Here are our picks for this month’s 20 new books most worth your time.

Creatures, by Crissy Van Meter

A dead whale.

An absent mother’s sudden reemergence.

jan-books

Simon & Schuster; Graydon House; Wattpad Books; HarperCollins; Knopf Doubleday; Random House; Penguin; Algonquin Books; Riverhead; Ballantine; Knopf

At last, here comes the sequel.

And things get weirder from there.

Indeed, this book about female identity already boasts raves from Sally Rooney, Melissa Broder, and more.

Creatures by Crissy Van MeterCR: Algonquin Books

Algonquin Books

Long Bright River by Liz Moore — Riverhead/PRH

Riverhead

Topics of Conversation by Miranda Popkey — Knopf/PRH

Knopf

The Night Country by Melissa AlbertCR: Flatiron Books

Flatiron Books

The Better Liar by Tanen Jones — Ballantine/PRH

Ballantine

Oligarchy by Scarlett Thomas — Counterpoint

Counterpoint

Cleanness by Garth Greenwell — FSG

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Followers by Megan AngeloCR: Graydon House

Graydon House

Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener — FSG

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

The Vanished Birds by Simon JimenezCR: Random House

Random House

Zed: A Novel by Joanna KavennaCR: Knopf Doubleday

Knopf Doubleday

Agency by William GibsonCR: Penguin

Penguin

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

Flatiron Books

Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford CR: Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster

Given by Nandi TaylorCR: Wattpad Books

Wattpad Books

Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

HarperCollins

Highfire by Eoin ColferCR: HarperCollins

HarperCollins

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

Knopf Doubleday

Show Them a Good Time by Nicole Flattery

Bloomsbury Publishing

The Truants by Kate WeinbergCR: Penguin

Penguin