Norwalk's Best Reads 2021

Fiction 


Lost apothecary Opens in new window

The Lost Apothecary

By Penner, Sarah
2021-03 - Park Row
0778311015 Check Our Catalog

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Named Most Anticipated of 2021 by Newsweek, Good HousekeepingHello magazine, Oprah.com, Bustle, Popsugar, Betches, Sweet July, and GoodReads

March 2021 Indie Next Pick and #1 LibraryReads Pick

"A bold, edgy, accomplished debut " --Kate Quinn, Ne…More


Lost Hamnet Opens in new window

Hamnet

By O'Farrell, Maggie
2020-07 - Knopf Publishing Group
0525657606 Check Our Catalog

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER - NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "Of all the stories that argue and speculate about Shakespeare's life ... here is a novel ... so gorgeously written that it transports you. --The Boston Globe

In 1580's England, during the Black Plague a young Latin tutor falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman in this "exceptional …More



Oh William

Oh William!

By Stout, Elizabeth
2021-10 - Random House
0812989430 Check Our Catalog

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout explores the mysteries of marriage and the secrets we keep, as a former couple reckons with where they've come from--and what they've left behind.

ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air - ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book …More


The Lincoln Highway

The Lincoln Highway

By Towles, Amor
2021-10 - Viking
0735222355 Check Our Catalog

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick

A New York Times Notable Book, and Chosen by Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post and Barack Obama as a Best Book of the Year

"Wise and wildly entertaining . . . permeated with light, wit, youth." --The New York Times Book Review

"A classic …More

the Paris Library

The Paris Library

By Charles, Janet Skeslien
2021-02 - Atria Books
1982134194 Check Our Catalog

An instant New York Times, Washington Post, and USA TODAY bestseller--based on the true story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris during World War II--The Paris Library is a moving and unforgettable "ode to the importance of libraries, books, and the human connections we find within both" (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling …More


Harlem Shuffle

Harlem Shuffle

By Whitehead, Colson
2021-09 - Doubleday Books
0385545134 Check Our Catalog

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR - NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, a gloriously entertaining novel of heists, shakedowns, and rip-offs set in Harlem in the 1960s.

Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked... To his …More


Klara and the Sun

Klara and the Sun

By Ishiguro, Kazuo
2021-03 - Knopf Publishing Group
059331817X Check Our Catalog

BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE - NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes our view of the world. This magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate and author of Never Let Me Go is "an intriguing take on how artificial intelligence might play a role in our futures ... a poignant meditation on love and loneliness" (The Associated …More

Local Woman Missing

Local Woman Missing

By Kubica, Mary 
2021-05 - Park Row
0778389448 Check Our Catalog
New York Times Bestseller

"Dark and twisty, with white-knuckle tension and jaw-dropping surprises." --Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of Home Before Dark

In this smart and chilling thriller, master of suspense Mary Kubica takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at …More

The Push

The Push

By Audrain, Ashley
2021-01 - Pamela Dorman Books
1984881663 Check Our Catalog

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick A New York Times bestseller!

"Utterly addictive." --Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train

"Hooks you from the very first page and will have you racing to get to the end."--Good Morning America
A tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family--and a woman
…More

While Justice Sleeps

While Justice Sleeps: A Novel

By Abrams, Stacey
2021-05 - Doubleday Books
0385546572 Check Our Catalog

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - From celebrated national leader and bestselling author Stacey Abrams, a gripping thriller set within the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court--where a young law clerk finds herself embroiled in a shocking mystery plotted by one of the most preeminent judges in America.
Abrams follows in Dan Brown's footprint with this …More


Our Country Friends

Our Country Friends

By  Shteyngart, Gary
2021-11 - Random House
1984855123 Check Our Catalog

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER -GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review - Financial Times - The Washington Post - Time - Los Angeles Times - Town & Country - Good HousekeepingKirkus Reviews

"A perfect novel for these times and all times, the …More


The Love Songs of W.E.B DuBois Opens in new window

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

By Jeffers, Honoree Fanonne
2021-08 - Harper
006294293X Check Our Catalog

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2021

AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB SELECTION
LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT NOVEL - LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION - A FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR FICTION - 

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST …More

Mary Jane

Mary Jane

By Blau, Jessica Anya
2021-05 - Custom House
0063052296 Check Our Catalog

The best book of the summer. -- InStyle

I LOVED this novel....If you have ever sung along to a hit on the radio, in any decade, then you will devour Mary Jane at 45 rpm. --Nick Hornby

Almost Famous meets Daisy Jones & The Six in this delightful (New York Times Book Review) novel about a fourteen-year-old …More



KIng of Scars Opens in new window

King of Scars

By Bardugo, Leigh
2019-01 - Imprint
1250142288 Check Our Catalog

A 2020 LOCUS AWARD FINALIST!

See the Grishaverse come to life on screen with Shadow and Bone, now a Netflix original series.

Enter the Grishaverse with the instant #1 New York Times-bestseller King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo, the first book in the King of Scars Duology.

[Bardugo] touches on religion, class, family, love …More



A Special Place for Women

A Special Place for Women

By Hankin, Laura
2021-05- Berkley Books
1984806262 Check Our Catalog

As seen on Good Morning America and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

"One of the smartest, sharpest, and funniest books I've read in years... Some books are meant to be devoured--this one does the devouring."--Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of People We Meet on Vacation

One of Summer 2021's Most …More

People We Meet on Vacation

People We Meet on Vacation

By Henry, Emily 
2021-05 - Berkley Books
1984806750 Check Our Catalog

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

A TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON SUMMER READS NOMINEE!

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2021 by NewsweekOprah Magazine ∙ The Skimm ∙ Marie Claire ∙ ParadeThe Wall Street Journal …More



Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary

By Weir, Andy
2021-05 - Ballantine Books
0593135202 Check Our Catalog

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - From the author of The Martian, a lone astronaut must save the earth from disaster in this "propulsive" (Entertainment Weekly), cinematic thriller full of suspense, humor, and fascinating science--in development as a major motion picture starring Ryan Gosling.

ONE OF THE YEAR'S BEST BOOKS: Bill Gates, GatesNotes, New …More



Non-Fiction


code breaker Opens in new window

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race

By Isaacson, Walter
2021-03 - Simon & Schuster
1982115858 Check Our Catalog

A Best Book of 2021 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Time, and The Washington Post

The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a "compelling" (The Washington Post) account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have …More


Crying in H Mart Opens in new window

Crying in H Mart: A Memoir

By Zauner, Michelle
2021-04 - Knopf Publishing Group
0525657746 Check Our Catalog

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR - NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - From the indie rockstar of Japanese Breakfast fame, and author of the viral 2018 New Yorker essay that shares the title of this book, an unflinching, powerful memoir about growing up Korean American, losing her mother, and forging her own identity.
In this exquisite story …More

Keep Sharp Opens in new window

Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age

By Gupta, Sanjay
2021-01 - Simon & Schuster
1501166735 Check Our Catalog

Keep your brain young, healthy, and sharp with this science-driven guide to protecting your mind from decline by neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Throughout our life, we look for ways to keep our minds sharp and effortlessly productive. Now, globetrotting neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta offers "the book all of us need, young and old" (Walter Isaacson, #1...More


This is your mind on plants Opens in new window

This Is Your Mind on Plants

By Pollan, Michael 
2021-07 - Penguin Press
0593296907 Check Our Catalog

The instant New York Times bestseller A Washington Post Notable Book One of NPR's Best Books of the Year.

"Expert storytelling . . . [Pollan] masterfully elevates a series of big questions about drugs, plants and humans that are likely to leave readers thinking in new ways."--New York Times Book Review
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael …More



Broken Opens in new window

Broken (in the Best Possible Way)

By Lawson, Jenny
2021-04 - Henry Holt & Company
1250077036 Check Our Catalog
An Instant New York Times Bestseller

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Furiously Happy and Let's Pretend This Never Happened comes a deeply relatable book filled with humor and honesty about depression and anxiety.
As Jenny Lawson's hundreds of thousands of fans know, she suffers from depression. 

In Broken, …More

Empire of pain Opens in new window

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

By Keefe, Patrick Radden
2021-04 - Doubleday Books
0385545681 Check Our Catalog

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR - NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - A grand, devastating portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, famed for their philanthropy, whose fortune was built by Valium and whose reputation was destroyed by OxyContin. From the prize-winning and bestselling author of Say Nothing…More


on juneteenth Opens in new window

On Juneteenth

By Gordon-Reed, Annette
2021-05 - Liveright Publishing Corporation
1631498835 Check Our Catalog

Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed's On Juneteenth provides a historian's view of the country's long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond. All too aware of …More


pagan diet Opens in new window

The Pegan Diet: 25 Practical Principles for Reclaiming Your Health
 in a Nutritionally Confusing World

By Hyman, Mark
2021-02 - Little, Brown Spark
031653708X Check Our Catalog

Discover the benefits of "eating your medicine" with twelve-time New York Times bestselling author Mark Hyman, MD's unique Pegan diet, "a masterpiece on food and health" (William Li, author of Eat to Beat Disease).

What do you get when you combine the best of paleo with the best of vegan? Pegan For decades, the diet wars have pitted advocates for the low-carb, high-fat …More


the sum of us

The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together

By McGhee, Heather
2021-02 - One World
0525509569 Check Our Catalog

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD - One of today's most insightful and influential thinkers offers a powerful exploration of inequality and the lesson that generations of Americans have failed to learn: Racism has a cost for everyone--not just for people of color.
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, The Washington Post, …More


What happend to you Opens in new window

What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing

By Perry, Bruce D.
2021-04 - Flatiron Books: An Oprah Book
1250223180 Check Our Catalog

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Our earliest experiences shape our lives far down the road, and What Happened to You? provides powerful scientific and emotional insights into the behavioral patterns so many of us struggle to understand.
"Through this lens we can build a renewed sense of personal self-worth and ultimately recalibrate our responses to circumstances, …More