5 absorbing books to read this February to help you escape the chaos

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In a world that has become increasingly overwhelming, the allure of escapism through reading is more appealing than ever. Whether you are looking for another reality to disappear into or a way to take a deeper look inside our own planet's complexities, February brings a bevy of new books to get into. These include a memoir from tech mogul Bill Gates and a deep dive into a tumultuous era of Haitian history.

'Source Code' by Bill Gates

The first of three planned memoirs might "end up being the most personal of them," The Washington Post said. The following two books will focus on Bill Gates' tech career trajectory and philanthropy, but this first focuses on Gates' "mostly charmed youth in 1960s Seattle." In Gates' chronicle of his early years until Microsoft's founding in the 1970s, readers are "treated to an unexpectedly revealing account of the swirl of factors leading to the birth of Microsoft and the ascent of personal computing," said The Wall Street Journal. Gates' insight into his family life and the path to Microsoft paints a vivid picture of the humanity behind the tech giant. (Feb. 4, $32, Amazon)

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'Stone Yard Devotional' by Charlotte Wood

Australian novelist Charlotte Wood's "Stone Yard Devotional," shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, debuted in the United States this month. The story follows an unnamed woman in a remote Australian convent facing a series of events that unsettles her sense of peace, including a plague of mice and the death of a beloved nun. The novel is "set in a claustrophobic environment" and "reveals the vastness of human minds," the Booker judges said. The juxtaposition is so "artfully done" that a reader feels "trusted by the author to be an intellectual partner in this exchange, rather than a passive recipient of stories and messages." (Feb. 11, $25, Amazon)

'Talk to Me: Lessons from a Family Forged by History' by Rich Benjamin

In his debut memoir, cultural critic Rich Benjamin "unearths the secrets of his family's hidden past in hopes of better understanding his mother," said Time. In 1957, a coup ended the presidency of his grandfather, Haitian folk hero Daniel Fignolé, shattering the lives of the family.

After he was removed, Benjamin's mother was smuggled out of the country and never talked about the events. Through intense research, Benjamin "looks to understand the far-reaching consequences of the devastating political event" and how it impacted his life as a gay Black man in America. (Feb. 11, $29, Amazon)

'One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This' by Omar El Akkad

Best known for his fictional work, in his "bracing memoir and manifesto," Omar El Akkad examines the "American and European responses to the Hamas-led massacre" and the "subsequent devastation in Gaza" while looking back on "his own life as a war correspondent and Arab immigrant in the West," said The New York Times.

With "precision and passion," he encourages readers to "close the emotional distance between 'us' and 'them' and to consider the immense suffering of civilians with renewed urgency." He argues that while America claims to be the land of the free, its "funding of violence in Palestine is one of many examples of America treating others as less than human," said Book Riot. Throughout the book, El Akkad "grapples with what it means to be an American citizen while watching the violence that America's tax dollars have funded." (Feb. 25, $25, Amazon)

'Death Takes Me' by Cristina Rivera Garza; trans. by Robin Myers and Sarah Booker

Cristina Rivera Garza won a Pulitzer Prize last year for her memoir about her sister's murder. This year, she tackles femicide through a fictional lens with her novel about a professor who finds herself entrenched in a police investigation after several men are castrated and murdered. Feminist poems are left at the scene of each crime, "each issuing warnings and raising questions of justice, violence and retribution," said the Times. The story is "seamlessly conveyed in Rivera Garza's incisive and poetic style," said Publisher's Weekly. "Life and literature become one in this singular achievement." (Feb. 25, $26, Amazon)