TENSE THRILLER, BRILLIANT satire of publishing workplace politics, absolutely devastating parable of race and gender in the US today—what can’t this impeccably written novel do? Not to be missed. A MINUS

THE OTHER BLACK GIRL
Atria Books
2021

AN ACCIDENTAL ACTION HERO goes from movies to real life in this snappy, stylish thriller about a beloved spy franchise whose stars are meeting unfortunate deaths. High concept and high energy fun. A MINUS

JOVE BRAND IS NEAR DEATH
CamCat Books
2021

FINDING A VOICE AND A LANGUAGE: a writer’s journey between her mother’s Puerto Rican family, languages, and spirituality, and her father’s disaffected Anglo whiteness and atheism, to her own power and creativity. Lovely, strong, thoughtful. B PLUS

MY BROKEN LANGUAGE
One World
2021

HARLEM AT A CROSSROADS, a man poised between the straight and narrow and the shady side hustle, the 1950s yielding to the 1960s: Colson Whitehead’s latest paints a vivid picture of a world in transition with all the power of Dickens or Ellison. SOLID A

HARLEM SHUFFLE
Doubleday
2021

AN ENGLISHMAN IN JAPAN: CURIOSITY and culture clash abound in this witty, thoughtful, vividly detailed memoir of four years spent teaching English in Tokyo. Absolute must for anyone thinking of working abroad. A MINUS

CANNED COFFEE AND KIMONOS
i2i Publishing
2021

A NOW-FORGOTTEN POET’S DEATH by suicide, and the scandal that ensued, opens a window onto the complicated passions of Gilded Age California’s literary set. Fascinating history reads like a thriller! A MINUS

THE GILDED EDGE
Dutton
2021

JOHN LE CARRÉ’S FAREWELL to his readers is an exquisitely crafted, elegiac novel about a spy service in disarray, a lost empire playing lapdog to an empire in decline, and above all, the many ways in which humans fail the people they love. B PLUS

SILVERVIEW
Viking
2021

DELICATE HISTORICAL THRILLER, set in Italy at the height of Mussolini’s power. Smart characterization and a strong sense of place. SOLID B

LITTLE SPARK
Writesideleft
2021

A RUINED EARTH, HUMANITY DIVIDED between a struggle for life on the treacherous planet and a sterile existence in orbiting settlements: elegant, nuanced, poetic novel imagines the complexities of this far-future world. B PLUS

THE SWIMMERS
Titan Books
2021

SUBURBAN SECRETS AND MURDERS are dragged to light by an unexpected pair of New Jersey sleuths. Clever, funny, insightful, and surprisingly compassionate mystery. A MINUS

SUBURBAN DICKS
G.P. Putnam's Sons
2021