If you’re a reader who loves stories that revolve around the dynamics of family, friendships, and just relationships in general – then this book list is just for you.  From bestselling authors you’re already acquainted with, to debut authors making their mark, we are sure you’ll find something to pique your interest. So check out our most anticipated winter 2022 novels about family and friendship!

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai

From the #1 bestselling author in Japan comes a celebration of books, cats, and the people who love them, infused with the heartwarming spirit of The Guest Cat and The Travelling Cat Chronicles.

Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades

A blazingly original debut novel about a group of friends and their immigrant families from Queens, New York–a tenderly observed, fiercely poetic love letter to a modern generation of brown girls.

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

A blazing talent debuts with the tale of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her social ambitions, absent mother, and Puerto Rican roots–all in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

Wahala by Nikki May

An incisive and exhilarating debut novel following three Anglo-Nigerian best friends and the lethally glamorous fourth woman who infiltrates their group–the most unforgettable girls since Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha.

The Family You Make by Jill Shalvis

Beloved New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis begins a new series–Sunrise Cove–set near beautiful Lake Tahoe, with a heartwarming story of found family and love.

Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn

Meet Yinka: a thirty-something, Oxford-educated, British Nigerian woman with a well-paid job, good friends, and a mother whose constant refrain is “Yinka, where is your huzband?”

What Might Have Been by Holly Miller

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird meets This Time Next Year in a sliding-doors style romance and coming-to-self story about fate, chance, and the choices we make.

Strangers I Know by Claudia Durastanti, translated by Elizabeth Harris

Kinetic, formally dazzling, and spectacularly original, this book is a funny and profound portrait of an unconventional family that makes us look anew at how language shapes our understanding of ourselves. A work of fiction about being a stranger in your own family and life.

The Liz Taylor Ring by Brenda Janowitz

Decades later, when the lost ring unexpectedly resurfaces, the Schneiders’ three children gather under one roof for the first time in years, eager to get their hands on this beloved, expensive reminder of their departed parents. But determining the fate of the heirloom is no simple task, unearthing old wounds and heartaches the siblings can’t ignore.  Three siblings. A priceless family ring. One legendary love story.

Black Girls Must Be Magic by Jayne Allen

In this highly anticipated second installment in the Black Girls Must Die Exhausted series, Tabitha Walker copes with more of life’s challenges and a happy surprise—a baby—with a little help and lots of love from friends old and new.

When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill

A spellbinding story about two girls whose friendship is so intense it not only threatens to destroy them, it changes the trajectory of history.

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother’s death and her hidden past–a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake.

Red Thread of Fate by Lyn Liao Butler

In the wake of a tragedy and fueled by guilt from a secret she’s kept for years, a woman discovers how delicate the thread that binds family is in this powerful novel by Lyn Liao Butler.

With Love from London by Sarah Jio

A librarian inherits a bookshop from her estranged mother, leading her halfway across the world on a journey of self-discovery that transcends time and honors the unbreakable bonds of love and family.

Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso

The eagerly anticipated debut novel from the author of 300 Arguments a masterwork on growing up in–and out of–the suffocating constraints of small-town America.

The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen

For fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, Sally Rooney, and Rebecca Serle, Tory Henwood Hoen’s The Arc is a smart, high concept love story that asks: is it possible to optimize our most intimate relationships?

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

For readers of Modern Lovers and Conversations with Friends, an addictive, humorous, and poignant debut novel about the shock waves caused by one couple’s impulsive marriage.

How to Find Your Way Home by Katy Regan

A warm, uplifting novel about the unshakable bond between siblings, and what happens when a sister discovers her long-missing brother in the most unexpected place, from the author of Little Big Love.

The Secret Love Letters of Olivia Moretti by Jennifer Probst

A secret romance sends three estranged sisters to the Amalfi Coast to follow clues about their mother’s past, and challenges them to a whole new future, in this emotional novel from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst.

Wildcat by Amelia Morris

Wildcat is an uproariously funny, surprisingly touching story of one woman’s journey through motherhood and female friendship, in a society that plays fast and loose with information.

Would I Lie to You? by Aliya Ali-Afzal

Wife and mother Faiza is about to find what happens when you have your dream life and are about to lose it… but only if you’re caught.

The Way from Here by Jane Cockram

Three generations of women. Three generations worth of secrets. Will a cache of letters from beyond the grave hold the key to unravelling them all? The answer to that question lies at the heart of this addictive and atmospheric novel from the author of The House of Brides.

The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh

Emma loves her husband Leo and their young daughter Ruby: she’d do anything for them. But almost everything she’s told them about herself is a lie.

Chorus by Rebecca Kauffman

For readers of Alice Munro, Elizabeth Strout, and Claire Lombardo, Chorus shepherds seven siblings through two life-altering events–their mother’s untimely death, and a shocking teenage pregnancy–that ultimately follow them through their lives as individuals and as a family.

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith

An indie musician reeling from tragedy and a public breakdown reconnects with her estranged father on a week-long cruise in this pitch-perfect story about the ways we recover love in the strangest places (Rebecca Serle) from bestselling author Jennifer E. Smith.

Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

A spellbinding debut novel tracing three generations of a Southern Black family and one daughter’s discovery that she has the power to change her family’s legacy.

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

The New York Times bestselling author of the “heartwarming, heartbreaking, and hard to put down” (Laurie Frankel, New York Times bestselling author) modern classic In Five Years returns with a moving and unforgettable exploration of the powerful bond between mother and daughter set on the breathtaking Amalfi Coast.

Listening Still by Anne Griffin

From Anne Griffin, the bestselling author of When All is Said, comes Listening Still, a refreshing new novel about a young woman who can hear the dead–a talent which is both a gift and a curse.

Are you looking forward to any of these books?

What novels with themes of family and friendship are you looking forward to in 2022?  What books would you add to the list?