Some of the best books of the year so far provide a welcome respite from the outside world, while others take aim squarely at the turbulence, providing frameworks for understanding how the past informs our present. Michelle Zauner crafts a devastating tribute to her late mother, revolving around universal themes of grief. Torrey Peters examines what makes a family in her refreshing debut novel. and Annette Gordon-Reed explores the history behind June Nineteenth and offers a comprehensive account of the holiday and its place in our culture. here, the best books of 2021 so far.
who is maud dixon?, alexandra andrews
The most original and compelling thriller of the year so far takes place in an industry better known for selling mysteries than harboring them: book publishing. In Alexandra Andrews’ propulsive debut, an ambitious editorial assistant finds herself working for the anonymous writer of a bestselling hit, and way over her head when a research trip to Morocco turns into a deadly misadventure. Set to be adapted into a movie, with subsequent screenwriter Liz Hannah writing and directing, Who’s Maud Dixon? takes readers on a wildly fun ride.
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the copenhagen trilogy, tove ditlevsen (translated by tiina nunnally and michael favala goldman)
Danish writer Tove Ditlevsen’s translated trilogy of memoirs, published in a single volume, offers a startling look inside the mind of an artist. in childhood, she describes her coming of age and longing to be a poet. in youth, he captures in visceral terms his desperation for artistic freedom as europe is devastated by war. and in dependence, he boldly examines his failed marriages and his drug addiction. Taken together, these memoirs read like gripping fiction, an intense and intimate journey of acknowledgment with one’s many selves.
buy now: copenhagen trilogy in bookstore | Amazon
the nineteenth of june, annette gordon-reed
on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, Maj. gene Gordon Granger read a statement telling enslaved people in Texas that they were finally emancipated, two long months after Appomattox. June 16 was a day long celebrated by many black communities in Texas and across the United States, but only in the past one or two years has it become a more widely recognized holiday. In her slim but powerful book, Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning historian and Harvard professor Annette Gordon-Reed explores the history of that day and all the ways Black and Native American lives intersected. have darkened in the culture. As a Texan native, Gordon-Reed delivers a book that is both deep and personal in its exploration of the ways history shapes our lives and becomes distorted and reinvigorated over time.
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freedom, kaitlyn greenidge
Growing up in Brooklyn during the Civil War and Reconstruction era, Libertie Sampson’s path is prescribed: she must follow in her mother’s footsteps to become a doctor. a character based on dr. susan smith mckinney steward, the first black female doctor in new york state, libertie’s mother cares for members of her community, including formerly enslaved people. But Libertie’s confidence in the value of caring for others falters when her mother’s attempts to cure a man of the mental damage of being enslaved fail, and soon, she begins to look for paths beyond the study of medicine, cutting off her deep connection with her mother. Combining careful attention to historical detail with a focus on themes that remain timeless (how children grow within themselves and grow apart from their parents, and the ways racism and colorism play out), author Kaitlyn Greenidge explores through freedom what it means to be truly free.
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empire of pain, patrick radden keefe
In a year of endless death due to covid-19, the us. uu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that opioid and other drug overdoses killed more than 90,000 Americans in 2020. To understand the origins of this deadly 20-plus-year epidemic, Patrick Radden Keefe, one of the Leading non-fiction narrative authors of his generation, he offers a gripping and deeply researched book about the Sacker family, the owners of Purdue Pharma. his company created oxycontin, the opioid introduced in the mid-1990s that sparked a wave of addiction and death across the country. Unlike previous epidemic books, Empire of Pain focuses on the wildly wealthy, ambitious, and ruthless family who built their empire first on medical advertising and then on painkillers. in his hands, his story becomes a great American morality tale of unadorned greed dressed in ostentatious philanthropy.
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milk blood heat, dantiel w. moniz
dantiel w. Moniz finds a cast of characters going through life’s greatest challenges: heartbreak, inheritance, pain, and growth. Through these intergenerational narratives, all set against the Florida swampland, Moniz creates a portrait of women taking stock of their lives and what matters most to them. there are sisters, daughters and mothers all dealing with crises, from a 13-year-old girl on the verge of becoming a teenager who is rocked by tragedy to brothers who are joined on a cross-country trip with their father’s ashes. quiet and disconcerting, milkblood heatexplores the most sacred of relationships and the lingering effects of loss and loneliness.
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replicas, nadia owusu
At the age of two, Nadia Owusu was abandoned by her mother. About a decade later, owusu’s sense of stability changed again when her father, a United Nations official, passed away. Between these traumas and after, Owusu lived all over the world, from Tanzania to Ethiopia to the United States. in her memoir, she contemplates the many parts of her life that have been defined by these experiences in an attempt to understand what remains of her after her. A painful exploration of identity and belonging, backshocks is owusu’s space to examine harm, but also to interrogate and reassess definitions of home and family.
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detransition, baby, torrey peters
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One of the most celebrated novels of the year so far, detransition, baby is a story about the big decisions of adulthood, made by people who didn’t know they’d make it there. That begins with the title, a playful nod to the classic marriage plot: Reese is a trans woman who desperately wants to be a mother. Ella’s ex-ams, who transitioned out after they split, are now expecting a child with Ella’s boss Katrina, a cisgender woman who recently suffered a miscarriage. can they start a family? Author Torrey Peters tackles big questions about redefining relationships, motherhood, and family, but isn’t interested in giving readers easy answers.
buy now: detransition, baby in bookstore | Amazon
the man who lived underground, richard wright
Like a telegram from mid-century America warning us about our present, Richard Wright’s novel came with the shock of recognition for readers amid a reckoning with racial injustice. is a richly allegorical, visceral and inspired story about a black man arrested and tortured for a crime of which he is innocent, and his subsequent escape into the city’s sewer system. first written in the early 1940s after the mega-success of wright’s native son, the man who lived underground was never published in his lifetime, except in a heavily edited short story that bears little resemblance to the book we have now. We have Wright’s descendants to thank and the Library of America, a nonprofit publisher that has been preserving and celebrating American literary history for decades, for bringing us this book.
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crying at h mart, michelle zauner
michelle zauner, who records indie rock under the name japanese breakfast, has explored her grief following her mother’s death through various mediums: on her reverb-soaked album psychopomp; in an acclaimed short story published in the new yorker; and now in this memory. Zauner recounts her mother’s decline from cancer through lucid but by no means bloodless prose; she shows how love during illness often seems simply a pattern of caring actions and rituals. Zauner also writes skillfully about dealing with identity, food, music, and how each impacted her relationship with her mother. it’s a sometimes challenging piece of work that probes her maternal relationship to the core.
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read the rest of the weather coverage of the best of 2021 so far:
- the best podcasts of 2021 so far
- the best movies of 2021 so far
- the best TV shows of 2021 so far
- the best albums of 2021 so far
- the best songs of 2021 so far
email lucy feldman at lucy.feldman@time.com, mahita gajanan at mahita.gajanan@time.com, and annabel gutterman at annabel.gutterman@time.com.