PEOPLE Picks the Top 10 Books of 2021

Raised in the North, Ailey spends summers in Georgia, harboring a secret. Interwoven with her story are tales of her Black, white and Indigenous ancestors, with the two timelines on a collision course. Stunning.

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Inspired writer turned uninspired teacher steals genius plot from student. What could possibly go wrong? The beauty is, Korelitz's own plot is even more fiendishly clever than the purloined one. Just try putting this thriller down.

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A man tells of the baby he and his wife didn't have and then of the one they do. Heartbreaking and humorous by turns, Ho's slim novel illuminates the cultural and personal debate over abortion. An essential American story. 

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The hilarious, affecting struggles of a young woman in London who's losing her father to dementia and experiencing the chilly modern phenomenon of being ghosted by a lover. Sheer reading pleasure, in a year when we (still) sorely needed it.

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After having twins, the Broadway playwright Sarah Ruhl was struck with Bell's palsy, which froze half of her face. She writes with intelligence and humor about the profound, often surprising difficulties her inability to smile presented, and what she learned.

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The rock legend pulls back the curtain on his creative process in this two-volume set, including rare photos and personal anecdotes behind his hits. It's just the thing to crack open after you've watched the Beatles documentary Get Back.

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In Ishiguro's poignant, transporting fable, set in a dystopian future, a humanoid robot named Klara is purchased as a companion for a frail young girl. Her quest to learn the ways of friendship illuminates our deepest questions about life.

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The director survived depression, drug addiction and three unhappy marriages before finding happiness with Diane Sawyer. As Harris relates so brilliantly here, Nichols was a connoisseur of conflict, and he held up a mirror to our anger and joy.

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An African village is devastated by an American oil company's drilling and its own government's betrayal — until a young girl named Thula ignites a revolt. A brilliant, agonizing tale of greed, colonialism and fortitude.

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Before the Sacklers made billions from the deadly opioid OxyContin, they built a fortune marketing Valium — and downplaying its addictiveness. A chilling and fascinating family saga.

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