Most of the world enjoys various types of entertainment online including streaming videos, online casino games, social media content and more. Yet book sales continue to stay high as people enjoy the best of 2021’s book releases.
Some of the best of 2021 include:
The Nordic Theory of Everything
Anu Partanen moved to the United States in 2008 from Finland. Partanen, a journalist, charted her decline from a self-confident single professional woman to an individual who started to doubt her every move.
Partanen found that her struggles from everything from paying bills to finding health care and navigating the ups and downs of a search for child care were more complicated and stress-inducing than anything that she had encountered in her life in Finland. She thought that it was the process of acclimation to her new life in America but over time she started talking to Americans and found that they were facing the same kinds of struggles.
The Nordic Theory of Everything is a book that should make Americans think as they consider what it is about the American way of life that creates an environment of apprehension and suspicion. Partanen’s book looks at the different kinds of interpersonal relationships – parents and children, men and women, employers and employees and government and citizens – to try to explain why Nordic peoples are happier, not because they live in socialist-type “nanny” states where the state takes care of basic needs but because society sees the government’s role to make life healthier, safe and more economically secure for their citizens.
Harlem Shuffle
Colson Whitehead has followed up with his 2019 Nickel Boys a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with Harlem Shuffle, a rollicking family drama/fun-filled adventure that follows Ray Carney as he navigates a thin line between running a legitimate business and actually making money.
Carney has a furniture business but he struggles with a cash-flow problem. To make ends meet he helps his cousin Freddie fence stolen items but acting as a fence moves to a new level when Freddie moves forward with a huge heist.
Carney now has to juggle corrupt cops, the local Mafia, local hoods and his own family where his pregnant wife waits at home for him and his in-laws are ready to jump on every mistake. Set in Harlem in the 1960s this beautifully written, intricately-plotted novel is a delightful journey into a world of charming characters and high-energy adventures.
The Memory Thief
Lauren Mansy has written a book of suspense and intrigue in which 17-year-old Etta Lark prepares to stand up to the corrupt rulers of her city, Craewick, which is ruled by the Madame who divides her subjects by ability and uses memories as currency. The Memory Thief follows Etta as she tries to save her mother from having her memories stolen from her before being killed.
Etta joins The Shadows, a group of rebels who are preparing to fight Madame and the ruling class. She must prove her allegiance by stealing a memorized map of The Maze – the prison created by the bloodthirsty ruler of the neighboring Realm – and along the way, faces romance, attacks, new friendships and life-changing decisions.
Surrounded by Idiots
Thomas Erikson, communications expert and best-selling author, started to think about why it’s so difficult to communicate with some people after he struggled to have a conversation with a seemingly-successful businessman who lashed out at the people around him by saying that he was “surrounded by idiots.”
Surrounded by Idiots is Erikson’s attempt to put some kind of order into the question of how to more effectively communicate. He looks at different communication styles as he gives direction on how we can be more effective communicators.
The book takes the reader through the process of honing communication and social skills, handling conflicts more effectively, improving interactions with family, employers and co-workers and in general, getting the best out of people in our lives. He also relates to the importance of being aware of your body language and the body language of people around you and knowing how to assess when it’s best to back out of a discussion so that you don’t get involved in endless and unprofitable confrontations.
