This is my favorite of Emily St. John Mandel’s novels so far. It’s beautiful and melancholy, and details the stories of a man crossing to Canada, an author who is visiting Earth from the moon for her book tour when a pandemic breaks out, and a detective trying to solve the mystery of some unusual happenings. They are all connected—and readers of ESJM’s previous novels Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel will also recognize some of the details and characters mentioned.

And since it’s a new year, how about a time slip novel about a young woman with a January 1 birthday who finds herself propelled through time? As Oona Lockhart counts down to the new year in 1982, waiting to turn nineteen, she’s suddenly jolted awake in a new body. Well, it’s her body, but now she’s fifty-one. As she tries to comprehend how it happened and what is going on in her life, 365 days later, it happens again. And again. Each new year, a version of herself at a different age, never sequential. What can she learn about her present by experiencing her future?

Okay, so this isn’t really an SFF book, but I wanted to mention it because it is a wonderful examination of friendship and the passage of time. It follows two brilliant friends, who create a video game together, over three decades, through love, loss, illness, and death. Read it when you’re in the mood to think about your hopes and dreams and if you’re really where you want to be in your life. You know, light stuff.