Readers Pick Their 100 Best Books of the 21st Century from

I mention:
Greg ‪@SupposedlyFun‬
NY Times video: • NEW LIST ALERT | The 1...
The list on the NY Times website: www.nytimes.co...
Reader's list link: www.nytimes.co...
The list in order by the author's last name:
Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Life Afer Life by Kate Atkinson
A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman; translated by Henning Koch
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
2666, Roberto Bolano; translated by Natasha Wimmer
Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Amazing Adventure of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon
Piranesi, Susanna Clarke
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Evicted, Matthew Desmond
Trust, Hernan Diaz
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr
A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
Middlesex, Jeffery Eugenides
Girl, Woman, Other, Bernadine Evaristo
James, Percival Everett
My Brilliant Friend. Elena Ferrante; translated by Ann Goldstein
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen
Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus
Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann
Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi
The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah
Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
The Fifth Season, N. K. Jemisin
When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanthi
Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden Keefe
Say Nothing, Patrick Radden Keefe
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan
Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer
11/22/63, Stephen King
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson
Pachinko, Min Jin Lee
In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado
The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel
Life of Pi, Yann Martel
North Woods, Daniel Mason
Deacon King Kong, James McBride
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride
Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann
The Road, Cormac McCarthy
Atonement, Ian McEwan
Know My Name, Chanel Miller
Circe, Madeline Miller
The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Ottessa Moshfegh
1Q84, Haruki Murakami; translated by Jay Ruben and Philip Gabriel
Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami; translated by Philip Gabriel
The Bee Sting, Paul Murray
The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen
Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell
There There, Tommy Orange
Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
Tom Lake, Ann Patchett
Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt
The Overstory, Richard Powers
Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
The Plot Against America, Philip Roth
Normal People, Sally Rooney
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J. K. Rowling
Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders
Tenth of December, George Saunders
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
Just Kids, Patti Smith
White Teeth, Zadie Smith
Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson
Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout
Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Olga Tokarczuk; translated by
Antonia Lloyd- Jones
A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
The Lincoln Highway, Amor Towles
Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese
Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong
The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls
Sing, Unburied Sing, Jesmyn Ward
Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir
Educated, Tara Westover
Caste, Isabel Wilkerson
The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson
The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara
Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zeven
The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak
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[@brensgems7539]

Read 19 of these with many more on my TBR. That was much better that the other Times list.

[@Shellyish]

Do you have any favorites from the 19 you've read?

[@bbbartolo]

I'm curious why "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida" didn't show up on either 100 Best list. It was on mine easily enough, and after all, it won the Booker Prize. Awkward writing in some places, but a colorful and thoroughly engaging and unique read, IMHO, never mind the author's citing George Saunders, also on the lists, as an influence. Also omitted from either list, I think: Grimmish, The Long Form, The Thread Ripper, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies.

[@brianvictorkeys3107]

Enjoyed the list. Surprised that David Grannn's "The Wager" is not mentioned, apart from the dire circumstances of life after the shipwreck, his description of the trials and tribulations of seamen in the 18th century are gruesome. Non fiction that reads as a great novel.

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

Thank you for doing this. It's a public service for non NYT readers! I have read 57 of these so a few more than the original list. I think you are right that there is more recency bias in this list. The Booker, Pulitzer and International Booker are visibly an influence on both. You should read A Gentleman in Moscow. It wouldn't be in my top ten but is an extraordinarily charming book. I have swerved Pachinko because I thought it sounded potentially too sentimental so thanks for confirming that 😅

[@Shellyish]

57! That’s amazing! A Gentleman in Moscow has skyrocketed to the top of my list.

[@e_guy7931]

Small Things Like These is the first time in a long time (maybe ever?) that I read a book from the library and then went out and bought it after because I needed my own copy. Found out they made it into a movie that is to be released soon with Cillian Murphy as the lead and I cannot wait

[@lindysmagpiereads]

Thanks for this! I’ve read 65. That’s versus 62 out of the first list-and if my memory serves, 24 out of those 65 are actually overlapping with books I’ve read from the first list. What strikes me is that the books in the top ten include four titles that I think are okay but not great, so my reading tastes are not quite in step with the majority of people who contributed their picks. I am with you on Pachinko: as the novel progressed, I found it more predictable and cheesy.

[@lindysmagpiereads]

Another thing I noticed: my personal top 10 includes 3 or 4 from the original list and only one from the readers choice list: A Visit from the Goon Squad. (I say 3 or 4 because I can’t decide which Ali Smith would make my top 10; if it’s How to Be Both, then 4 from the original list.)

[@ES_LA969]

Me three on Pachinko.

[@TKTalksBooks]

Same feelings on Pachinko.. went downhill fast with about a third to go

[@Shellyish]

Wonderful!

[@elizabeth-betsyjohnson7195]

This list is much better than the book critics' list! can't wait for your list!!!

[@haley5803]

Thanks for putting this list together. I have read 8 books, am currently reading 1 book, and abandoned 8 books on this list. Something that's funny to me is I had a very similar number and distribution among the read vs currently reading vs abandoned ratios in your other list, Booktube's best 21st century books.

[@Shellyish]

Wonderful!

[@sinnela5807]

While I absolute agree that some entries on this list suffer from recency bias, I don't think "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" is one of them. It deserves to be on the list.

[@Shellyish]

I desperately want to read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow! :)

[@sinnela5807]

@@Shellyish I look forward to hearing what you think about it - even if it happens to not be your thing! I've seen more critical reviews after the initial hype and I'm thinking about re-reading it myself, but the book truly rekindled my love for literature.

[@SpringboardThought]

I’ve read 61, it looks like. Although that counts a couple I dnfd lol. Some I agree with but mostly it just seems like a popularity contest.

[@Shellyish]

61!! Nearly double what I’ve read, but what else is new. 🫣☺️

[@sodedra5855]

great video thanks for the reading recs

[@alicecoffey1823]

Thank you for doing this video, I love lists...especially a "best book list!"

[@Shellyish]

You're so welcome!

[@SarahAsYouWish]

This list definitely has many more titles on it I’d like to read vs the other list which has way more “should” read type of books. I’ve read 46 of these books and 15 from the other list.

[@Shellyish]

Ah, the infamous 'should'. Do you have any favorites from those 45?

[@SarahAsYouWish]

I’m with you in loving Piranesi and The Book Thief. Some of my other favorites are Braiding Sweetgrass, Hamnet, and Know My Name.

[@nanettemailum1904]

I’ve read 30! So happy to see The Song of Achilles here! Waiting for your list ❤

[@Shellyish]

It’s out already.

[@johnsilver8059]

If you thought the first half of “The Year of Magical Thinking” was sad, and it definitely is, you’ll be heartbroken by the end. “The Bee Sting” is amazing. Similarly to John O’Hara’s “Appointment in Samara”, Murray tells you exactly what will happen and then it does.

[@helenisenberg6789]

Great video! I have read 23 and many more on my TBR list.

[@Shellyish]

Wonderful!

[@SacajaweaSastre]

Back in 1998, Modern Library published both a list of the 100 best English-language novels published in the 20th century and a list of the 100 best non-fiction books published in the 20th century. After doing so, they also published fiction and non-fiction lists voted on by the general public. The non-fiction list created by the public was dismissed as having been voted on by "cultists," as the elitists in the publishing world described them at the time. I remember seeing that list online not that many years ago, but it now seems to have been scrubbed from the Web. The fiction list has also largely disappeared, but it can still be found on LibraryThing.

[@mr.knownothing33]

I’m surprising you don’t have ig. Just discovered your channel. Love it 🔥

[@Shellyish]

I do have IG! I'm 'Shellyish' on there! Thank you! :)

[@myfirstnovel]

I’ve read 19 from this list as opposed to 8 from the luminaries list. And I almost growled out loud when I submitted my top 10 on your Google list because I realized I had forgotten Sapiens which I profoundly admire (I was working from my Goodreads stats and never input Sapiens). Start with A gentleman in Moscow then Life after Life and Station Eleven, in that order for the enchantment factor, not the intrinsic worth. They are amazing reads.

[@mmfineartstudio2745]

I loved Circe, and DNF’d Song of Achilles 😅

[@DianaLong-om3ck]

Read 48 on this list and 20 the NYT list.

[@betsymaher9489]

I've read 14 of them. Most of the ones I read I liked but not all. I also loved A Little Life. I'm reading The Warmth of Other Suns right now and really like it.

[@mongolianqwerty123]

This is a better list, but I am shocked that Pynchon didn't get a mention on either one! 'Against the Day' is more worthy than most of these titles and will stand the test of time

[@TerryJ950]

From this list I highly recommend Life of Pi, Atonement, Trust and especially A Gentlemen in Moscow, which is a hard book to describe and needs to be experienced. I was very surprised The Book Thief didn’t make the original list - definitely one of my all time favorites. I read the physical book twice and listened to the audiobook also, which is hands down one of the best narrations ever!

[@gs547]

I also think The Life of Pi should be up there. It is an amazing achievement. Who could make coexistence of a boy and a tiger realistic both literally and figuratively. It is also beautifully written.

[@Shellyish]

Now I want to read Life of Pi AND Atonement AND A Gentleman in Moscow!

[@bouquinsbooks]

I’ve read six from this list, as opposed to give from the previous one. I think only one is an overlap. These results don’t surprise me: I don’t read many recent books. 😁

[@Dinadoesyoga]

This list makes me wish I loved contemporary books more. I've read only 12 and dnfed many more. Modern topics and content rarely jive with me, sort of how you feel about Murakami. I look forward to your thoughts on Atonement. It was a favorite of mine from last year.

[@Shellyish]

Thanks for sharing!!

[@noteworthyfiction]

I LOVED Cloud Cuckoo Land! The structure has similarities to that used in All the Light We Cannot See. I'm not sure how he one the Pulitzer for the one and not the other. The only explanation is they didn't want to repeat. I'd start with Cloud Cuckoo for Doerr as I honestly think it's the better of the two books. Happy reading!

[@Shellyish]

I cannot wait to read Cloud Cuckoo Land! :)

[@vayres7512]

Atonement - Ian McEwan 1Q84 - Haruki Murakami Plot against America - Philip Roth 4- Paul Auster The Return - Hisham Matar The savage detectives - Roberto Bolano The testaments . Margaret Atwood Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel A Strangeness in my Mind - Orhan Pamuk No country for old men - Cormac McCarthy

[@mmfineartstudio2745]

There are MANY books that I’m just shocked aren’t on this list. I just submitted them on Google forms for your list 😂

[@socaltoobie8984]

I don’t dare say how many I’ve read 🙈😂 I have only been regularly reading for just under 2 years. I DID finish Caste a couple days ago. Just wow…. Can’t believe it wasn’t on the original list.

[@Shellyish]

Amazing book, right!

[@starlasell5698]

❤📚 Wow, Shelly, great video! Boy, do I feel behind. I've only read nineteen of these, but they were all great book, aside from Pachinko. 😉 I have twenty of these titles on my bookshelves unread (shame on me). My Brilliant Friend and Demon Copperhead on my Goodreads tbr.

[@Shellyish]

Hi Starla! Do you have any favorites from the 19 you've read?

[@starlasell5698]

@Shellyish Yes! The Book Thief, A Gentleman in Moscow, Station Eleven, and Circe.

[@tonybennett4159]

I'd encourage you to read not only My Brilliant Friend but the whole quartet, as the books form a continuous narrative where Naples is just as much a character as those peopling its pages.

[@starlasell5698]

@tonybennett4159 Thank you. I think I would really enjoy them.

[@eralonuva]

I love your book taste! We seem to agree on both the likes and dislikes.

[@Shellyish]

That's awesome!

[@trishbovell9042]

To understand the context of ‘Let the Great World Spin’, I highly suggest watching the documentary “Man on Wire” which shows the journey and films the walk between the two towers. It’s incredible 🎥

[@Shellyish]

I'll check it out! Thank you, Trish!

[@tonybennett4159]

I watched that at times through my fingers : the vertigo was just too much!

[@mediumjohnsilver]

Of these books, I have read just two: _Piranesi_ and _1Q84._ I have not read much 21st Century fiction. The only other such novel that comes to mind that I have read is _The Woman in the Purple Skirt_ (2019) by Natsuko Imamura, translated by Lucy North. It’s a quietly ironic story of two women in Tokyo.

[@Shellyish]

Did you like 1Q84? I loved Piranesi as you well know! :)

[@mediumjohnsilver]

@@Shellyish I did enjoy _1Q84._ The details of the threat of the Akebono cult in an altered timeline develop slowly throughout the book. Aomame and Tengo, who met only briefly when they were adolescents, learn about the cult and interfere with it from different ends, toward a conclusion where we feel they are destined to be together.

[@bjminton2698]

So much work! Thank you!! It's a much better list than the NYT one. I'm not a big fan of contemporary fiction, but I've added a few to my TBR. 🙂

[@Shellyish]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@traceymills5113]

I have read 55 of this list but bot the Top 3! May need to rectify that as this is a better list.

[@Shellyish]

Do you have any favorites from the 55 you've read?

[@traceymills5113]

@@Shellyish I really cant pick one but probably A Little Life, Lincoln in the Bardo and Atonement would be up there. I also adored 11.22.63. Some of my all time favourite books on this list.

[@laredo2393]

You need to read a Gentleman in Moscow and All the light We Cannot See! Easily my two favorite books of the century. Son of Achilles and Cerce - loved. I appreciate your channel. It’s where I come to find new books.

[@Shellyish]

Wonderful! THANK YOU!

[@SaveLockwoodNCo]

They don't have Lockwood and Co by Jonathan Stroud on their list. It should be thats my top pick!

[@lindysmagpiereads]

Mark Zusak is Australian and The Book Thief was initially released for an adult audience there. It was marketed as a YA title in North America, to great acclaim.

[@Shellyish]

Thank you, Lindy! That's so fascinating!

[@MsPixieD]

From this list, I've read 29. I won't say which I did or didn't like, because everyone responds and enjoys differently. I will say I was glad Hunger Games made the list, because I'd decided if it were allowed, the trilogy as a whole would have been my #1. Three that I read from this list were library book club books that I wouldn't have chosen on my own. Of the original list, I had read 14, one of which was another library book club book.

[@Shellyish]

Do you have any favorites from the ones you've read?

[@MsPixieD]

Hi Shelly, Hunger Games, and also Harry Potter as whole series, and North Woods. Those were heart eyes -- I liked your video that has a category above 5 stars called heart eyes! Then I think these are tops if not quite heart eyes for me : Hamnet and The Goldfinch. I suspect I'll love at least 2 more from the list once I read them: Gentleman in Moscow because I loved Rules of Civility, and Wolf Hall because the first 2 chapters that I read so far were great. Looking forward to the list you are compiling!

[@KostaParadise]

If you ever want to read a Moshfegh novel, don’t start with Eileen. It’s her worst book. I’d recommend Death in Her Hands (it’s sooo good!) or, of course, My Year of Rest and Relaxation.

[@Shellyish]

OH! THANK YOU!

[@leolamoon11]

Not a fan of Demon Copperhead, for me it’s too plot driven, falls flat and is trying too hard to be a “great American novel.” My mother is from this region of the country and I lived in this area for four years as an adult. I don’t feel like she captured the beauty of the area or the wit and singularity of the people of Appalachia. She sold the people out in attempts to follow in Dickens’ shoes. However, super excited to see Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. I loved being in the main character’s head and missed them when the book was over. Also, very happy to see Hamnet on this list. Agnes, the main character, is a brilliantly rendered. Wonderfully written as well. I’m happy with both lists, but will probably read more of the books on the NYT list….

[@mmfineartstudio2745]

I agree!! I am also from this area, and it just did not seem authentic to me, as if she didn’t even bother to spend any time in the area before writing the novel. Maybe it would have hit better if it had been written by a southern author.

[@nadiadixon5805]

ive read 34 of the list..

[@bevo98506]

21

[@tonybennett4159]

I've read quite a few of these and apart from four authors I have no problems with any of the choices. Sadly all of these four are women writers, yet I admire so many, such as Evaristo, Kingsolver, Ali Smith, Ferrante etc. Having read Conversations with Friends, Bel Canto and Hamnet, these for me weren't just "meh", they were truly terrible, and wild horses wouldn't drag me to read ANYTHING else they have written. A Little Life on the other hand, while well enough written, was such a deeply dishonest and manipulative book, that as time goes by it becomes more and more odious.

[@ToddSmith23]

I think this was an awful list. Did they just take the most popular books from booktube and form their list? Just a bunch of assembly line books for the most part

[@Shellyish]

Booktube's list will be out soon!

[@deborajohnson5717]

Dutch House was amazing! I did not like Bel Canto at all

[@Shellyish]

Fair enough! And same.

[@ES_LA969]

Fun show! Random comments: The audiobook of Klara and the Sun is very affecting. Really enjoyed it. - Got halfway through the audiobook of Crying in H Mart and couldn't take the author/narrator's whining, so DNF. - Absolutely thrilled to see Know My Name included.- I've read the entirety of Ann Patchett's oeuvre, and her best work IMO is her essay collection This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Her best novel IMO is Commonwealth. - LOVED There, There, though I didn't expect to. - Glad to see Hanya Yanagihara here. She's a masterful writer IMO. Loved To Paradise; so different. - The HBO series of My Brilliant Friend is even better than the book, if that's possible. Filmed in Naples. Beautifully cast. - I think Kingsolver paid astonishing homage to Dickens. What a feat. PS -- (Nguyen is pronounced N'win and Chabon is pronounced Shay-bon.)

[@Shellyish]

Thank you!