Word up...YOUR 2O21 READING LIST
FROM ANTICIPATED FOLLOW-UPS TO SIZZLING DEBUTS, THESE ARE THE NOVELS THAT EVERYONE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT FOR THE YEAR AHEAD
THE RADICAL READ
A Room Called Earth by Madeleine Ryan Taking place over 24 hours, a young autistic woman goes to a suburban house party. An ordinary night is made totally new through the eyes of the neurodivergent author in this honest debut.
THE FAMILY DRAMA
We are All Birds of Uganda by Hafsa Zayyan The winner of Stormzy’s literary label #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize, Zayyan transports us between two continents and several generations as London lawyer Sameer unpicks his family history back to 197Os Uganda.
THE BUZZY DEBUT
No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood Master of the zeitgeist, Lockwood’s social media posts routinely go viral. This – her first novel – already has praise from Sally Rooney and Jia Tolentino, and is a love letter to the infinite scroll, exploring how to live both on and offline.
THE THRILLER
Asylum Road by Olivia Sudjic From the author of Sympathy comes this chilling novel about a refugee who returns to Sarajevo with her new fiancé for a climactic summer, as she faces a past she sought to contain.
THE MOVING MEMOIR
Aftershocks: Dispatches from the Frontlines of Identity by Nadia Owusu Whiting Award-winner Owusu recounts her past through the metaphor of earthquakes, with a memoir that broods on lost identity and statelessness.
THE PAGE-TURNER
Girl A by Abigail Dean
Acquired in a fierce nine-way auction, Girl A has already sold its TV rights. In the biggest mystery thriller since Gone Girl, siblings deal with the aftermath of growing up in a ‘house of horrors’ at the hands of their father. Expect to read it in one go.
THE AWARDS-BAIT
Luster by Raven Leilani
If you read one book in 2O21, make it this. Zadie Smith and Candice CartyWilliams are fans of this hotly anticipated debut about a woman caught up with an older man in an open marriage. Things take a bizarre turn when she moves in with his family.
THE BLOCKBUSTER
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
Forna has been called ‘the next Toni Morrison’ for this epic fantasy.
In a patriarchal kingdom, a woman’s worth is tied to her purity – she must bleed to prove it. When Deka discovers she bleeds gold, she must fight or be destroyed.
THE FORM-DEFYING FIRST BOOK
Little Scratch by Rebecca Watson
How do you get through the mundanity of life in the wake of a sexual assault? Watson’s profound debut is written in a compelling stream of consciousness and tells the struggles of an unnamed woman in a world of office politics.
THE GRIPPING LOVE STORY
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson
A debut already attracting award-season buzz, this shattering love story about two Black British artists is a compelling insight into race and masculinity. You’ll remember this author’s name.