By Elizabeth Jacob ’24
Staff Writer & Copy Editor
As 2020 comes to a long-overdue close, there is boundless curiosity as to what trials and tribulations 2021 has in store. To distract yourself from whatever the new year holds, here are some books releasing in December 2020 and early January 2021 to get excited about. Ranging in topics from race theory to mystery novels, the following books are sure to educate and intrigue readers this winter.
“Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America” by Ijeoma Oluo
Release date: Dec. 1, 2020
“Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America” by Ijeoma Oluo aims to educate readers on the destructive consequences of white male supremacy on American society, specifically for women, people of color and other minority groups. From the election of President Donald Trump to the correlating rise in white male anger and entitlement, it is easy to wonder exactly how the U.S. came to this point. In this engaging survey of American history, Oluo uses multiple sources to determine that historically, the pedestal white American men are placed upon is more than just destructive. These men actively use “women and people of color [as] scapegoats for all the ways in which white men feel cheated out of what they believe they are due,” elaborated a Seattle Times review. Oluo concludes that white men have sustained a dishonorable hold on leadership in the U.S. and have actively “undermined the pursuit of happiness for all.”
Oluo is a Nigerian American bestselling writer based in Seattle. Named as one of The Root’s 100 Most Influential African Americans in 2017, Oluo’s work primarily centers around race, identity and feminism. With work featured in The Washington Post, Time magazine and The Stranger, Oluo is most notable for writing the New York Times bestseller “So You Want to Talk About Race.”
“The Mystery of Mrs. Christie: A Novel” by Marie Benedict
Release date: Dec. 29, 2020
“The Mystery of Mrs. Christie: A Novel” by Marie Benedict is a reconstruction of Agatha Christie’s notorious 11-day disappearance. When Christie goes missing in the cold December of 1926, no one knows where she could be. With all of England engaged in a nationwide search party for the author, no leads turn up — that is, until Christie herself unexpectedly turns up nearly two weeks later with amnesia and no explanation for her disappearance. This mystery raises the question: What happened to Christie that December, and what followed? Benedict aspires to provide answers. Asking what was real, what was fabricated and what role Christie’s unfaithful husband played, Benedict submerges the reader into the enigma that is Christie and her disappearance.
Benedict is a lawyer and a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author. With a desire to bring the stories of women of the past to light, Benedict has written multiple novels, including “The Other Einstein,” about Albert Einstein’s first wife and the role she might have played in his theories, and “The Only Woman in the Room,” a Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick about the inventor Hedy Lamarr. Benedict is currently co-writing “The Personal Librarian” about the intrigue surrounding J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, with Victoria Christopher Murrary, set for release in June 2021.
“Nick” by Michael Farris Smith
Release date: Jan. 5, 2021
Michael Farris Smith intends “Nick” to be a prequel to “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Smith writes the origin story of Nick Carroway, the narrator of Fitzgerald’s classic novel. Beginning in the muddy trenches of World War I and moving from Paris to New Orleans, the reader is transported into Carroway’s journey of self-discovery in a brilliant story that, according to the blurb, “breathes new life into a character that many know but few have pondered deeply.” If you are a lover of classic literature or a fan of the inscrutable Carroway, this novel is for you.
Smith is an author with awards ranging from the Mississippi Arts Commission Literary Arts Fellowship to the Transatlantic Review Award for Fiction. Smith’s novels have placed him on notable literary lists, such as Barnes & Noble Discover Pick and Indie Next Selection. His work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and Catfish Alley. Smith is currently an associate professor of English at the Mississippi University for Women.