The best (and worst) novels of 2021 so far
In this regularly updated guide, our critics review the best of the year s fiction – and suggest a few books to avoid
Eight of the best: this year s top novels
The Start-Up Wife by Tahmima Anam ★★★☆☆
Tahmima Anam is best known as the award-winning writer of three novels (A Golden Age, The Good Muslim and The Bones of Grace), and less well-known as the executive director of a music technology startup called ROLI. An experience no doubt plumbed for her latest book, The Startup Wife, a tech industry-set reverse romcom in which a young Bangladeshi-American woman creates a social media network that gets out of control.
Not All ‘HEA’ (Happily Ever After) titles at Library
William Gwin/Reader s Guide
One reader described a book’s ending as not “HEA” or “Happily Ever After.” I found this term interesting, suggesting all kinds of short-hand personal and cultural references, and I could foresee an extended use of “HEA” beyond describing a less than sanguine plot ending. For example, I can imagine replying to a parent’s query: “How did the soccer game turn out?” “Well, not very ‘HEA.’ Let’s just say that!”
From the dystopian genre, (certainly not “HEA”) you might enjoy “Attack Surface,” by Cory Doctorow, which is part spy-thriller, part “Big Brother” cyber conspiracy. Mash Maximow is a gritty, street-smart operative working for the “winning side,” which exploits her elite cyber skills to oppress dissidents in repressive governments across the globe. Out of boredom, she has become a hi-tech prankster, interfering with people’s lives from thousands of
Between the Pages of Contemporary Asian American Literature
There’s an evolution in contemporary Asian American literature from the usual immigrant story to something more nuanced and varied, something that’s more reflective of the varieties of “Asian Americaness”.
Sex and Vanity, the half-Chinese, half-old money WASP Lucie Tang Churchill is confronted with (yet another) request to explain her identity. Lucie is in Capri alongside her equally WASPy (but not Chinese) cousin Charlotte when a tour guide mistakes Lucie for a friend rather than a relation.
“Oh? Your cousin?” Paolo glanced reflexively at Lucie in surprise, but Lucie simply smiled. She knew that within the next few seconds, Charlotte would automatically launch into the explanation she had always given since Lucie was a little girl.
Jenna Bush Hager s April Book Club Pick Is About a Marriage on the Edge yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Read It and Reap: Pandemic spurs thirst for books
By Ann Connery Frantz
With a scarce supply of compliments for 2020, one can at least enjoy that book sales increased. People haven’t stopped reading, buying and borrowing books. Stores and libraries have kept up through online innovation and special services for readers. In Lancaster, for example, library borrowers agree to pick their selection up on the front porch at a certain time.
Read, a library-friendly website, recommends reserving these coming releases, so you can get to the top of the request list: George Saunders’ “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain,” about reading and writing of stories; “Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning” by Tom Vanderbilt; “The Children’s Blizzard,” by Melanie Benjamin (“The Aviator’s Wife”) is a historical novel that deals with courage during a devastating blizzard in the Great Plains during 1888; “The Charmed Wife” by Olga Grushin, is a creative da