The Best Books of 2021

“A half-read book is a half-finished love affair,” wrote David Mitchell in Cloud Atlas. Below are the best books of 2021 read by Glamour editors and staff—books that we tore through, books we dreamed about, books we pressed into our loved ones’ hands and then stood back, twitchily watching them read. 

There are some new books that make your hands feel heavy and your eyelids slam shut. These are not those books. These are must-read books that felt like addictions, perspective shifters, rich dessert. From Amazon best sellers to nonfiction books about the tradition of African American cooking to the book-club books that we actually finished, these are the novels to read before 2022 hits and a whole new slate of promising literary fiction hits. 

These are the best books of 2021 according to Glamour staffers, and we can’t wait to share them with you. (If you’ve already torn through these, may we suggest the best books of 2020?)