While every new year brings fresh horizons and opportunities, to us, the year in books looks especially tantalizing. Like the experienced truffle hunters we are, we’ve snuffed out and selected some of the best. Stretching from Uttar Pradesh in Northern India to Uganda to Amsterdam and back to the Manhattan set of a late-night comedy sketch show, this is likely our most diverse, most anticipated list ever. That variety goes far beyond setting. The year promises an embarrassment of literary riches, and we’ve chosen a wide-ranging virtual feast of our favorite genres: incisive literary fiction, revealing celebrity memoir, original and hilarious essays, heart-stirring romantic comedy, and heart-stopping dystopian fiction. These 31 books balance returning favorites like Colson Whitehead, Rebecca Makkai, and R. F. Kuang and rising talents like Lakeisha Carr, whose shining prose and striking stories of intergenerational trauma plus caring will transfix you. Let the reading and conversation commence.
1 Chain-Gang All-Stars , by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
2 Age of Vice , by Deepti Kapoor
3 Yellowface , by R. F. Kuang
4 The Survivalists , simply by Kashana Cauley
5 Birnam Wood , by Eleanor Catton
6 The Racism of People Who Love You , simply by Samira K. Mehta
7 The Chinese Groove , by Kathryn Ma
8 Our Share of Night , by Mariana Enriquez
9 Big Swiss , simply by Jen Beagin
10 Call and Response , by Gothataone Moeng
11 A Spell of Good Things , by Ayobami Adebayo
12 On the Savage Side , by Tiffany McDaniel
13 I Have Some Questions for You , by Rebecca Makkai
14 The Urgent Life , by Bozoma Saint John
15 Liliana’s Invincible Summer , by Cristina Rivera Garza
16 An Autobiography of Skin , simply by Lakiesha Carr
17 Old Babes in the Wood , by Margaret Atwood
18 Take What You Need , by Idra Novey
19 Lone Women , by Victor LaValle
20 Hang the Moon , by Jeannette Walls
21 The Great Reclamation , by Rachel Heng
22 Butter , by Gayl Jones
23 Romantic Comedy , by Curtis Sittenfeld
24 A History of Burning , by Janika Oza
25 The Covenant of Water , by Abraham Verghese
26 Oh My Mother! , by Connie Wang
27 The particular God of Good Looks , by Breanne Mc Ivor
28 Quietly Hostile , by Samantha Irby
29 The Late Americans , Brandon Taylor
30 When the Hibiscus Falls , by M. Evelina Galang
31 Crook Manifesto , simply by Colson Whitehead
Carole V. Bell
Carole V Bell is a Jamaican-born writer, culture critic and communication researcher focusing on media, politics, and identity.
Wadzanai Mhute
Wadzanai is a Books Editor at Oprah Daily where she edits plus writes about authors and books.
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