Best books released in 2021: From Project Hail Mary to Malibu Rising

Project Hail Mary | It is a science fiction novel by Andy Weir. The novel is set in the near future and centers on junior high school-teacher-turned-astronaut Ryland Grace, who wakes up from a coma afflicted with amnesia. Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. (Image: Amazon)

The Four Winds | Kristin Hannah’s novel is about love and heroism and hope, set against the backdrop of one of America’s most defining eras – the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance. (Image: Amazon)

Malibu Rising | Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, the family drama that ensues will change their lives will change forever. Malibu Rising by author Taylar Jenkins Reid, is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them . . . and what they will leave behind. (Image: Amazon)

A Court of Silver Flames | A Court of Silver Flames is the first spin-off book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas. It is set after the events of A Court of Frost and Starlight, and is told from the perspectives of Nesta and Cassian. Nesta Archeron has always been prickly-proud, swift to anger, and slow to forgive. And ever since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae against her will, she’s struggled to find a place for herself within the strange, deadly world she inhabits. Worse, she can’t seem to move past the horrors of the war with Hybern and all she lost in it. (Image: Amazon)

People We Meet on Vacation | Deeply emotional and starkly funny story by Emily Henry is about Alex and Poppy, who have personalities that are polar opposites of each other but yet have been best friends for years. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together. Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since. (Image: Amazon)