WITMonth Day 3 | 10 Recommended New Releases

This WITMonth, I'll be trying something new by posting lists of "10 Recommended" (number may vary!) for a wide range of genres, designations, and topics, comprising of titles that either I have heard of or recommendations I received for those specific categories based on the WITMonth Recommendation Survey I conducted a few months ago. As WITMonth begins and people get their TBRs/library holds/bookstore orders organized, I think the first recommendation list should, quite obviously, be of new releases! Each of the following titles is newly published/translated in 2018. While not all of these titles are necessarily available in equal measure across different English-language countries (and certainly are not necessarily available in other languages/countries), this will hopefully be a convenient place to start for a lot of readers!

1. Disoriental - Négar Djavadi, tr. Tina Kover: One of the biggest hits of the year so far in terms of women writers in translation, Disoriental has been garnering praise from across a wide range of reviewers, bloggers, and readers alike. 
2. Soviet Milk - Nora Ikstena, tr. Margita Gailitis: A slim, grim, and almost universally admired work about the Soviet Baltics that seems guaranteed to leave a mark on its readers.
3. Brother in Ice - Alicia Kopf, tr. Mara Faye Lethem: A somewhat divisive genre-bending book that has nonetheless been on the radar of many readers this year.
4. La Bastarda - Trifonia Melibea Obono, tr. Lawrence Schimel: This short novel is guaranteed to make its reader think and explore new worlds, with its unique status as the first novel by a woman writer to be translated out of Equatorial Guinea, and one exploring a queer coming-of-age at that.
5. Celestial Bodies - Jokha Alharthi, tr. Marilyn Booth: For another trip to a relatively unexplored country, Celestial Bodies takes readers to Oman and describes the lives of three sisters.
6. Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata, tr. Ginny Tapley Takemori: Already gathering praise from delighted readers and newfound fans, Convenience Store Woman seems primed to be a summer hit.
7. Fish Soup - Margarita García Robayo, tr. Charlotte Coombe: An internationally admired and prize-winning Colombian author's short works translated into English, to great acclaim.
8. The Chandelier - Clarice Lispector, tr. Benjamin Moser & Magdalena Edwards: The classic Brazilian author with a new (old) release.
9. Waiting for Tomorrow - Nathacha Appanah, tr. Geoffrey Strachan: This novel of culture and family that quietly been gaining traction among book bloggers and readers, with praise for the writing and storytelling.
10. Little Reunions - Eileen Chang, tr. Jane Weizhen Pan & Martin Merz: A seemingly autobiographically-inspired novel from the iconic, beloved author.

But of course... this list is only a taste of the new books by women writers in translation released in the past year! While there are still distinctly too few books by women writers translated into English (and other languages), there are plenty more - you can find some of them here, in the 2018 WITMonth database! Happy reading!