Related

Pandemic and politics, two issues that mightily shaped 2020, will feature strongly in 2021 book publishing. 

In a strong year for World War II historical fiction, a novel about the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion—the only all-Black battalion of the Women’s Army Corps at the time—is of special interest. Plus, a book by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. 

A new book from Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, activism from Mansoor Adayfi and Rafia Zakaria, a biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and more. 

A range of books about women, friendship, family life, touring authors, and take-charge animals, with two books starring librarians.

Series start-ups and wrap-ups will keep fans busy at summer’s end.

There’s something for every history buff in August’s variegated lineup.

Moving tales of family, friendship, and loss dominate August’s memoir list.

Complementing LJ’s “Books and Authors To Know: Titles To Watch 2021,” which focuses on fiction and nonfiction, the nearly 100 key poetry titles featured here represent some of the most important and dynamic writing being done today. 

From James Lee Burke to Paula Hawkins to Preston/Child, big names with big print runs for maximum thriller pleasure.

CIA and DEA agents tackle the world.

The consequences for everyone when young women disappear.

When trouble starts close to home. 

Timely thrillers and historical suspense, with psych wards and fancy fishing retreats as settings. 

Stars like David Grossman, Caroline De Robertis, and Charlotte McConaghy are joined by up-and-comers from Nawaaz Ahmed to Meredith Westgate, and August literary fiction also tours the world from Paris to Cuba to Namibia and South Africa. 

From literary star Juan Gabriel Vásquez to  Anthony Veasna So, a rising star whose life was tragically cut short, five collections for fans of fiction, short or long. 

Old hands like Donna Andrews and Louise Penny are joined by rising stars Naomi Hirahara, Camilla Trinchieri, and more. 

Key titles in a brave new world marked by pandemic and political upheaval. 

Register at https://storeapi.libraryjournal.com/magento2-ib/customform/form.php?name=2021-lj-ala-galley-signing-guide.  A big mailing is being assembled now and will come to you soon. 

From personal crisis to epic perceptions of our culture, top July reading in literary fiction.

Big-name authors and 100,000-copy first-printing newbies provide top summer reading.

From Troy to 1950s Cold War America but focusing on World War II, a big historical sweep.

Historically and politically informed sf/fantasy.

Science titles have become increasingly prominent, but three major books on the sea in a single month is a standout. 

Register now for the forthcoming ALA Midwinter Galley & Events Guide at https://storeapi.libraryjournal.com/magento2-ib/customform/form.php?name=2021-lj-ala-galley-signing-guide

Lots of cozies for beach reading, but don’t miss Icelandic star Arnaldur Indridason’s The Darkness Knows and debuter Greg Buchanan’s Sixteen Horses.

Big-name authors—and mostly women—fill the thriller list for July.

Eight wide-ranging history titles for July.

Literary fiction for July launches with award-winning authors. 

Top pop fiction in July ranges from historicals to horror to bittersweet love.

July reading for an engaged political future. 

Two leading figures in world history get a very different kind of treatment. 

Finding love, facing death, and getting rescued by dogs in town, in the country, and on the beach. 

Leading off with a thriller from Stacey Abrams that publishes in May, this list offers 13 recent fiction discoveries, publishing in April through June. 

Big names like Pat Barker, Francine Prose, Jonathan Evison, and Brandon Taylor, plus a host of fledgling writers often addressing coming of age. 

From Bentley/Clancy to J.A. Jance to Stuart Woods: chills for the summer. 

Ranging from debut authors to authors who have claimed big sales or awards with their first few books, here are rising stars in the thrillersphere. 

June memoir leads off with key #ownvoices narratives. 

Great June reading, often from LJ-starred authors, with Janet Evanovich introducing her first new series on her own in a while.

From demythologizing the Alamo to Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan’s significantly far-reaching dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson to the British battling the Germans over Malta during World War II, plus talking about the impact of books in American history.

New York Times reporter Emma Goldberg on doctors doing their residencies during COVID-19, George Packer on the narratives that have made America lose its way, Imani Perry on how the South defines America, and Clint Smith on slavery as central to the American experience. 

Top June fiction with authors ranging from veterans Lionel Shriver and Beatriz Williams to newcomer Tom Lin. 

May pop fiction opens the season for beach-set beach reads, but there are more heartwarmers here. 

From Lincoln to Nixon and key events in between: five key history titles. 

Four stories of resistance and courage. 

Along with social justice issues and arts titles embracing Bob Dylan and Salman Rushdie, May brings a history and future of quarantine to give us context.

This month's literary gems include a long-lost novel by John Oliver Killens, a founding father of the Black Arts Movement. 

Spring is a big time for debut novels, as this list reveals. 

Historical fiction ranging from a feminist retelling of Ariadne's story to  different views on World War II. 

Journalism, boxing, soldiering, and more: recalling the past to understand the present. 

Some of your favorite actors and social media stars talk about their lives. 

Disclosing oneself to help others. 

Six key nonfiction titles for May, dominated by memoirs that aren't just personal. 

Eight top May titles in multiple genres. 

Plenty of domestic suspense this month, but the next in the late Clive Cussler’s Det. Isaac Bell series brings early 1900s action and adventure.

Mysteries from cozies to historicals to international affairs, with Ashley Weaver introducing a new series.

A senator, a refugee, and a performer tell their stories.

Morgan Jenkins writes a first novel, Eleanor Morse breaks out with the story of a Maine widow and her family, and Jeff VanderMeer continues crossing genres—lots happening in April. 

Four novels about the complexity of relationships.

From debuters Dewes and Walter to award winners Kim and Szpara.

From a tenth-century Polish queen and two 15th-century female mystics to a poison-dealing apothecary and a celebrated biracial violinist in 1700s Europe, to a bookshop during the Blitz. 

A CIA spy in Africa, Sandford fan favorites Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers on the seven seas, and lots of family suspense.

From the Colonial murder of an Indigenous hunter to Klondike gold to two views of the Cold War, from its underpinning ideas to the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

Advice on navigating life's ups and downs, often folded into memoir. 

April’s mystery parade leads off with big-print-run offerings from Hillerman and Rosenfelt, but the list is not all contemporary; readers will also enjoy visits to 19th- and early 20th-century London and New York.

Stories of birth, coming of age, flailing marriage, and death, plus the fictionalized lives of artists Leonora Carrington and Dorothea Lange.

Significant moments in history and literature plus a look at being a Black friend today. 

Carol Edgarian’s latest, Andrea Lee’s first novel in 15 years, and China expert Orville Schell’s first novel ever.

From the dangers posed by the strong Black woman image and how imprisoned veterans are regaining confidence by training dogs to immune malfunction as the cause of exhaustion and the best way to do laundry.

Big print runs, big auctions, and TV rights are signs that these novels will be buzzing.

Immediate eye-catchers for nonfiction readers today.

Seven lead titles for spring that are already buzzing.

From James Rollins to exciting new debut authors—March thrills. 

History embracing social justice, serious milestones, and strong women.

Science titles are stronger than ever, but Walter Isaacson's The Code Breaker rides especially high with a 500,000-copy first printing.

In his third novel, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Héctor Tobar reimagines the adventures of real-life Joe Sanderson, linking the United States and Central America as he considers who can claim the act of storytelling. 

Award winners and best-selling authors keep mystery readers hooked. 

Handwritten ledgers from the Société d’Economie et d’Assistance Mutuelle in New Orleans serve as the basis of an intriguing new history embracing Black America.

From an illustrated history to the mothers of great men to the utopian founding of Soul City.

Ten key history titles for February 2021.

From political manifesto and Obamacare to the fall of civilizations, the dangers of tech-based hype, and the first all-Black team to win the National Interscholastic Polo championship.

Four rising-star authors explore LGBTQ+ lives today.

Nobel Prize winners Paul Nurse and Frank Wilczek and TV chemistry guru Kate Biberdorf are among the authors who help us understand science better.

Big-name veterans and big print-run debuters sweep through space and time during the dark winter months.

One woman’s struggle in Depression-era Texas.

The celebrated Pulitzer Prize finalist explores one young man’s journey to find himself.

From newcomers Te-Ping Chen and Dantiel W. Moniz to veterans Joyce Carol Oates and Ben Okri.

Top reading for winter’s darkest month.

Literary fiction imbued with ghosts and magical birds, spirit worlds and the internet as portal.

Three top titles with characters in dislocation.

Teenage girls in a world that challenges them.

Top reading for winter’s darkest months.

February thrills include key names and imaginative setups ranging from assisted suicide to academic competition. 

From Okinawan American Elizabeth Miki Brina to Black American Rebecca Carroll, raised by white parents, to Filipino American comedian Koy, Basketball Hall of Famer Black coach John Thompson, and Biafra-rooted Black cultural critic Louis Chude-Sokei: surviving the white gaze. Plus French author Vanessa Springora recalling childhood seduction by a distinguished French author and Michael Patrick F. Smith on hard work with his father in mind. 

Along with pros like Jill Shalvis and Lori Wilde, newcomers offer new twists on the relationship novel.

Three major works for literary biography fans. 

Publication dates are always being rescheduled, but with the COVID-19 crisis, the publication of more titles than usual have been pushed back. Here’s a list of 2020 titles that will now land in February 2021.

Top mysteries ranging in setting from medieval England to futuristic New York, from South Central Los Angeles to Australia.

From Iraqis challenging ISIS to a new means of protecting workers to people with disabilities having their say: issues to address post-inauguration.

Lisa Gardner offers a stand-alone, Nick Petrie returns with another Peter Ash thriller, and Allie Reynolds strands readers at a ski resort in the French Alps.