Skip to main content

Best Books of 2021


Well... it's that time of the year again. As of this writing (and still 10 days to go), I've finished 164 books. A record for me. But I'm here to tell you what made my top 10 adult books for the year (hopefully within the week I will publish my top 10 YA books). If you would like a one page printable copy, click here. So without further ado, here's the list. 


1. The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr. 

The Prophets isn’t just the best written book of 2021, it might be the best written book of the millennium. Beautifully written but also heart breaking, this genre bending novel recalls Morrison at almost every turn, and in the process tells one of the most gorgeous and heart breaking love stories of all time. This is the story we need in 2021. A true reckoning of our past.

2. Bewilderment by Richard Powers

After The Overstory, all attention is on Richard Powers. But Bewilderment is so different. Rather than a sprawling narrative, we’re given something far more intimate. A story about fathers and sons and the limitations of science, this story shows what Powers can do when he’s more restrained and the result is just as powerful and even more memorable. 


3. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

How do you follow up an achievement like All the Light We Cannot See? With an even more daring book that takes us from 15th century Constantinolpe to the intergalactic unknown future. With three intertwining stories, you never have a moment of respite. Despite the daunting 640 pages, I devoured this book in the course of a weekend. Awe-inspiring in scope and near perfect in its execution.

4. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Ishiguro is the most emotionally taxing writer on this list. Each story, like Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day before this, is so meticulously crafted that it’s a wonder how it all works. The story of a robot just looking for a place to call home and a child to love is so tender and so wonderful, it’s my go to recommendation for 2021. And as always, it feels all too plausible, leaving you with something both beautiful and haunting.


5. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

A biological male who detransitions from womanhood (and still identifies as female) finds out that her girlfriend (who thinks she’s a man) is pregnant and our protagonists first thought is to contact his ex-girlfriend (who dated our character in a lesbian relationship) to tell her that she should adopt the baby. If that conceit doesn’t tell you everything you need to know why you need to read this book, then it’s clear literature isn’t for you.

6. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

If The Age of Innocence had a baby with The Grapes of Wrath, you would have The Four Winds. That should be all you need to know. But Hannah’s Dust Bowl epic is so exciting and dire and consequential that you will be compelled to keep reading. On more than one occasion I’ve talked to a reader who finished this small behemoth in a weekend. Count me as one of those too. This story and Elsa (our main character) demands your attention. 


7. Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain

My schooling has been a lie (I’ve known this for some time) and this book is here to remedy the many many gaps in how we tell history. Dozens of authors tell the story of America from the very first ships filled with enslaved people landing here all the way to present day. The most important book of 2021, Four Hundred Souls will shock and awe you again and again and again. 

8. Love is a Revolution by Renee Watson

This year some YA books took a chance. But few of these characters resonated with me like Nala. So often noise and revolutions happen around us, and then there’s Nala who is like “ya… I’m good. Thanks though.” But sometimes you do stupid things for love. And this book is full of all sorts of bad decisions, and you’ll be cheering and groaning the whole way through. This reminded me what it was like to be a teenager all over again. And I was there for it for - every - single - minute. 


9. Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome

If George Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue got all grown up into an adult memoir, you would have Punch Me Up to the Gods. In a nonfiction class all its own, this is the real story of the Black queer experience we all needed. It’s harrowing. But this story, framed around a simple bus ride, takes us on a wild journey of self hate towards self acceptance is in a class all its own. This is the best memoir of 2021. 

10. Project Hail Mary by Anthony Weir 

I still don’t know if Anthony Weir can write well. But it doesn’t matter. The plot is so intriguing and so fun, I actually felt forlorn when this full throttle, action packed adventure was over. Weir talks science like no one else, and while I may never fully understand time dilation, I know saving the world from sun eating space algae made for the most excitement this year. Bonus perk, if you have audible you must must must must must spend a credit on this one. It’s the fastest 17+ hours of my life. 

Daniel Valentin teaches English 9, Humanities, and American Dream at Horace Greeley High School. He is currently reading This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron and is listening to Unprotected by Billy Porter. He wants his students to feel empowered through books. Follow him on Twitter @DanielJValentin

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to Upload Videos for Student Access

Hi fellow educators, I know we're delving into uncharted territory here with iLearning. After listening to Kristin Ziemke, author of Read the World, talk about the value of face time with our students, I started to really consider how my students are seeing me. Despite my initial reluctance, I decided to record videos for them. I want to find ways to build student/teacher relationships in this tough time. But what I realized quickly was Screencastify (as amazing as it is) uploads at the speed of snail. So with that in mind, I found an alternative way of uploading videos. I hope you find this helpful: If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below. Wishing you the best of luck on these new future endeavors. All the best, Daniel Valentin Daniel Valentin teaches American Dream, British Literature and English 9 at Horace Greeley High School. He is currently reading Slay by Brittney Morris and is listening to Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. He w...

Food Literacy: From Food Map to Food Poetry

Throughout 2019, Food Literacy entered my life. Last year, Ruth Reichl's Save Me the Plums  topped my favorite books of the year . Through various unknown circumstances (kismit, I believe they call it), I ended up reading a number of gourmet memoirs (Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi, The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers) and even other books I loved circulated around food (Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur, With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo). During NCTE's #WhyIWrite month, a variety of people talked about food writing in the classroom and beyond. Food is at the center of what we do, and (in honest transparency here) I'm a bit of a food nut. It's not just that I like eating, it's that I care a lot about what enters my body. Maybe it's my part time work in the fitness industry, maybe it's the copious amount of food prepping I do on Sunday nights, or maybe it's all the Netflix and Hulu cooking shows I binge-watch on any given weekend...