The 10 Best Books
of the 21st Century
according to
Stephen King, Min Jin Lee, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Bonnie Garmus, Curtis Sittenfeld, R. L. Stine, Nana Kwame Adjei‑Brenyah, Junot Díaz, Sarah Jessica Parker, Anthony Doerr, James Patterson, Stephen Graham Jones, Elin Hilderbrand, Jason Reynolds, Annette Gordon‑Reed, Rebecca Roanhorse, Marlon James, Roxane Gay, Jonathan Lethem, Sarah MacLean, Riley Sager, Ed Yong, Pico Iyer, Thomas Chatterton Williams, Paul Tremblay, Nick Hornby, Scott Turow, Daniel Alarcón, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Lucy Sante, Gary Shteyngart, Anand Giridharadas, Jenna Bush Hager, Jessamine Chan, Michael Robbins, Alma Katsu, Megan Abbott, Joshua Ferris, Ann Napolitano, John Irving, Tiya Miles, Jami Attenberg, Stephen L. Carter, Sarah Schulman, Elizabeth Hand, Dion Graham, Jeremy Denk, Morgan Jerkins, Michael Roth, Ryan Holiday, Stephanie Land, Douglas Preston & Mary Roach
To determine the 100 best books of the 21st century, The New York Times Book Review and The Upshot polled hundreds of literary luminaries. Though the votes were anonymous, we thought it would be interesting — not to mention fun! — to see some of their actual ballots. We approached a few people to ask if they would publicly reveal their choices, and to our surprise, many of them said yes.
Stephen King
Stephen King has written more than 60 books, many of which have been adapted for film and television. His latest is the story collection YOU LIKE IT DARKER.
“Atonement,” by Ian McEwan ● “Christine Falls,” by Benjamin Black ● “The Goldfinch,” by Donna Tartt ● “Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn ● “No Country for Old Men,” by Cormac McCarthy ● “Oryx and Crake,” by Margaret Atwood ● “The Paying Guests,” by Sarah Waters ● “The Plot Against America,” by Philip Roth ● “The Sympathizer,” by Viet Thanh Nguyen ● “Under the Dome,” by Stephen King
4 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Min Jin Lee
Min Jin Lee has written two novels: FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES and PACHINKO, which was one of The Times’s 10 Best Books of 2017.
“All the Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr ● “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” by Katherine Boo ● “Brooklyn,” by Colm Tóibín ● “The Buddha in the Attic,” by Julie Otsuka ● “Educated,” by Tara Westover ● “Evicted,” by Matthew Desmond ● “Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson ● “The Known World,” by Edward P. Jones ● “Nickel and Dimed,” by Barbara Ehrenreich ● “Redeployment,” by Phil Klay
5 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Karl Ove Knausgaard
Karl Ove Knausgaard is a Norwegian writer and essayist best known for MY STRUGGLE, a series of six autobiographical novels.
“2666,” by Roberto Bolaño ● “The Argonauts,” by Maggie Nelson ● “The Days of Abandonment,” by Elena Ferrante ● “The Flame Alphabet,” by Ben Marcus ● “The Kingdom,” by Emmanuel Carrère ● “Never Let Me Go,” by Kazuo Ishiguro ● “Small Things Like These,” by Claire Keegan ● “Storm Still,” by Peter Handke ● “Train Dreams,” by Denis Johnson ● “Voices from Chernobyl,” by Svetlana Alexievich
6 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Bonnie Garmus
Bonnie Garmus is the author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY, which was named Barnes & Noble’s book of the year in 2022.
“Between the World and Me,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates ● “Demon Copperhead,” by Barbara Kingsolver ● “Educated,” by Tara Westover ● “Genome,” by Matt Ridley ● “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” by J.K. Rowling ● “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” by Dave Eggers ● “Henry David Thoreau,” by Laura Dassow Walls ● “Pobby and Dingan,” by Ben Rice ● “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead ● “The Worst Hard Time,” by Timothy Egan
3 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Curtis Sittenfeld
Curtis Sittenfeld’s novels include PREP, AMERICAN WIFE, and ROMANTIC COMEDY.
“The Line of Beauty,” by Alan Hollinghurst ● “A Lucky Man,” by Jamel Brinkley ● “Trust,” by Hernan Diaz ● “Great Circle,” by Maggie Shipstead ● “Brotherless Night,” by V. V. Ganeshananthan ● “Everything's Fine,” by Cecilia Rabess ● “I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness,” by Claire Vaye Watkins ● “Swift River,” by Essie Chambers ● “Sea Creatures,” by Susanna Daniel ● “Make Your Home Among Strangers,” by Jennine Capó Crucet
2 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
R. L. Stine
R.L. Stine is a prolific children’s book author best known for his GOOSEBUMPS series.
“The Devil in the White City,” by Erik Larson ● “Deacon King Kong,” by James McBride ● “The Thursday Murder Club,” by Richard Osman ● “The Goldfinch,” by Donna Tartt ● “All the Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr ● “Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn ● “Atonement,” by Ian McEwan ● “Everything Is Illuminated,” by Jonathan Safran Foer ● “The Law of Innocence,” by Michael Connelly ● “City on Fire,” by Don Winslow
2 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Nana Kwame Adjei‑Brenyah
Nana Kwame Adjei‑Brenyah’s debut novel, CHAIN-GANG ALL-STARS, was one of The Times’s 10 Best Books of 2023.
“Drinking Coffee Elsewhere: Stories,” by ZZ Packer ● “Ghost Of,” by Diana Khoi Nguyen ● “Greenwood,” by Michael Christie ● “Look,” by Solmaz Sharif ● “Pachinko,” by Min Jin Lee ● “Pastoralia,” by George Saunders ● “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” by Jesmyn Ward ● “Stories of Your Life and Others,” by Ted Chiang ● “Tenth of December,” by George Saunders ● “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead
5 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Junot Díaz
Junot Díaz is an author whose books include THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
“Americanah,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ● “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” by Katherine Boo ● “Brother, I'm Dying,” by Edwidge Danticat ● “Kingdom Animalia,” by Aracelis Girmay ● “The Known World,” by Edward P. Jones ● “Out,” by Natsuo Kirino ● “The Savage Detectives,” by Roberto Bolaño ● “Say Her Name,” by Francisco Goldman ● “Stories of Your Life and Others,” by Ted Chiang ● “Tuff,” by Paul Beatty
4 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker is an Emmy-winning actress and the founder of Zando’s literary imprint, SJP Lit.
“An American Marriage,” by Tayari Jones ● “The Bee Sting,” by Paul Murray ● “A Burning,” by Megha Majumdar ● “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena,” by Anthony Marra ● “The Corrections,” by Jonathan Franzen ● “The Goldfinch,” by Donna Tartt ● “A History of Burning,” by Janika Oza ● “The Nickel Boys,” by Colson Whitehead ● “Say Nothing,” by Patrick Radden Keefe ● “Wave,” by Sonali Deraniyagala
4 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Anthony Doerr
Anthony Doerr’s 2014 novel, ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, won the Pulitzer Prize.
“The Sixth Extinction,” by Elizabeth Kolbert ● “Evicted,” by Matthew Desmond ● “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” by Katherine Boo ● “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel,” by Amy Hempel ● “Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson ● “Wolf Hall,” by Hilary Mantel ● “Train Dreams,” by Denis Johnson ● “Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell,” by Susanna Clarke ● “Family Furnishings,” by Alice Munro ● “Austerlitz,” by W.G. Sebald
6 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
James Patterson
James Patterson has written more than 200 books across various genres, including collaborations with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton. His latest books include CONFESSIONS OF THE DEAD, which he wrote with J.D. Barker, and TIGER, TIGER.
“11/22/63,” by Stephen King ● “The Book Thief,” by Markus Zusak ● “Educated,” by Tara Westover ● “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” by Stieg Larsson ● “Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn ● “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” by J.K. Rowling ● “Kitchen Confidential,” by Anthony Bourdain ● “Life,” by Keith Richards with James Fox ● “Mystic River,” by Dennis Lehane ● “Seabiscuit,” by Laura Hillenbrand
Stephen Graham Jones
Stephen Graham Jones is an award-winning horror writer whose most recent novel is I WAS A TEENAGE SLASHER.
“The Reformatory,” by Tananarive Due ● “The Bear and the Nightingale,” by Katherine Arden ● “Fortune Smiles,” by Adam Johnson ● “World War Z,” by Max Brooks ● “Dare Me,” by Megan Abbott ● “Redshirts,” by John Scalzi ● “Knockemstiff,” by Donald Ray Pollock ● “The Lesser Dead,” by Christopher Buehlman ● “Come Closer,” by Sara Gran ● “FantasticLand,” by Mike Bockoven
Elin Hilderbrand
Elin Hilderbrand, often referred to as the queen of beach reads, recently announced that SWAN SONG, released in June, would be the last of her Nantucket summer novels.
“Alice & Oliver,” by Charles Bock ● “American Wife,” by Curtis Sittenfeld ● “Dirt Music,” by Tim Winton ● “Euphoria,” by Lily King ● “Every Last One,” by Anna Quindlen ● “Fates and Furies,” by Lauren Groff ● “Hamnet,” by Maggie O'Farrell ● “Luster,” by Raven Leilani ● “May We Be Forgiven,” by A.M. Homes ● “The Night Circus,” by Erin Morgenstern
Jason Reynolds
Jason Reynolds is an award-winning poet and children’s book author whose works include LONG WAY DOWN, LOOK BOTH WAYS and GHOST.
“Heavy,” by Kiese Laymon ● “The Nickel Boys,” by Colson Whitehead ● “Erasure,” by Percival Everett ● “Love That Dog,” by Sharon Creech ● “All the Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr ● “Brown Girl Dreaming,” by Jacqueline Woodson ● “The Buddha in the Attic,” by Julie Otsuka ● “Salvage the Bones,” by Jesmyn Ward ● “The Warmth of Other Suns,” by Isabel Wilkerson ● “There's Always This Year,” by Hanif Abdurraqib
4 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Annette Gordon‑Reed
Annette Gordon-Reed is a professor at Harvard University whose 2008 history, THE HEMINGSES OF MONTICELLO, won both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award...
... and she also included it on her ballot, telling us,
“I couldn’t help it.”
“Between the World and Me,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates ● “The Emperor of All Maladies,” by Siddhartha Mukherjee ● “Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson ● “The Hemingses of Monticello,” by Annette Gordon-Reed ● “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” by Rebecca Skloot ● “The Metaphysical Club,” by Louis Menand ● “The Plot Against America,” by Philip Roth ● “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead ● “The Warmth of Other Suns,” by Isabel Wilkerson ● “Wolf Hall,” by Hilary Mantel
7 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Rebecca Roanhorse
Rebecca Roanhorse is a Hugo- and Nebula-winning science fiction and fantasy novelist whose works include BLACK SUN and TRAIL OF LIGHTNING.
“Ancillary Justice,” by Ann Leckie ● “Exhalation,” by Ted Chiang ● “The Fifth Season,” by N.K. Jemisin ● “The Ministry for the Future,” by Kim Stanley Robinson ● “The Only Good Indians,” by Stephen Graham Jones ● “The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories,” by Ken Liu ● “Ring Shout,” by P. Djèlí Clark ● “The Round House,” by Louise Erdrich ● “The Saint of Bright Doors,” by Vajra Chandrasekera ● “Selected Stories,” by Theodore Sturgeon
1 of these appears on the 100 Best list.
Marlon James
Marlon James is the author of five novels, including A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS, which won the 2015 Booker Prize.
“2666,” by Roberto Bolaño ● “As Meat Loves Salt,” by Maria McCann ● “Evicted,” by Matthew Desmond ● “The Fifth Season,” by N.K. Jemisin ● “The Good Lord Bird,” by James McBride ● “The Line of Beauty,” by Alan Hollinghurst ● “Pachinko,” by Min Jin Lee ● “Skippy Dies,” by Paul Murray ● “Wolf Hall,” by Hilary Mantel ● “The World Is What It Is,” by Patrick French
6 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay is an editor, essayist and author whose best-selling nonfiction includes BAD FEMINIST and HUNGER. She is also a contributing Opinion writer for The New York Times.
“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” by Michael Chabon ● “The Brutal Language of Love,” by Alicia Erian ● “Girl, Woman, Other,” by Bernardine Evaristo ● “Heavy,” by Kiese Laymon ● “Her Body and Other Parties,” by Carmen Maria Machado ● “NW,” by Zadie Smith ● “Pachinko,” by Min Jin Lee ● “Room,” by Emma Donoghue ● “Salvage the Bones,” by Jesmyn Ward ● “State of Wonder,” by Ann Patchett
4 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Jonathan Lethem
Jonathan Lethem is a writer best known for his 1999 novel MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN.
“Aurora,” by Kim Stanley Robinson ● “Dear Cyborgs,” by Eugene Lim ● “The Employees,” by Olga Ravn ● “Erasure,” by Percival Everett ● “Hawthorn & Child,” by Keith Ridgway ● “Houses of Ravicka,” by Renee Gladman ● “How the Dead Dream,” by Lydia Millet ● “The Last Samurai,” by Helen DeWitt ● “Pity the Beast,” by Robin McLean ● “Trance,” by Christopher Sorrentino
2 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Sarah MacLean
Sarah MacLean is an award-winning romance writer whose most recent novel is KNOCKOUT.
“After Hours on Milagro Street,” by Angelina M. Lopez ● “Again the Magic,” by Lisa Kleypas ● “Bet Me,” by Jennifer Crusie ● “Circe,” by Madeline Miller ● “Dark Needs at Night's Edge,” by Kresley Cole ● “Forbidden,” by Beverly Jenkins ● “Georgie, All Along,” by Kate Clayborn ● “Hana Khan Carries On,” by Uzma Jalaluddin ● “A Heart of Blood and Ashes,” by Milla Vane ● “Ravishing the Heiress,” by Sherry Thomas
Riley Sager
Riley Sager’s most recent novel is MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
“Seabiscuit,” by Laura Hillenbrand ● “Never Let Me Go,” by Kazuo Ishiguro ● “Atonement,” by Ian McEwan ● “Special Topics in Calamity Physics,” by Marisha Pessl ● “Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn ● “All the Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr ● “Lincoln in the Bardo,” by George Saunders ● “Middlesex,” by Jeffrey Eugenides ● “Beautiful Ruins,” by Jess Walter ● “Dare Me,” by Megan Abbott
4 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Ed Yong
Ed Yong is a Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist and the author of AN IMMENSE WORLD and I CONTAIN MULTITUDES.
“Bel Canto,” by Ann Patchett ● “Chain-Gang All-Stars,” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah ● “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama,” by Nathan Thrall ● “Exit West,” by Mohsin Hamid ● “H Is for Hawk,” by Helen Macdonald ● “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” by Rebecca Skloot ● “Saving Time,” by Jenny Odell ● “The Swimmers,” by Julie Otsuka ● “This Is How You Lose the Time War,” by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone ● “Trust,” by Hernan Diaz
4 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Pico Iyer
Pico Iyer is a writer whose books include THE HALF KNOWN LIFE and FALLING OFF THE MAP.
“Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage,” by Alice Munro ● “Selected Stories,” by William Trevor ● “The World Is What It Is,” by Patrick French ● “Bring Up the Bodies,” by Hilary Mantel ● “The Buried Giant,” by Kazuo Ishiguro ● “Olive Kitteridge,” by Elizabeth Strout ● “Evicted,” by Matthew Desmond ● “Lincoln in the Bardo,” by George Saunders ● “Matrix,” by Lauren Groff ● “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” by Katherine Boo
6 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Thomas Chatterton Williams
Thomas Chatterton Williams, a staff writer at The Atlantic, is the author of LOSING MY COOL and SELF-PORTRAIT IN BLACK AND WHITE.
“2666,” by Roberto Bolaño ● “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” by Junot Díaz ● “The Coddling of the American Mind,” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt ● “Feel Free,” by Zadie Smith ● “Last Evenings on Earth,” by Roberto Bolaño ● “The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P,” by Adelle Waldman ● “Outline,” by Rachel Cusk ● “The Savage Detectives,” by Roberto Bolaño ● “The Unwinding,” by George Packer ● “Transit,” by Rachel Cusk
4 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Paul Tremblay
Paul Tremblay is an award-winning horror novelist whose latest book is HORROR MOVIE.
“2666,” by Roberto Bolaño ● “House of Leaves,” by Mark Z. Danielewski ● “Lady Joker, Vol. 1,” by Kaoru Takamura ● “The Maniac,” by Benjamín Labatut ● “Never Let Me Go,” by Kazuo Ishiguro ● “No Country for Old Men,” by Cormac McCarthy ● “The Only Good Indians,” by Stephen Graham Jones ● “Our Share of Night,” by Mariana Enriquez ● “Treasure Island!!!,” by Sara Levine ● “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead
3 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby is best known for comic novels like HIGH FIDELITY and ABOUT A BOY.
“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” by Michael Chabon ● “Austerity Britain,” by David Kynaston ● “Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk,” by Ben Fountain ● “Empire Falls,” by Richard Russo ● “Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson ● “Olive Kitteridge,” by Elizabeth Strout ● “On Beauty,” by Zadie Smith ● “Pictures at a Revolution,” by Mark Harris ● “Random Family,” by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc ● “Say Nothing,” by Patrick Radden Keefe
6 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Scott Turow
Scott Turow is an attorney and writer best known for legal thrillers like PRESUMED INNOCENT and THE BURDEN OF PROOF.
“Bel Canto,” by Ann Patchett ● “Dreamland,” by Sam Quinones ● “The Good Lord Bird,” by James McBride ● “My Brilliant Friend,” by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein. ● “On Tyranny,” by Timothy Snyder ● “The Orphan Master's Son,” by Adam Johnson ● “The Story of a New Name,” by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein ● “The Story of the Lost Child,” by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein ● “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman ● “Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay,” by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein
3 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Daniel Alarcón
Daniel Alarcón is a novelist (LOST CITY RADIO) and contributing writer at The New Yorker whose long-running Spanish-language podcast, Radio Ambulante, is distributed by NPR.
“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” by Junot Díaz ● “Citizen,” by Claudia Rankine ● “Exit West,” by Mohsin Hamid ● “The Known World,” by Edward P. Jones ● “Lincoln in the Bardo,” by George Saunders ● “My Brilliant Friend,” by Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein. ● “NW,” by Zadie Smith ● “Random Family,” by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc ● “The Savage Detectives,” by Roberto Bolaño ● “Say Nothing,” by Patrick Radden Keefe
9 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is a poet and professor of English at the University of Oklahoma. Her debut novel, THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. DU BOIS, was one of The Times’s 10 Best Books of 2021.
“Brother, I'm Dying,” by Edwidge Danticat ● “Built from the Fire,” by Victor Luckerson ● “Feminism Is for Everybody,” by bell hooks ● “Gathering Blossoms,” by Alice Walker ● “The Known World,” by Edward P. Jones ● “A Mercy,” by Toni Morrison ● “The Source of Self-Regard,” by Toni Morrison ● “Stamped From the Beginning,” by Ibram X. Kendi ● “Ties that Bind,” by Tiya Miles ● “The Warmth of Other Suns,” by Isabel Wilkerson
3 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Lucy Sante
Lucy Sante is a writer whose last book, I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME, is a memoir of her gender transition.
“Anniversaries,” by Uwe Johnson. Translated by Damion Searls ● “Feral City,” by Jeremiah Moss ● “The Friend,” by Sigrid Nunez ● “It Gets Me Home, This Curving Track,” by Ian Penman ● “Jacket Weather,” by Mike DeCapite ● “The Mars Room,” by Rachel Kushner ● “Same Bed Different Dreams,” by Ed Park ● “The Savage Detectives,” by Roberto Bolaño ● “Stay True,” by Hua Hsu ● “Voices From Chernobyl,” by Svetlana Alexievich
3 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Gary Shteyngart
Gary Shteyngart has written five novels, one of which, ABSURDISTAN, was named one of The Times’s 10 Best Books of 2006.
“Bangkok Wakes to Rain,” by Pitchaya Sudbanthad ● “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel,” by Amy Hempel ● “Educated,” by Tara Westover ● “Exit West,” by Mohsin Hamid ● “The Master,” by Colm Tóibín ● “Netherland,” by Joseph O’Neill ● “Outline,” by Rachel Cusk ● “Postwar,” by Tony Judt ● “Veronica,” by Mary Gaitskill ● “The Warmth of Other Suns,” by Isabel Wilkerson
5 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Anand Giridharadas
Anand Giridharadas is a writer and former foreign correspondent whose books include THE PERSUADERS and WINNERS TAKE ALL.
“The Argonauts,” by Maggie Nelson ● “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” by Katherine Boo ● “Dark Money,” by Jane Mayer ● “Far From the Tree,” by Andrew Solomon ● “A Little Life,” by Hanya Yanagihara ● “Maximum City,” by Suketu Mehta ● “My Struggle: Book 2,” by Karl Ove Knausgaard ● “One of Us,” by Asne Seierstad ● “Random Family,” by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc ● “The Year of Magical Thinking,” by Joan Didion
5 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Jenna Bush Hager
Jenna Bush Hager is a co-host of The Today Show, where she leads a popular book club, Read With Jenna.
“The Book Thief,” by Markus Zusak ● “Never Let Me Go,” by Kazuo Ishiguro ● “Educated,” by Tara Westover ● “An American Marriage,” by Tayari Jones ● “All the Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr ● “Atonement,” by Ian McEwan ● “Bel Canto,” by Ann Patchett ● “A Little Life,” by Hanya Yanagihara ● “Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson ● “Homegoing,” by Yaa Gyasi
5 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Jessamine Chan
Jessamine Chan’s debut novel, THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD MOTHERS, was named by Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of 2022.
“Chain-Gang All-Stars,” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah ● “Cinema Love,” by Jiaming Tang ● “Easy Beauty,” by Chloé Cooper Jones ● “Invisible Child,” by Andrea Elliott ● “Kairos,” by Jenny Erpenbeck ● “Matrix,” by Lauren Groff ● “Minor Feelings,” by Cathy Park Hong ● “Never Let Me Go,” by Kazuo Ishiguro ● “Pure Colour,” by Sheila Heti ● “Torn Apart,” by Dorothy Roberts
1 of these appears on the 100 Best list.
Michael Robbins
Michael Robbins is the author of several poetry collections, including WALKMAN and THE SECOND SEX.
“Alien vs. Predator,” by Michael Robbins ● “Communal Luxury,” by Kristin Ross ● “Cruel Optimism,” by Lauren Berlant ● “Fossil Capital,” by Andreas Malm ● “Keats's Odes,” by Anahid Nersessian ● “Lila,” by Marilynne Robinson ● “Planet of Slums,” by Mike Davis ● “Poemland,” by Chelsey Minnis ● “Stolen Life,” by Fred Moten ● “Veronica,” by Mary Gaitskill
1 of these appears on the 100 Best list.
Alma Katsu
Alma Katsu is a genre-spanning writer whose books include RED WIDOW and THE HUNGER.
“Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn ● “Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell,” by Susanna Clarke ● “Lincoln in the Bardo,” by George Saunders ● “The Little Friend,” by Donna Tartt ● “The Little Stranger,” by Sarah Waters ● “Never Let Me Go,” by Kazuo Ishiguro ● “The Only Good Indians,” by Stephen Graham Jones ● “The Swimmers,” by Julie Otsuka ● “The Time Traveler's Wife,” by Audrey Niffenegger ● “Wolf Hall,” by Hilary Mantel
3 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Megan Abbott
Megan Abbott is the Edgar-winning author of 11 novels, including DARE ME, THE TURNOUT and BEWARE THE WOMAN.
“Blonde,” by Joyce Carol Oates ● “Gone Girl,” by Gillian Flynn ● “Life After Life,” by Kate Atkinson ● “A Little Life,” by Hanya Yanagihara ● “Lost Girls,” by Robert Kolker ● “My Sister, the Serial Killer,” by Oyinkan Braithwaite ● “Nemesis,” by Philip Roth ● “Random Family,” by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc ● “Winter's Bone,” by Daniel Woodrell ● “The Year of Magical Thinking,” by Joan Didion
3 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Joshua Ferris
Joshua Ferris has written five novels, including THEN WE CAME TO THE END, which won the 2008 PEN/Hemingway Award.
“The Corrections,” by Jonathan Franzen ● “The Gathering,” by Anne Enright ● “Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson ● “The Known World,” by Edward P. Jones ● “No Country for Old Men,” by Cormac McCarthy ● “No One Is Talking About This,” by Patricia Lockwood ● “NW,” by Zadie Smith ● “The Savage Detectives,” by Roberto Bolaño ● “Tinkers,” by Paul Harding ● “Wolf Hall,” by Hilary Mantel
5 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Ann Napolitano
Ann Napolitano is a novelist whose last book, HELLO BEAUTIFUL, was the 100th pick of Oprah’s Book Club.
“Americanah,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ● “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” by Junot Díaz ● “Cloud Atlas,” by David Mitchell ● “Demon Copperhead,” by Barbara Kingsolver ● “Far From the Tree,” by Andrew Solomon ● “Homegoing,” by Yaa Gyasi ● “The Master,” by Colm Tóibín ● “Station Eleven,” by Emily St. John Mandel ● “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead ● “Wolf Hall,” by Hilary Mantel
8 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
John Irving
John Irving is the author of THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES and A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY, among other novels.
“The Absolutist,” by John Boyne ● “Burma Sahib,” by Paul Theroux ● “Cutting for Stone,” by Abraham Verghese ● “Last Night,” by James Salter ● “The Nix,” by Nathan Hill ● “Peeling the Onion,” by Günter Grass ● “A Saint from Texas,” by Edmund White ● “Shadow Country,” by Peter Matthiessen ● “Warlight,” by Michael Ondaatje ● “Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?,” by Jeanette Winterson
Tiya Miles
Tiya Miles is a professor of history at Harvard University whose books include ALL THAT SHE CARRIED, which won the 2021 National Book Award for nonfiction, and the just-published NIGHT FLYER.
“Frederick Douglass,” by David W. Blight ● “The Hemingses of Monticello,” by Annette Gordon-Reed ● “Less,” by Andrew Sean Greer ● “The Omnivore's Dilemma,” by Michael Pollan ● “People Love Dead Jews,” by Dara Horn ● “The Round House,” by Louise Erdrich ● “Salvage the Bones,” by Jesmyn Ward ● “The Swerve,” by Stephen Greenblatt ● “The Underground Railroad,” by Colson Whitehead
3 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Jami Attenberg
Jami Attenberg is a writer whose new novel, A REASON TO SEE YOU AGAIN, comes out in September.
“Bright Dead Things,” by Ada Limón ● “The Corrections,” by Jonathan Franzen ● “Fun Home,” by Alison Bechdel ● “Grief Is For People,” by Sloane Crosley ● “Heavy,” by Kiese Laymon ● “How to Write an Autobiographical Novel,” by Alexander Chee ● “Just Kids,” by Patti Smith ● “Pachinko,” by Min Jin Lee ● “There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé,” by Morgan Parker ● “True Biz,” by Sara Novic
4 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Stephen L. Carter
Stephen L. Carter, a professor at Yale Law School, has written critically acclaimed nonfiction as well as six novels, including THE EMPEROR OF OCEAN PARK.
“Bourgeois Dignity,” by Deirdre McCloskey ● “Exit West,” by Mohsin Hamid ● “The Fabric of Civilization,” by Virginia Postrel ● “The Human Stain,” by Philip Roth ● “Inventing the Enemy,” by Umberto Eco ● “March,” by Geraldine Brooks ● “The Overstory,” by Richard Powers ● “Silence,” by Jane Brox ● “That All Shall Be Saved,” by David Bentley Hart ● “What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky,” by Lesley Nneka Arimah
3 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Sarah Schulman
Sarah Schulman is a novelist, playwright and nonfiction writer whose most recent book is LET THE RECORD SHOW.
“Citizen,” by Claudia Rankine ● “The Freezer Door,” by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore ● “Memorial Drive,” by Natasha Trethewey ● “Minor Detail,” by Adania Shibli ● “The Rediscovery of America,” by Ned Blackhawk ● “They Were Her Property,” by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers ● “Vanguard,” by Martha S. Jones ● “The Viral Underclass,” by Steven W. Thrasher ● “We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I,” by Raja Shehadeh ● “The Women's House of Detention,” by Hugh Ryan
1 of these appears on the 100 Best list.
Elizabeth Hand
Elizabeth Hand is the author of 20 novels, most recently A HAUNTING ON THE HILL.
“The Enchanted,” by Rene Denfeld ● “Henry Darger,” by John M. MacGregor ● “Ill Will,” by Dan Chaon ● “James Tiptree Jr.,” by Julie Phillips ● “Just Kids,” by Patti Smith ● “The Little Stranger,” by Sarah Waters ● “Magic for Beginners,” by Kelly Link ● “Night of the Living Rez,” by Morgan Talty ● “The Old Ways,” by Robert Macfarlane ● “Pattern Recognition,” by William Gibson
Dion Graham
Dion Graham is an actor whose award-winning audiobook narrations include Jonathan Eig’s KING and Colson Whitehead’s CROOK MANIFESTO.
“American War,” by Omar El Akkad ● “Black Leopard, Red Wolf,” by Marlon James ● “Chasing Me to My Grave,” by Winfred Rembert ● “The Dark Forest,” by Cixin Liu ● “Evicted,” by Matthew Desmond ● “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” by Dave Eggers ● “His Name Is George Floyd,” by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa ● “King: A Life,” by Jonathan Eig ● “Washington Black,” by Esi Edugyan
1 of these appears on the 100 Best list.
Jeremy Denk
Jeremy Denk is a classical pianist and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant.” His memoir, EVERY GOOD BOY DOES FINE, was published in 2022.
“Austerlitz,” by W.G. Sebald ● “Consider the Lobster,” by David Foster Wallace ● “Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi,” by Geoff Dyer ● “A Little Devil in America,” by Hanif Abdurraqib ● “Luster,” by Raven Leilani ● “The Possessed,” by Elif Batuman ● “Random Family,” by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc ● “The Rest Is Noise,” by Alex Ross ● “Runaway,” by Alice Munro ● “Sound Within Sound,” by Kate Molleson
3 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Morgan Jerkins
Morgan Jerkins is a journalist, editor and the author of several books, including THIS WILL BE MY UNDOING.
“Barracoon,” by Zora Neale Hurston ● “Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage,” by Haruki Murakami ● “Erasure,” by Percival Everett ● “The Future Is History,” by Masha Gessen ● “Girl, Woman, Other,” by Bernardine Evaristo ● “How to Say Babylon,” by Safiya Sinclair ● “In the Dream House,” by Carmen Maria Machado ● “Looking for Lorraine,” by Imani Perry ● “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” by Jesmyn Ward
2 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Michael Roth
Michael Roth is the president of Wesleyan University. His most recent book is THE STUDENT: A SHORT HISTORY.
“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” by Michael Chabon ● “The Argonauts,” by Maggie Nelson ● “In Love,” by Amy Bloom ● “Lose Your Mother,” by Saidiya Hartman ● “Lost Children Archive,” by Valeria Luiselli ● “On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous,” by Ocean Vuong ● “Septology,” by Jon Fosse. Translated by Damion Searls ● “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman ● “The Topeka School,” by Ben Lerner ● “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” by Jennifer Egan
4 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday is the author of 12 books, including RIGHT THING, RIGHT NOW and THE DAILY STOIC, and co-owns a bookstore in Bastrop, Texas.
“Caste,” by Isabel Wilkerson ● “The Choice,” by Edith Eger ● “Deep Work,” by Cal Newport ● “How the Word Is Passed,” by Clint Smith ● “Mastery,” by Robert Greene ● “The River of Doubt,” by Candice Millard ● “The Road,” by Cormac McCarthy ● “So You've Been Publicly Shamed,” by Jon Ronson ● “The Tiger,” by John Vaillant ● “Tunnel 29,” by Helena Merriman
1 of these appears on the 100 Best list.
Stephanie Land
Stephanie Land is the author of MAID and CLASS.
“Between Two Kingdoms,” by Suleika Jaouad ● “Heavy,” by Kiese Laymon ● “$2.00 a Day,” by Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer ● “Evicted,” by Matthew Desmond ● “Men We Reaped,” by Jesmyn Ward ● “Maid,” by Stephanie Land ● “No Visible Bruises,” by Rachel Louise Snyder ● “Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing,” by Lauren Hough ● “Perma Red,” by Debra Magpie Earling ● “Strung Out,” by Erin Khar
3 of these appear on the 100 Best list.
Douglas Preston
Douglas Preston, a journalist and author, frequently collaborates with Lincoln Child on novels.
“Steve Jobs,” by Walter Isaacson ● “The River of Doubt,” by Candice Millard ● “Little Fires Everywhere,” by Celeste Ng ● “The Little Friend,” by Donna Tartt ● “Blood and Thunder,” by Hampton Sides ● “The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher,” by Kate Summerscale ● “Deep Storm,” by Lincoln Child ● “The Wide Wide Sea,” by Hampton Sides
Mary Roach
Mary Roach is a science writer best known for her books STIFF and PACKING FOR MARS.
“Ordinary Wolves,” by Seth Kantner ● “The Sisters Brothers,” by Patrick DeWitt ● “Demon Copperhead,” by Barbara Kingsolver ● “Let the Great World Spin,” by Colum McCann ● “The Vaster Wilds,” by Lauren Groff ● “Why Fish Don't Exist,” by Lulu Miller ● “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” by Jonathan Safran Foer ● “The Street of a Thousand Blossoms,” by Gail Tsukiyama ● “Descent,” by Tim Johnston