Books that shaped 2021

Every year, a handful of books tend to dominant the cultural conversation, either by capturing the world around us or offering the perfect escape from it. 

Here we round up ten of those very titles, from issue-led non-fiction to innovative novels to poetry collections that defined a moment and helped illuminate the future.

The best-sellers

Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney

Was Sally Rooney’s third novel perhaps the most anticipated of the year? With a marketing campaign that spread from tiny proofs to entire buildings painted with the cover and blanket review coverage, it was difficult not to suspect that Rooney’s character – a novelist hiding out in coastal Ireland from sudden fame – was somewhat drawn from experience. Beautiful World, Where Are You? examines how relationships can exist in an increasingly fractured world, a theme that is all the more pertinent in light of the pandemic.

The thought-provokers

The voices of the future

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