It's nowhere near early enough for those of us in the northern hemisphere to start struggling against winter's somnolent spell, so there's no need for excuses as you take to your bed with a pile of good books. And there's plenty to keep you occupied while you eschew the chilly outdoors. This month, we have climate hope from a well-placed environmental reporter, formerly of this parish, an honest memoir from a star scientist and a jaw-dropping account of the commodification of women's bodies. Given the Valentine's Day fun this month, we also have a book that may challenge what we thought we knew about finding love. It's always good to get all the help we can in that department - enjoy! "On clear moonlit nights we sometimes step outside and howl at the moon together. It is cathartic, primal and a really good laugh. I am not sure what our neighbours think about it, though."

We pick the sci-fi novels we're most looking forward to reading this month, from a new Brandon Sanderson to the latest from Makana Yamamoto Do you want to travel to Mars, to an alternate version of 1939 London or even to the very far future? If so, then February's science fiction is for you, with all three flavours on offer from our authors. I'm intrigued by a couple of time-travel novels: in we're time-travelling to save the world from global warming, and in, a time-traveller offers romantic salvation for a lonely immortal woman. I'm also keen to read a new entry in one of my favourite genres, fungal horror, thanks to . And I'm ready for a good debate about whether some of the books featured here are science fiction at all - check out new offerings from Brandon Sanderson and Francis Spufford and see what you think.

Megan Eaves-Egenes's Nightfaring explores our connection with the night sky Here in the northern hemisphere, January always feels like the longest, drabbest month of the year, so how lucky we are to have a host of new science books to enliven our days. This month, we can explore everything from what the arts bring to our lives to the unsung hero that is friction. Or what we lose when we light up our skies? Daisy Fancourt's Art Cure investigates the impact of the arts, including dancing, on our minds and bodies What if playing the piano, dancing, visiting art galleries or even lying in the mud listening to Wolf Alice at Glastonbury was good for the body, mind and longevity? Or what if it could help us develop brain resilience against dementia? In theory, she's well-placed to make the case as a professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London and director of the WHO's arts and health initiative.

Big hitter Peter F. Hamilton has a new sci-fi novel out this month - and Booker winner George Saunders ventures into speculative fiction with his latest book, Vigil Is it an asteroid or an alien in Van Jensen's Godfall? Welcome to January, a month when many of us are keen to escape from the world into the pages of a book. Thankfully, science fiction is here to help, whether that's with a story set on a generation ship where things aren't as they seem, courtesy of Peter F. Hamilton, or journeying to an alternate version of this world where the Roman Empire is still in charge, in Solitaire Townsend's . Add to the mix a time-loop murder, a UFO romance and some eco-horror, and there's plenty of choice for sci-fi fans this month. A generation ship is in search of a new home in Peter F. Hamilton's latest sci-fi novel Big hitter Peter F. Hamilton sets his latest outing on a generation ship in search of a new world, where people are only allowed to live for 65 years so they don't deplete the ship's resources. When a teenager Hazel's brother has an accident that means he is no longer productive, he is set to be killed off.

Author Simon Stålenhag has a new work out this month. December is traditionally a quieter month for new releases from publishers and that's definitely true this year, with a sparser than usual science-fiction offering to chew over. That said, there are some intriguing titles out this month, and I'm looking forward to the new book from artist and author Simon Stålenhag, another illustrated dystopia, as well as a mysterious-sounding Russian novel, and the conclusion of Bethany Jacobs's excellent space opera trilogy. Jacobs has written a piece for the New Scientist Book Club about how the late Iain M. Banks inspired her own world-building. The Book Club is currently reading Banks's classic Culture novel - do join us .

From Claire North's new novel to a 10th anniversary edition of a brilliant Adrian Tchaikovsky book, there's lots to watch out for in November's science fiction Claire North's Slow Gods follows a deep-space pilot We'll need to get our skates on if we're to keep up with all the new science fiction published in November. And I am creeped out by the idea at the heart of Grace Walker's . Everything feels frightening this month - perhaps the sci-fi world is still in Halloween mode. It sounds poignant, moving and beautiful, and without any supernatural scares. Emily H. Wilson is wild for this sci-fi novel: I've not heard our sci-fi columnist recommend a book so wholeheartedly in all the time she's written for us.

Science fiction legend Ursula K. Le Guin is honoured with a new collection out this month, and sci-fi fans can also look forward to fiction from astronaut Chris Hadfield and award-winning authors Ken Liu and Mary Robinette Kowal Like many of you, no doubt, Ursula K. Le Guin is one of my favourite sci-fi writers. So I am really excited about a collection out this month that brings together the maps she would draw when starting a story, and also celebrates her brilliant and wise writing. Not least because we've just read with the New Scientist Book Club: do come and join us and share your thoughts on this classic novel with fellow fans! The sci-fi out this month looks forward as well as back, though. Ken Liu brings us a thriller set in the near future, and I'm keen to read Megha Majumdar's tale of a flooded Kolkata and a desperate mother.

In Mason Coile's Exiles, a human crew arrive on Mars There are some sci-fi heavy hitters with new novels out this month, from Cixin Liu and Stephen Baxter to John Scalzi. I'm keen to check out Ian McEwan's venture to a flooded version of 2119 – a drowned-world trope also taken up by Yume Kitasei in the intriguing-sounding Saltcrop. The late Mason Coile's tale of disaster in a new Martian colony, Exiles, is also tempting me, as is more time travelling noir from the excellent Nicholas Binge. Come read along with us and see how it compares to the best of today's science fiction. The literary writer turns to science fiction – and not for the first time (who read 2010's Solar?).

In The End of the World As We Know It, other writers are telling stories set in the post-apocalyptic world of Stephen King's The Stand One of my most anticipated books of the year is out this month: a collection of short stories set in the post-apocalyptic devastation of Stephen King's The Stand. I love a good end-times story, and King did it so well in this doorstopper of a book, first published in 1978. How will the writers he has invited to develop his "world" fare? Suitably depressed by these visions of the future, I'm then planning to pick myself up with New Scientist columnist Annalee Newitz's cosier take, Automatic Noodle, which comes complete with jolly robots and cooking. From thrillers (Artificial Wisdom) to more literary takes (Helm), Star Wars to the latest from the prolific Adrian Tchaikovsky, let's get reading!

Hal LaCroix's Here and Beyond takes place on a spaceship journeying for centuries to a new planet Riches galore await sci-fi fans in July, with two of the books I've enjoyed most so far this year due to be published for all to read. Fancy a beautifully written vision of a world turning ever faster, in which the consequences of this speed-up play out in subtle but increasingly disturbing ways? Try Alex Foster's Circular Motion. Set in the not-too-distant future, this stunningly impressive debut novel imagines an Earth orbited by massive aircraft, which allow the sufficiently wealthy to pop from New York to London in an hour, or order in sushi from Japan. Earth's spin, meanwhile, is gradually accelerating, with days at first just a few seconds shorter but, nightmarishly, contracting to just two hours as the novel progresses, with all sorts of terrible consequences.