THERE’S NOTHING LIKE lining up a good stack of books to dive into during the year – or anticipating that novel you’ve been looking forward to for years.
Here are some of the novels and short stories collections you can expect in 2021.
Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor
Booker Prize nominated author Brandon Taylor (who wrote Real Life) is back with a book of short stories, set in the midwest of the USA.
How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
The New York Time bestseller’s new novel is set in the fictional African village of Kosawa. It’s about people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. It’s told from the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary.
The End Of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird
This eerily timely book is about a world where a pandemic sweeps across countries – and only targets men. Taking in multiple viewpoints, this book looks at the lives of those affected and how the world copes.
Peaces by Helen Oyeyemi
The bestselling author of Gingerbread, returns with Peaces, about a couple who find themselves on a sleeper train that turns out to be anything but ordinary.
Girl A by Abigail Dean
Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about growing up in her parents’ House of Horrors, or her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped. But when her mother dies and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from her past any longer. They have to return home and come to terms with their childhood.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Weir is best known as the author of The Martian (yep, the book that the film of the same name was based on). He returns to space with this novel, which is about Ryland Grace, the sole survivor on a mission to save the earth. The only hitch? He’s just woken up and can’t remember his name, never mind how to complete the assignment. Published by Ballantine Books in May.
Later by Stephen King
The legendary King is back with a new novel that’s one for the hardboiled crime fans. It’s about Jamie Conklin, a young boy with an supernatural ability who just wants to live an ordinary life. Published by Hard Case Crime in March.
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Quinn is the author of two bestselling books – The Huntress and The Alice Network. This is set in 1940, as England prepares to fight the Nazis during WWII. Quinn brings us the story of three women who go to help the cause at Bletchley Park, where they break German military codes. The friends are torn apart by various pressures, but reunite in 1947 to try and crack one last code. Due out in March.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Fans of Ishiguro will be salivating at the thought of devouring another novel by this master. Due out in March, this is about Klara, “an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her.” Published by Knopf.
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
Lahiri is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, and this novel is a portrait of a woman alone in an Italian city. It was written in Italian and translated by Lahiri herself. Publisher Bloomsbury describes it as: “A dazzling evocation of a city, its captures a woman standing on one of life’s thresholds, reflecting on what has been lost and facing, with equal hope and rage, what may lie ahead.”
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Jenkins Reid writes great pageturners – this one is about the Rivas family, who live in Malibu and are the offspring of the legendary singer Mick Riva. The action revolves around a party at their house in 1983, which goes completely out of control… published in May by Ballantine Books.
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