By Tom Ryan

Whatever else 2021 might have been, the year has been a brilliant one for books and books, it has been scientifically proven by scientists (I assume), are the very best present, whether for Christmas, yourself or just because. So here are 21 of the very best from 2021, to help with even the trickiest of your Christmas list:

It’s been a truly stunning 12 months for debut novels, boding well for brilliant follow-ups in the years ahead. Comedian Isy Suttie and You’re Booked podcaster Daisy Buchanan have both had success with non-fiction books previously and this year proved beyond doubt that their writing skills transfer seamlessly to fiction. Daisy’s Insatiable is a very funny, engrossing and unashamedly sexy story that makes a perfect gift, perhaps for someone you won’t be in the same space as when they are reading it. Isy’s Jane is Trying is a hilarious, thought-provoking coming-of-the-age-before-middle-age tale as Jane finds herself back living with her parents; it has a transatlantic cousin of sorts in Everybody In This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin, which I stumbled across by chance in Henley’s Bell Bookshop and became probably my favourite novel of the year and certainly the best to feature both a rabbit and a protagonist who gets a job at a church by accident. Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson is a beautiful reflection of human connections and the power of music and books, while Domestic Bliss And Other Disasters is a hilarious debut from Jane ions, guaranteed cheer for that post-festive period. And beyond first novels, The Underground Railroad author Colson Whitehead returned with the masterful Harlem Shuffle, The Ways of Living by Gemma Seltzer is a  sensational short story collection following the lives of 10 women across London and Crushing by Sophie Burrowsis a profound, relatable, gorgeously illustrated almost wordless graphic novel.

History lovers and those – like myself – who don’t often read that genre will all find themselves engrossed in Tunnel 29 by Helena Merriman, inspired by her BBC podcast, the brilliantly told account of an audacious escape under the Berlin Wall in the 1960s. Michael Rosen brings us bang up to date with Many Different Kinds of Love, the story of his battle with coronavirus that saw him hospitalised for months last year, told through patient diaries from the NHS workers caring from him, his family and his own poems and words as he began his recovery. The pandemic and resulting lockdowns also inspired two phenomenal poetry collections, Where Hope Comes Fromby the British-Asian writer Nikita Gill and girl, isolated by the Canadian Trista Mateer. Another poetry highlight was Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love? by Brian Bilston: laugh-out-loud funny, moving and thought-provoking, often within the same verse. Strong Female Lead: Lessons From Women in Power by Arwa Mahdawi is a excellently researched and extremely engaging exploration of political and cultural leadership which asks why women are so often providing the strongest and most capable governance in the world today. And two beautifully written personal stories, books of the year that I would recommend to anyone and that take in issues including parenting, feminism, body image and race, are Brown Baby, the memoir from Good Immigrant editor Nikesh Shukla and My Body, the recently published essay collection by the model Emily Ratajkowski.

A bumper year for younger readers. I absolutely loved the illustrations and premise of Hooves or Hands? by Rosie Haine, as she attempts to help us decide whether it is better to be human or horse. The incredibly inventive and hilarious The Book That Did Not Want To Be Read by David Sundin (translated from Swedish by BJ Woodstein and with wonderful graphic design by Alexis Holmqvist) was another highlight, as were the charming and creative picture books The Rapping Princessby Hannah Lee & Allen Fatimaharan and Seven Sisters, the first children’s book from the brilliant novelist Ayisha Malik, fantastically illustrated by Erika Meza. And for slightly older children, you will be hard pressed to find a more beautiful book – in content and design – than Julia And The Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Tom de Freston.

If you are interested in reading any of these books, please do ask at a local bookshop if they stock it before purchasing online – Support Local

In between reading books and being an uncle to six, Tom Ryan works in events and communications with his current projects being Henley Santa’s Grotto, Twilight Trail: Biscuit Town and Jewish Book Week. . He is on Instagram as @henleyonthomas and Twitter as @atomryan.