Time is flying by fast since it just feels like yesterday when we all were entering the second year of COVID, taking new year resolutions of making full use of our time, staying fit, learning new things, and reading more and more books. There were so many amazing books that were published in 2021. Some of them had such an effect on me that I can’t get over them even after so much time has passed. So, let’s have a look on some bestselling books of 2021.
I personally gained a lot in the year 2021 since I read more than the usual number of books. I even developed a knack for writing and wrote many small and long written pieces. Also, many new authors were introduced to us that year. Feels like many people took up writing as a hobby. We also witnessed many new forms and styles of writings of the existing authors. Overall I would say that 2021 was quite a year for readers as well as writers.
I can’t note down each and every bestselling books of 2021, however, some of the many bestselling books are mentioned here in this article for you with a little summary. You can have a glimpse of them here.
| Sr.no | Book Name | Author Name |
| 01. | The Lost Apothecary | Sarah Penner |
| 02. | The Push | Ashley Andrian |
| 03. | The Last Thing He Told Me | Laura Dave |
| 04. | People We Meet on Vacation | Emily Henry |
| 05. | One Last Stop | Casey McQuiston |
| 06. | Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York | Elon Green |
| 07. | Concrete Rose | Angie Thomas |
| 08. | Let Me Tell You What I Mean | Joan Didion |
| 09. | My Year Abroad | Chang Rae Lee |
| 10. | Klara and the Sun | Kazuo Ishiguro |
| 11. | Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York | Alexander Nemerov |
| 12. | Crying in H Mart | Michelle Zauner |
| 13. | House of Sticks: A Memoir | Ly Tran |
| 14. | Intimacies | Katie Kitamura |
| 15. | The Other Black Girl | Zakiya Dalila Harris |
As amazing as all the names of these books sound, I don’t think you would want to read them without knowing something in brief about them. Here, I am going to discuss some books I read and I feel should be in your reading list. Feel free to go ahead and learn a little about them.
15 Bestselling Books of 2021 You Must Read
Some of the many bestselling books of the year 2021 are as follows.
1. The Lost Apothecary
Full Title: The Lost Apothecary
Author: Sarah Penner
Genre: Mystery
Publishing Date: 2nd March 2021
Description:
I’m pretty sure that you must have read this book already. It’s too appealing and alluring to be left out. It is set in the past of the time in which the novel is being narrated. It’s about a lady selling off poison to other ladies of the town (in secret, of course) for them to take revenge on their unfaithful or abusive partners.
She has made this her life mission, and this determination comes from her experience. Her motive was only to help women seek revenge on their male partners and would never sell her poison to harm another woman.
But can she go on with this business of her’s forever? Will she never make any mistake to get caught? What effect she’ll leave that’ll influence the future generations? You’ve got to read this book to find out!
2. The Push
Full Title: The Push
Author: Ashley Andrian
Genre: Fiction
Publishing Date: 5th January 2021
Description:
Being a mother is a beautiful experience, and that’s what Blythe Connor believed and hoped for, but that’s not what she got. She always wanted to be a warm and comforting mother to her child, something that she never had, but it wasn’t so easy for her as she was pretty convinced that something was wrong with her daughter despite everyone telling her otherwise.
Soon, she welcomed her second baby, a boy, with whom she formed a blissful bond. But life takes an astounding turn which turns their world upside down. It is an intense book about the making and breaking of a family.
3. The Last Thing He Told Me
Full Title: The Last Thing He Told Me
Author: Laura Dave
Genre: Thriller
Publishing Date: 4th May 2021
Description:
Hannah Hall is worried about her husband’s sudden disappearance. Her calls are going unanswered while the FBI arrests his boss, a US Marshall, and FBI agents show up at their house unannounced, and she has no idea where Owen, her husband, is.
She only has a note left by Owen for her, which says “protect her,” and she knows exactly who it refers to. “She” in the note refers to Owen’s 16-year-old daughter, Bailey, whose mother passed away when she was just a child and wants nothing to do with Hannah.
Could Bailey be the key to discovering the truth? Watch them both slowly build an unexpected future as they investigate together.
4. People We Meet on Vacation
Full Title: People We Meet on Vacation
Author: Emily Henry
Genre: Romance Novel
Publishing Date: 11th May 2021
Description:
Is falling in love with your best friend a good idea? Yes? No? Maybe? When you read about Alex and Poppy, two opposite best friends, let’s see what you say. Their relationship isn’t like regular best friends who meet every day. They live far apart for most of the year as she lives in New York and he lives in his small hometown. They took glorious summer vacations of a week for almost a decade until the last two years when everything got ruined.
Poppy suggests one more vacation to try and fix things, to which he agrees. Now it is their last chance. Will they grab it, or will they lose it all?
5. One Last Stop
Full Title: One Last Stop
Author: Casey McQuiston
Genre: Lesbian Literature
Publishing Date: 1st June 2021
Description:
Are you an anti-romantic too who doesn’t believe in magical and cinematic love stories? Well, it is time for you to start believing in them, the same way August did when she moved to New York, thinking the same until she met this girl Jane on the train who is charming, dazzling, impossible, and mysterious as ever.
The brief crush of August on the train proved to be the best part of her day and the biggest problem ever encountered, all at the same time. Jane is somewhere she doesn’t belong, and to help her, August must leave her past behind, making her believe in some magical things after all.
6. Last Call
Full Title: Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York
Author: Elon Green
Genre: True Crime
Publishing Date: 9th March 2021
Description:
This book had to make it to the bestselling list as it is the first book ever that tells the story of the Last Call killer who preyed on the gay community of New York City. Not many people, almost no one, know about him, and those who did have already forgotten him mostly, as claimed in the novel, because of the sexuality of his victims, the AIDS epidemic, and the high murder rates.
The way he looks and acts in public is entirely different from what you would picture a serial killer. This book narrates the true story and paints an accurate picture of the Last call serial killer and the decade-long chase to find him.
7. Concrete Rose
Full Title: Concrete Rose
Author: Angie Thomas
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Publishing Date: 12th January 2021
Description:
Maverick Carter ‘Mav’ has been brought up under the setting and mindset that a real man is the one who takes good care of his family. Being the son of a former gang legend, he sets to deal with the King Lords. The only way he knows how to take care of his family is with that money he can help his mother, who’s been working two jobs while his dad is in prison.
He has a girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, which keeps his life under control. Suddenly, Mav gets a family when he discovers that he’s a father, and now he needs to take up some responsibilities. Being a school-going himself, he enters a world where he has to amount to nothing to manage everything. Throughout the book, he slowly learns what it means to be a true man.
8. Let Me Tell You What I Mean
Full Title: Let Me Tell You What I Mean
Author: Joan Didion
Genre: Biography
Publishing Date: 26th January 2021
Description:
This book contains 12 such early pieces that have never been collected before, that offer us a glimpse inside the mind and processing of Joan Didion. These pieces include her writing about a Gamblers Anonymous Meeting, a reunion of WWII veterans, a visit to San Simeon, and about many more topics ranging from Nancy Reagan to Martha Stewart.
The subjects Didion has long written about politics, the press, women, California robber baronsac, the act of writing, and her own self-doubt.
9. My Year Abroad
Full Title: My Year Abroad
Author: Chang Rae Lee
Genre: Fiction
Publishing Date: 2nd February 2021
Description:
Tiller is just an average American college student, just like every other. He has a good heart but minimal aspirations, but that’s not what Pong Lou, a very creative Chinese American entrepreneur, sees. What he sees in him is something intriguing beyond his bored exterior appearance and takes him under his wing. Pong takes Tiller on a boisterous trip across Asia, and it is there that Tiller is transformed from an ordinary boy to a much-talanted trainee.
During his journey with Pong, he meets with several such instances and experiences that give him a new vision to view himself, the world, and even Pong.
10. Klara and the Sun
Full Title: Klara and the Sun
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Genre: Science Fiction
Publishing Date: 2nd March 2021
Description:
This novel, just like other novels written by Ishiguro, is narrated by an AI, an artificial friend, to be exact. Klara is an artificial friend, a humanoid machine with outstanding observation qualities who is supposed to become the companion of a young child, so she sits patiently in the store, waiting to be picked up by the right child. Finally, she gets picked and becomes a 14-year-old girl, Josie.
This book can be considered an anticipation of a possible future where children have artificial companion friends to get them through life. It shows that Klara, even though she’s a machine, learns about love, faith, and rationality.
11. Fierce Poise
Full Title: Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York
Author: Alexander Nemerov
Genre: Biography
Publishing Date: 23rd March 2021
Description:
This book provides a biographical account of Helen Frankenthaler, the sensational American artist in the 1950s. Fresh out of college, the young and dedicated painter Helen moved back to New York to earn fame through her work, and she made that come true within a decade.
This book gives insight into the art scene of the 1950s in New York through an amazing portrait of a young and ever so talented female artist and the moments that shaped her.
12. Crying in H Mart
Full Title: Crying in H Mart
Author: Michelle Zauner
Genre: Biography
Publishing Date: 20th April 2021
Description:
This is a memoir of Michelle Zauner, a Korean American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. In this book, she describes how she grew up as one of the few pretty Asian American kids and went to Eugene’s school.
She describes how her mother had exceptionally high expectations of her, her painful adolescence, and the very treasured months of her grandmother’s tiny Seoul apartment. She describes her growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and how she forged her own new identity.
13. House of Sticks
Full Title: House of Sticks: A Memoir
Author: Ly Tran
Genre: Biography
Publishing Date: June 2021
Description:
This is an autobiography of Ly Tran, a Vietnamese girl who moved to a two-bedroom railroad apartment in Queens from the Mekong river in Vietnam in 1993 when she was just a toddler. She is torn between the expectations of her family and her true self.
She is expected to respect the family’s Buddhist faith, contribute to the family’s livelihood, work for hours, and even do well in school, which she finds particularly hard as she had been diagnosed with poor vision making her unable to see the board. Still, her father won’t let her have glasses because he’s paranoid.
14. Intimacies
Full Title: Intimacies
Author: Katie Kitamura
Genre: Fiction
Publishing Date: 20th July 2021
Description:
The story of this novel is narrated by an unnamed narrator, who has come to The Hague to work as the new translator, responsible for translating the legal proceedings for some very evil defendants. This book contains a lot of court proceedings, hearings, and trials while keeping the personal life events of the narrator alongside. This novel comments on the elusiveness of intimacy, but the reader does not build an emotional connection with the narrator.
15. The Other Black Girl
Full Title: The Other Black Girl
Author: Zakiya Dalila Harris
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publishing Date: 1st June 2021
Description:
Nella Rogers is a 26-year-old editorial assistant who is tired of being the only black employee at Wagner Books. She gets excited when Hazel, the Harlem-born black girl starts working in the cubicle beside her. Soon after, through a series of uncomfortable events, Hazel becomes the office darling while Nella gets lost in the dust. But then, Nella starts getting weird notes on her desk that threaten her to leave Wagner.
Who could be behind it and why? Could it be Hazel? But why would she want someone as low-key as Nella to leave the place? This book has twists and turns at every moment.
Final Words
Everything is there, from fiction to fantasy, crime novels to comedy, biographies, etc. 2021 was such a blessing for us readers as it gave us so many different reading flavors. The book “The Lost Apothecary” made it to my list of favorite books not just for that year but also in general.
These books have set the bar far up high and made our expectations rise for the upcoming works for the upcoming years. But we hope (and are pretty sure) that the upcoming novels will stand up to the expectations just fine.
Bestsellers or not, the books published in 2021 were all so good that I don’t have enough words in my vocabulary to describe them. It’s just that some books outdo the others in terms of sales and ranking that make a book a bestseller. But why do we care? We’re book lovers anyway, and we’re going to read every next book we find, bestseller or not.
Do also checkout the books mentioned below:
