21 Books in 2021
2020 is almost over! Thank God! In celebration of the end of this godforsaken year, Bad Form is thrilled to present 21 books we're looking forward to in 2021. And all by Black, Asian, or racialised community authors, duh.
In no particular order, we have:
Open Water Caleb Azumah Nelson
4 Feb 2021
At once an achingly beautiful love story and a potent insight into race and masculinity, Open Water asks what it means to be a person in a world that sees you only as a Black body, to be vulnerable when you are only respected for strength, to find safety in love, only to lose it.
Luster Raven Leilani
21 Jan 2021
Razor sharp, provocatively page-turning and surprisingly tender (so we hear) Luster by Raven Leilani is a painfully funny debut about what it means to be young now.
Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro
2 Mar 2021
From international bestseller and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Kazuo Ishiguro, a look at our rapidly-changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?
Concrete Rose Angie Thomas
12 Jan 2021
From international phenomenon Angie Thomas comes a hard-hitting return to Garden Heights with the story of Maverick Carter, Starr’s father, set seventeen years before the events of the award-winning The Hate U Give.
Whiteout Conditions Tariq Shah
18 Mar 2021
Shah navigates the murky responsibilities of adulthood, grief, toxic masculinity, and the tragedy of revenge in this haunting Midwestern noir.
The Joy of Being Selfish Michelle Elman
4 Feb 2021
A book about having boundaries. Need I say more?! Bring on a selfish 2021!
Transcendent Kingdom Yaa Gyasi
4 Mar 2021
From the author of the brilliant bestselling Homecoming comes a story of a family in modern America. An absolute must-read.
Black is the Body Emily Bernard
11 Feb 2021
"Race is the story of my life, and therefore black is the body of this book." In twelve intensely personal, interconnected essays, Emily Bernard sets out to tell stories from her life that enable her to talk about truth, race, family and relationships, and much more.
The Eighth Girl Maxine Mei-Fung Chung
16 Mar 2021
Maybe a cheat - this book is technically already out in hardback, but we're looking out for the paperback too! Optioned by Netflix, The Eighth Girl is an omnivorous examination of life with mental illness and the acute trauma of living in a misogynist world.
Act Your Age, Eve Brown Talia Hibbert
19 Mar 2021
In USA Today bestselling author Talia Hibbert's newest romcom, the flightiest Brown sister crashes into the life of an uptight B&B owner and has him falling hard - literally.
Empireland Santham Sanghera
28 Jan 2021
In his brilliantly illuminating new book Sathnam Sanghera demonstrates how so much of what we consider to be modern Britain is actually rooted in our imperial past.
A Little Devil in America Hanif Abdurraqib
28 Jan 2021
At the March on Washington in 1963, Josephine Baker was in a mood to reflect on her life and her legacy. She had spent decades as one of the most successful entertainers the world had ever seen, but, she told the crowd, "I was a devil in other countries, and I was a little devil in America, too". Inspired by these words, celebrated poet and music critic Hanif Abdurraqib has written a profound meditation on Black performance in the modern age, in which culture, history and his own lived experience collide.