The big preview: 37 must-read books arriving in the second half of 2021

From dazzling debuts to some of our favourite authors — including the novel that everyone is talking about — Niamh Donnelly takes a look at the best new releases of the coming months

Sally Rooney: Razor-sharp on relationship dynamics

Niamh Donnelly

Forget Yeezys, forget kitchen islands, forget Porsches, the only status symbol that counts these days is an advance copy of Beautiful World, Where Are You. The third novel by the inimitable Sally Rooney comes out in September and it’s hard not to get swept up in the buzz. Add to that new novels by Jonathan Franzen, Colm Tóibín, and Elizabeth Strout, debuts from Sarah Gilmartin and Daisy Lafarge, a memoir from Catherine Corless, books that touch on the pandemic and books that take you away, the latter half of 2021 feels full of promise, in the world of literature at least.

Colm Tóibín  With all the fanfare around up-and-coming Irish authors, it’s easy to forget just how brilliant some of our established writers are. Until they remind us, that is. I remember being utterly blown away by Tóibín’s The Master, his retelling of the life of Henry James. In a similar vein, his latest novel, The Magician, takes on the life of Thomas Mann. Readers are in for a treat.