As the year comes to a close, we take time to honor some of the great authors who passed away this year, leaving behind a legacy of literature that will live on.

Read on in the Libby app to remember their lives and the great stories they left us.

Cormac McCarthy

One of the great American novelists, McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize for The Road, and wrote many other award-winning novels in the Southern Gothic tradition.

The Road
No Country for Old Men
All the Pretty Horses

Milan Kundera

The Czech-born writer penned many short stories, novels, plays and poems about heavy topics, but always brought his signature sense of humor.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
The Art of the Novel

Louise Gluck

A talented poet, Gluck won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2020 "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."

Marigold and Rose
Vita Nova
The Seven Ages

Mary Ann Hoberman

Children adore Hoberman’s whimsical tales about childhood experiences, and she leaves behind over 40 books, including the beloved A House is a House for Me, winner of a National Book Award.

It’s Simple, Said Simon
The Tree That Time Built
I Like Old Clothes

Carol Higgins Clark

Daughter of mystery writer Mary Higgins Clark, Carol was the bestselling author of the Regan Reilly mystery series and also wrote a holiday suspense series with her mom.

Jinxed
Dashing Through the Snow
Fleeced

Martin Amis

British writer Amis was best known for his sharp wit and keen observation of society that he sprinkled throughout his many fiction novels, essays, short stories and memoirs.

London Fields
The Zone of Interest
Lionel Asbo

Amy Silverstein

After a heart transplant at just 25 years old, Silverstein went on to write two books about her experience, serving as a patient advocate on women’s health and resilience.

Sick Girl
My Glory Was I Had Such Friends

Kate Saunders

The British actress, journalist and author wrote many beloved books for adults and children ranging from historical romance to mystery novels.

Magicalamity
The Land of Neverendings
The Secrets of Wishtide

Anne Perry

If you love historical crime writing, Perry’s books like The Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, The Hester and William Monk series and the WWI series are your cup of tea.

The Traitor Among Us
The Cater Street Hangman
Weighed in the Balance

Ian Falconer

The author and illustrator of the Olivia books starring everyone’s favorite pig will be remembered for his charming characters and strikingly clever drawing style.

Olivia
Olivia Saves the Circus
Olivia...and the Missing Toy

Christopher Fowler

This British crime writer best known for the Bryant & May series won many awards in his career of novel and short story writing, including the Crime Writers’ Association Dagger in the Library Award in recognition for his body of work.

Full Dark House
Calabash
The Sand Men

Russell Banks

Writing primarily about working-class families and immigrant life, the American writer was described as a “gritty realist” in his career spanning five decades.

The Magic Kingdom
Voyager
Lost Memory of Skin

John Jakes

Master of the family saga, the New York Times bestselling author artfully blended storytelling with history in his historical fiction novels that spanned from the Revolutionary and Civil wars to the 20th century.

The Furies
Charleston
California Gold

Suzy McKee Charnas

An early feminist sci-fi and horror writer, Charnas began writing in the 1970s and continued into the 2000s, racking up many awards, including the Nebula and Hugo.

The Vampire Tapestry
Strange Seas
Music of the Night

Edith Pearlman

Pearlman’s short stories appeared in The O. Henry Prize Collection and Best American Short Stories, and her writing style perfectly captured the intricacies of human relationships and the complexity of ordinary lives.

Honeydew
How to Fall

Rachel Pollack

The transgender activist and sci-fi and comic book writer dedicated much of her time transforming the practice of tarot reading and becoming one of the world’s foremost authorities on the topic.

Rachel Pollack’s Tarot Wisdom
The Child Eater
The Fissure King

Cai Emmons

Literary novelist Emmons was a dramatist, and this talent for storytelling comes across in her six thought-provoking novels that explored the depths of human emotions and relationships.

Unleashed
Sinking Islands
The Stylist

Jonathan Raban

Celebrated for his mastery of the travelogue genre, Raban offered vivid landscapes in his writing along with fresh perspectives on the cultures and societies he encountered.

Passage to Juneau
Bad Land
Hunting Mister Heartbreak

Julie Garwood

Called the “Rembrandt of romance novels,” Garwood’s many historical and contemporary romance novels spent time on the bestseller lists with more than 36 million copies of her books in print.

One Pink Rose
Ransom
Sweet Talk

Paul La Farge

With books that "defied easy categorization," this inventive novelist left us with four boundary-pushing novels.

The Night Ocean
Luminous Airplanes
Haussman, or the Distinction

*Title availability may vary by region.

Remember their lives and stories and borrow these books on the Libby app.