From Murakami to Stephen King, these are some of the most highly anticipated book launches of the year
This is the first book released by the author since he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017. Klara and the Sun looks through the lens of an Artificial Friend as she learns about each customer in detail as they browse through the store where she is placed to be sold. As she hopes to be chosen one day, the readers question a simple yet existential question: what does it mean to love? Very much like Ishiguro’s other pieces such as the hit Never Let Me Go, characters are highly relatable and inspire us ponder the meaning of our existence. The book is set to be released on March 2, 2021.
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi is about a Ghananian family living in Alabama. The protagonist, Gifty, is a PhD candidate in her sixth year at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Studying the neural circuits of depression and addiction, she is hoping to rationalise the misadventures that have happened to her family. Her bother is a talented high school athlete who died from a heroin overdose, and her suicidal mother is living in her bed. As she tries to understand what is going on with her loved ones, she finds that the evangelical church from her childhood may offer her her salvation. This book was released last year, but the hardcover will be available on March 3, 2021.
Haruki Murakami’s presentation of the fantastique is what makes us all addicted to his works. As captivating as every other novel, First Person Singular is a collection of eight stories told by a narrator in first person. What are seemingly mundane stories of the love of baseball, memories of youth are actually realised as philosophical and alluring in their dreamlike storytelling. Together with that signature Murakami surrealist twist, you will be left with blurred lines of what’s real and what’s not. The hardcover will be available on April 6, 2021.
Few things are as satisfying as the female revenge narrative, and Lisa Taddeo’s Animal is a raw depiction of that rage. We follow Joan as she endures through a series of cruel acts from men. But one day an act of unthinkable violence is committed right in front of her, Joan flees New York to find Alice, the only person who can help her. The protagonist unravels the childhood event that traumatised her and finally regains her power to strike back. The novel is dropping on June 8, 2021.
Initially published in Italian, Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri is now translated by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author herself into English. Lahiri stretches her themes to the extremes with this book after almost a decade long hiatus. Somewhere in between the craving to belong and refusal to form lasting ties, the female protagonist brings the reader into all the places she frequents: her house, parks, bridges, streets and coffee bar. She has people around her: colleagues whom she fails to relate to, friends and a mysterious man who both calms and agitates her. As time passes, transformation is ready to bloom. The book will be available for purchase on April 27, 2021.
You cannot expect a coming-of-age story from Stephen King to be like any other. In Later, Jamie Conklin is the son of a struggling mother who wishes for nothing else but a normal childhood. This child was born with a special ability to perceive beyond what others can. Jamie’s innocence will forever be lost when NYPD detective draws him into an investigation to track down a killer who claims to strike from beyond the grave. This new piece is reminiscent of King’s earlier classic, It. The novel will be released on March 2, 2021.
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah is an epic tale of love, heroism and hope. Set against the background of the Great Depression, the story is about Elsa Martinelli and the sacrifices she makes for her dream. It was 1934. A drought has broken out in Texas, leaving farmers with cracked, dusty lands. Millions are unemployed and Martinelli is forced to make a hard choice: to fight for her beloved homeland or to leave for a better life in California. The book will be released on next month, February 2, 2021.
Neal Shusterman’s Game Changer is what we need in today’s time—an escape. Ash is a teenage American football player who is used to being knocked around in games. But the last game he played seemed to hit him a little too hard when his life isn’t how he remembers it. Shifting from one parallel reality to another, Ash begins to question his entire existence.
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins is a retelling of Jane Eyre with a darker twist. Newly arriving in town, Jane, a penniless dogwalker, meets Eddie Rochester. He is very charming and also very rich. Living in his mansion where his wife died a year ago, Eddie is ready to offer Rachel everything she ever wanted: stability, acceptance and a perfect life. As dreamy as everything seems, dark secrets lurk within Eddie’s ornate villa. The book was released on January 5, 2021.
Set in 1983, Taylor Jenkins Reid’s book Malibu Rising follows the Riva siblings as they anticipate the annual end-of-summer party. Nina is a supermodel and a talented surfer while her brothers Jay and Hud are a championship surfer and a photographer, respectively. Family secrets surface and their mansion lights up in flames at this life-changing get-together.