My birthday was about a week ago, and I started thinking about the different books I want to read this year. I’m already wanting to read all of the Giller Prize winning books, but there’s never enough books for a bookworm is there? With each new year comes new books, and I’ve been looking to see which new books I think I’ll enjoy this year. I’ve already preordered one of these books, and have the rest saved in lists for future reference. All of these books have peaked my interest, and I hope to read them all one day. For the most part, here is a list of books that I have my eye on for 2021.
1. The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende
Release date: March 2, 2021
A nonfiction book written by the prolific Isabel Allende. The Soul of a Woman will navigate through Allende’s first-hand experience with feminism in the 1960’s and will explore the different things women want changed.
2. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Release date: March 2, 2021
In the first novel he’s published since winning the Nobel Prize, Ishiguro writes about Klara, an Artificial Friend. Her place in a shop is to observe people and learn from them. A book that will most likely talk about how technology is changing in our lives, and the consequences of it. I’ve already pre-ordered this novel, and can’t wait to get lost in it sometime this spring. I love Ishiguro’s other books, so I’m really excited to see where this novel goes.
3. Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour
Release date: January 5, 2021
Darren does content working for Starbucks when a chance event allows him to meet the CEO of a tech start-up. Darren then finds himself working as a salesperson for Sumwun, being the only black salesperson. He then adopts the persona of Buck, who is a ruthless salesman. Eventually, tragedy hits, and he then decides to use his knowledge to help people of colour infiltrate the sales force in America.
4. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
Release date: January 12, 2021
Torrey Peters debut novel centres around three women (transgender and cisgender) when a pregnancy leaves everyone to come face to face with questions about motherhood, sex, and gender. I expect this novel to be polarizing, but I’m interested to see where Peters goes with her story.
5. Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia
Release date: March 30, 2021
A generational story stretching from Cuba to Mexico to an detention centre. Of Women and Salt centres around Jeanette, and her mother Carmen, where Jeannette adopts a child whose parents have been detained by ICE. She then travels to Cuba to learn more about her family, where she will learn a multitude of family secrets.
6. Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.
Release date: January 5, 2021
A novel that centres around the love between two enslaved men working on a plantation. Their love is simple until another slave begins to preach the master’s gospel, deeming their love sinful. I want to see how the love of Samuel and Isaiah unfolds, and what will happen to the two in the end.
7. Bride of the Sea by Eman Quotah
Release date: January 26, 2021
Before the arrival of their first child, Saeedah decides he wants to divorce his wife Muneer. This means she would have to go back to Saudi Arabia without her daughter. Except, she doesn’t let this happen and kidnaps her daughter, avoiding her ex-husband for years. This story weaves together family, religion, immigration, and culture. A story that I do not want to miss!
8. Outlawed by Anna North
Release date: January 5, 2021
A historical novel set in the old West, with a feminist twist. Ada becomes an outlaw, after not being able to have children. To avoid being hanged, she becomes an outlaw, joining the Wall Gang. A unique concept on the old West. I’m really intrigued to see how Ada navigates through life as an outlaw, and what will happen to her in the end.
9. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Release date: June 1, 2021
Four famous siblings decide to throw an epic party that will ultimately change the course of their lives forever. I’ve read and enjoyed Daisy Jones and the Six, so I’m interested to see what Reid has up her sleeve in Malibu Rising!
10. All’s Well by Mona Awad
Release date: August 3, 2021
A former actor hopes to bring Shakespeare’s All’s Well that End’s Well to the stage, where her actors insist on staging Macbeth. Eventually, she meets three benefactors who tell her about her past and three possible future outcomes. This novel sounds like a great combination of Shakespearean plots, and the behind-the-scenes of theatre. I love Shakespeare, and I really enjoyed Awad’s 13 Ways of Looking At a Fat Girl. I can’t wait to see what this novel has to bring!
11. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Release date: June 1, 2021
Cynical August doesn’t believe in the love stories you see in movies, but that changes one day while riding the subway. She meets Jane, a mysterious and leather jacket wearing woman come to sweep August off her feet. The catch? She’s actually displaced in time and is really from the 1970’s. A twisty twist if I ever saw one! Although Red, White, and Royal Blue has been on my TBR for some time now, I am more excited to read One Last Stop.
12. Dreaming of You by Melissa Lozada-Oliva
Release date: October 26, 2021
A verse novel centring around a Latinx poet who brings Selena back to life through a séance. As soon as I read the synopsis for this book, I was hooked. I love poetry, and Selena, and I want to read more Latinx authors. I have high hopes for this book.
After writing this blog post, I became really excited about the different books being released this year. I hope I get to read some of these books this year. They look so good! What books do you have an eye on this year? Snagged any books already?
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