--- description: Find out why "The Anthropologists" is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'The Anthropologists' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b081ed3b35d3f3d/698a8d0cb3fce3ca1e0d2814/The-Anthropologists-Aysegul-Savas.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 13, 2024 # The Anthropologists by [Shannon Carlin](/author/shannon-carlin/) ## Shannon Carlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Carlin is a contributor for TIME.  An idealistic couple’s hunt for a new apartment becomes the catalyst for a quarter-life crisis in Ayşegül Savaş’s insightful third novel. Inspired by her 2021 _New Yorker_ short story, “[Future Selves](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/29/future-selves "undefined"),” _The Anthropologists_ follows Asya and Manu, a documentarian and a nonprofit worker, as they look to put down roots in an unnamed foreign city. With each new real estate listing they visit, Asya grows increasingly concerned that they’re giving up on a life less ordinary for an existence that is more socially acceptable. By studying the daily lives and routines of kindred spirits in her current neighborhood—a withdrawn bon vivant, a naive loner, and a poetry-loving elderly neighbor whose mind is quickly fading—Asya begins to find joy in even the most unremarkable moments of her own existence. With subtlety and sincerity, Savaş encourages readers to be anthropologists in their own lives, in hopes they’ll discover for themselves what it truly means to live. **Buy Now:** _The Anthropologists_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9781639733064 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3YTtPXM "undefined") | [Barnes & Noble](https://fave.co/48DUmvi "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172808/the-anthropologists/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172808/the-anthropologists/"},"headline":"The Anthropologists","datePublished":"2024-11-13T13:16:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:42:58.630Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172808/the-anthropologists/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b081ed3b35d3f3d/698a8d0cb3fce3ca1e0d2814/The-Anthropologists-Aysegul-Savas.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shannon Carlin","jobTitle":"Carlin is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/"}],"creator":"Shannon Carlin","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3b081ed3b35d3f3d/698a8d0cb3fce3ca1e0d2814/The-Anthropologists-Aysegul-Savas.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172808/the-anthropologists/","name":"The Anthropologists"}}]}] ```