The Best Books I Read This Year
With Gift Recommendations
I am a highly-organized person who also loves to read, so you will not be surprised to learn that I keep a list of all the books I read every year. As of this writing, with a few weeks of the year left to go, I’ve read 1201 books in 2021. What follows is a list of the best books I’ve read this year, with brief descriptions as well as thoughts about who might enjoy them. I hope this list will be helpful for your holiday shopping! Books make wonderful gifts!
Older Books
A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry. Mistry tells the story of the brutal reign of Indira Gandhi during the Emergency of 1975-77 through outsiders’ eyes—a Parsee woman and two Dalit men. Fair warning: the book can be really tough to read at times because of the terrible things that happen to the characters, but it gives an important insight into this historical period. Recommended for lovers of history, of indomitable characters, and of India.
The Lottery and Other Stories and The Road through the Wall, by Shirley Jackson. I went on a Shirley Jackson kick this year. Jackson is best known for her horror fiction, like The Haunting of Hill House (also excellent!), but for my money her fiction about ordinary life is even more powerful. She has a keen and relentless honesty about human flaws, as well as a wicked sense of humor. Plus, her plots really move! The Road through the Wall is an incisive satire about how people in a tiny, snobbish neighborhood react when their cul-de-sac is opened up for development. It would make a particularly good book-club book.
Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut. I first read this book, about the firebombing of Dresden and about how one of the survivors becomes “unstuck in time,” in high school. Reading it was an act of rebellion: when I tried to check it out from the library, the librarian told me it had been banned.2 My mom promptly drove me to the bookstore to buy me my own copy. (Thank you, Mom!) Vonnegut has said that he “puts bitter coats on sugar pills,” and Slaughterhouse-Five bears this out: the book is a devastating exploration of the stupidity of war that is somehow also funny and touching. Recommended for everyone—especially high school students!
The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James. A beautiful but sheltered governess goes to a remote mansion to care for two adorable young children and becomes convinced that evil ghosts are corrupting the children. Are the ghosts real? Or is the governess insane? Readers have debated these questions for generations. I recommend this (difficult but short) book to anyone interested in ghost stories and literary puzzles.
And the very best older book I read this year was . . .
Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen. How could I not choose this book? Jane Austen’s worst novel is better than everyone else’s best novel. Simultaneously a satire of gothic fiction, a romance, and a bildungsroman about the innocent Catherine Morland, Austen’s novel shows us that in order to understand the world, we must understand ourselves—and vice versa. Plus it’s very funny, especially when that boorish braggart John Thorpe gets going. Recommended for everyone, but especially for those who enjoy gentle satire with their love stories.
Recent Nonfiction
American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption, by Gabrielle Glaser. Glaser alternates chapters that explore the history of adoption with chapters that tell the harrowing story of a woman who, as a pregnant teenager in the 1960s, was forced to give up her very-much-wanted baby boy, under threat of being put in juvenile detention. Will she find him again? Read the book to find out! This would be a perfect book for a book club and also for anyone who is interested in learning more3 about this period in our history.
Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America, by Eyal Press. Press shows how we dodge responsibility for morally compromising jobs—such as prison guards, slaughterhouse workers, and drone pilots—by delegating them to poor people with few other options. We want someone to perform those jobs, but we don’t want to have to think too much about them. I would recommend this book for anyone who is concerned about mass incarceration, covert military actions, and other questionable acts done in our names.
Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer, by Steven Johnson. This is such a great book for dads that I gave it to my own dad for his birthday! Johnson explores how underappreciated aspects of daily life (for example, sewers) have given us on average forty more years of life—literally a whole extra life. Besides dads, I recommend this book for anyone interested in science, and for those who would like an uplifting read.
The Inevitable: Dispatches on the Right to Die, by Katie Ingelhart. Ingelhart tells the stories of six people who are seeking an assisted death. The people she profiles suffer from a range of conditions, including terminal illness, mental illness, and physical disability. A sympathetic interviewer and gifted storyteller, Ingelhart shows us the complexities of this difficult issue. This book would be good for the philosophically inclined, and also for those of us who are interested in this issue and would like to take a deeper dive.
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, by Bryan Stevenson. Simultaneously a gripping courtroom thriller, an inspiring story of a hero who has helped to make our country a better place, and a heartbreaking exploration of the injustices that still remain, this book is a great choice for anyone who is interested in current events and justice. The movie, starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx, is also excellent.
Nine Pints: A Journey through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood, by Rose George. George, an English science journalist, explores blood in all its aspects, from the market in paid plasma donation in the US, and its effects on health around the world, to the impact of menstruation on girls in developing countries. This fascinating book would be great for people interested in science, medicine, and women’s rights.
Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, by Jessica Bruder. If you liked the acclaimed film based on this book, you be happy to know that the book is even better. Bruder lets the Nomads speak for themselves, opening up this subculture for us. This book will make you angry about how the economic system (particularly the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008) has driven so many people into these desperate circumstances. But you will also admire the Nomads for their refusal to feel oppressed, and for their creation of a warm and caring community.
And the very best nonfiction book I read this year was . . .
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, by Heather McGhee. McGhee reframes the way we look at social programs: they are not zero-sum; they are win-win. Since the Civil Rights era, people have defunded such public goods as healthcare, college tuition, food stamps, even swimming pools—which many communities destroyed after integration rather than share them with Black people—to keep “those people” from getting the benefits. But McGhee shows that “those people” are us—we’re all in the same pool, and investments that benefit one group in fact benefit us all. This would be a great book for people interested in history, politics, and current events.
Recent Fiction
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch, by Rivka Galchen. Did you know that Johannes Kepler’s mother was prosecuted for witchcraft? This fascinating historical novel gives an insight into what it would be like to be an intelligent woman in the early modern era. Recommended for lovers of history, of science, and of strong women.
The Hand That First Held Mine, by Maggie O’Farrell. This beautifully written and gripping novel tells two stories that turn out to be connected. In one, set in the 1950s, a free-spirited young woman leaves her stifling rural town to live in bohemian London. In the other, set in the present, young parents cope with a new baby after a difficult birth. O’Farrell is one of my favorite writers, and I recommend this and all her books to readers who love psychology, language, and relationships.
How Beautiful We Were, by Imbolo Mbue. An oil company dumps its waste into a river that runs through a small village in West Africa, and the village children begin to die. The villagers respond in a range of ways—from collaboration and accommodation to rebellion. Recommended for readers who are interested in the environment and in how to act ethically and effectively in an imperfect world.
A Lie Someone Told You about Yourself and The Welsh Girl, by Peter Ho Davies. Two recommendations for the price of one! A Lie is more experimental: divided in halves, the book, about a family with a brilliant and autistic child, explores the consequences of the choices we make. It is a quick and thought-provoking read that I recommend to anyone interested in children with special needs and their families. The Welsh Girl is a historical novel set in a tiny town during WW2. After German POWs are imprisoned just outside of town, Esther and one of the prisoners meet, and they fall in love. A subplot concerns a Jewish soldier who is investigating whether Rudolf Hess is insane or whether he is faking it so he can be declared not competent to stand trial. Recommended for anyone interested in WW2 and historical fiction.
The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles. This story of an epic (literally! watch for the allusions to The Odyssey!) road trip across the US offers, through its compelling four main characters, four different approaches to overcoming adversity and four different attempts to become a better person. Some attempts are more successful than others. Come for the sympathetic young men who have escaped from juvenile detention, stay for the adventure, and leave with many questions for discussion. This book would be terrific for a book club, and dads and brothers would love it too.
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout. This book is the sequel to Strout’s searing novel My Name Is Lucy Barton. Lucy’s voice is compelling, and her stories about the persistent effects of trauma and how we overcome them will deepen your insight into other people. Perfect for people who work in the helping professions or who are interested in psychology.
And the very best fiction book I read this year was . . .
Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro. What does it mean to be human? Klara is an “Artificial Friend”—a robot programmed to be a companion to Josie, a socially isolated child. The story is set in the near future and is told through Klara’s perspective. In a way Klara is the opposite of an unreliable narrator, because, as her name implies, she sees clearly and speaks only the truth. We gradually discover that the world of the book bears some uncomfortable similarities to our own. Recommended for book clubs, and for anyone who is concerned about how we best help children grow into healthy, and human, adults.
Finally, the Very Best Book I Read This Year
As it happens, the very best book I read this year, the book that moved me to tears at times, made me laugh at others, and inspired me the whole way through, turns out to combine all three categories—older works, fiction, and nonfiction. Drumroll please!
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, in Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life, by George Saunders. Each chapter begins with a story by Chekhov, Tolstoy, Turgenev, or Gogol. (The book helpfully includes each story so you don’t have to track them down.) Then, Saunders takes us on a close reading through the stories so we can understand how they draw us in, make us think, and affect our emotions. We learn about how to improve our writing, and also our lives. This book is recommended for people who love Russian literature, who like to write, who want to behave ethically—and for anyone who would like to participate in a writing seminar with a warm, funny, and brilliant instructor.
How about you, readers? What was the best book you read this year? Please share your recommendations in the comments!
The Tidbit
Happy reading, everybody!
I know that this seems like a lot, but don’t be jealous. A lifelong insomniac, I do a lot of my reading between 3am and 6am (at which point I just give up and get up). Honestly I would prefer to sleep more and read less, but we play with the cards we’re dealt.
Remember the school board member I mentioned last week? The one who wouldn’t let us take calculus because we would get “too big for our britches”? He’s the one who banned Slaughterhouse-Five, because, according to him, it was “un-American.”
I also highly recommend the documentary Three Identical Strangers, available on Hulu and Amazon Prime, on this topic.
The Hand That First Held Mine, by Maggie O’Farrell. you for the brief descriptions of your favorite books. As challenging as regular insomnia can be, I'm glad for you that you've made such a positive learning experience out of the lovely hours when nothing is expected or required of us. So many of the books you mentioned looked interesting, of course. The one I think I'd be most likely to read at this particular time would be "The Hand That First Held Mine," by Maggie O’Farrell. :)
Thank you, Mari! I've been fortunate to read your book recommendations for some years now and have always enjoyed your insight. I used to write down the books I read as a child (I have many notebooks full of booklists) and decided to continue that tradition since last January :)
Klara and the Sun is such a beautiful book! I also loved Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day (also a brilliant film!) by Ishiguro and am reading We Were Orphans at the moment.
I read quite a lot of Finnish authors who are not all translated, but of the Finnish books I read this year I recommend Mia Kankimäki's The Women I Think About at Night. The US publisher describes it as "part travelogue and part thrilling exploration of the lost women adventurers of history who defied expectations in order to see—and change—the world." In her book Mia travels in Japan, Kenya and Italy and retraces the steps of 10 female pioneers that have inspired her.
Elizabeth Strout is one of my favorite authors and I loved Lucy Barton, so Oh, William! will be next on my reading list!