Frontlist | Critic picks 20 of the most eagerly awaited books of 2021

on Jan 13, 2021

Whatever 2021 may bring, it will definitely be filled with new books.

Here’s a roundup of some of the year’s most eagerly awaited new titles, ranging from famous names to prestige-award winners to highly anticipated first-timers. There’s surely something here for everyone.

May it be a year of happy reading for us all (release dates are subject to change).

January

“A Swim in the Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading and Life” by George Saunders (Jan. 12). The seven essays in this book are derived from the Russian literature class Saunders (author of “Lincoln in the Bardo” and acclaimed story collections) has taught for decades at Syracuse University, examining how fiction works and why it matters.

“Concrete Rose” by Angie Thomas (Jan. 12). A prequel to Thomas’ mega-bestselling YA novel “The Hate U Give,” this book revisits Garden Heights 17 years before the events of the first book, focusing on the life of teenage Maverick Carter.

“Just As I Am” by Cicely Tyson (Jan. 26). Now 96, with a remarkable stage and screen career dating back to the 1950s (following success as a model), the Presidential Medal of Freedom winner is telling her life story: “It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside.”

“Let Me Tell You What I Mean” by Joan Didion (Jan. 26). This essay collection unites 12 Didion pieces, published from 1968 to 2000, on a variety of topics: journalism, California robber barons, not getting into Stanford, Martha Stewart.

February

“Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019,” edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (Feb. 2). Ninety writers each take on a five-year period of Black history in this unique volume, edited by the authors, respectively, of “How to Be an Antiracist” and “Set the World on Fire.”

“The Survivors” by Jane Harper (Feb. 2). I’ve gotten hooked on Harper’s tense, moody mysteries set in remote Australian locations (“The Dry,” “Force of Nature”); this one takes place in a coastal town where a body washes up on the beach.

“Forgone” by Russell Banks (March 2). Banks, bestselling author of “The Sweet Hereafter” and “Affliction” (both of which were made into movies), returns with his first novel in 10 years. It’s the story of a dying documentary filmmaker and draft evader who agrees to one final interview.

“Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro (March 2). This is Ishiguro’s first book since being awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 2017. The author of “The Remains of the Day” and “Never Let Me Go” dips into science fiction here, with his main character being an Artificial Friend in a futuristic shop window.

“Later” by Stephen King (March 2). King’s latest has at its center a young boy with unnatural abilities who becomes involved in a police search for a killer.

April

“My Broken Language” by Quiara Alegría Hudes (April 6). Hudes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (for “Water by the Spoonful”; she also collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda for “In the Heights”), tells her own coming-of-age tale about growing up in a West Philly barrio.

“The Souvenir Museum” by Elizabeth McCracken (April 13). Author of the enchantingly witty novel “Bowlaway,” McCracken here presents her latest collection of short stories, with settings ranging from a Scottish island to a Texas water park.

“Whereabouts” by Jhumpa Lahiri (April 27). Lahiri’s first novel in nearly a decade is also her first written in Italian (the language in which she now exclusively writes) and translated into English. She is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Interpreter of Maladies” and “The Namesake,” among other works.

May

“Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir (May 4). A former software engineer, Weir hit the bestseller jackpot with “The Martian”; his new novel is another interstellar adventure, with an astronaut who’s the sole survivor of a last-chance mission.

“While Justice Sleeps” by Stacey Abrams (May 11). The Georgia politician, voting rights activist and bestselling author (of two nonfiction books and romance written under the name Selena Montgomery) makes her debut as a writer of political thrillers; this one takes place within the U.S. Supreme Court.

June

“Somebody’s Daughter: A Memoir” by Ashley C. Ford (June 1). Ford, a journalist and host of the “Chronicles of Now” podcast, makes her much-buzzed book debut with an intensely personal story: her relationship with her incarcerated father.

“The Nature of Middle-earth” by J.R.R. Tolkien (June 24). Between the publication of “The Lord of the Rings” in 1954-55 and the author’s death in 1973, Tolkien wrote extensively about his imaginary land of Middle-earth. Many of those essays are published here for the first time.

July

“The Turnout” by Megan Abbott (July 6). A psychological thriller set at a ballet school? I’m in! Abbott, author of numerous masterfully tense novels (“Dare Me,” “The Fever,” “Give Me Your Hand,” among others), often sets her books within intense circles of women, each looking over her shoulder.

September

“Harlem Shuffle” by Colson Whitehead (Sept. 14). The latest offering from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Underground Railroad” is the playful tale of a heist, set at a Harlem hotel in the early 1960s. Source: Rich Mond