Our 21 Favorite Books of 2021

THE YEAR STARTED OFF WITH THE PROMISE OF VACCINES, THE WORLD REOPENING AND socializing in person once again, but the resurgence of COVID-19 with Delta, and now Omicron, variants makes the comfort of losing yourself in the pages of a book all the more appealing. Luckily, 2021 provided a plethora of intriguing options to pique any interest—from thrillers on this planet and in space to a Dustbowl family saga, or from the real-life promise of artificial intelligence to the heartbreak wrought by addiction and gun violence. Here are Newsweek’s picks for the best books of 2021, fiction and non-fiction treasures that helped us get through another challenging year.

Fiction

The Four Winds

By Kristin Hannah ST. MARTIN’S PRESS | $28.99

Hannah’s brutally beautiful latest novel unfolds in 1930s Texas, where the Martinelli family must choose between the blighted dust of the land they love dearly, or face the unknown country to the west.

Project Hail Mary

By Andy Weir BALLANTINE BOOKS | $28.99

From the author of and comes another interstellar story, in which the sole survivor of a