to summon the ghost of his murdered cousin to set it free. However, the ghost that shows up is that of the school's resident bad boy, Julian, and Yadriel starts to fall for him. —Rachel Strolle