Skip to main content

The Guardian's 100 best books of the 21st century

Description: "Dazzling debut novels, searing polemics, the history of humanity and trailblazing memoirs ... Read our pick of the best books since 2000" https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/21/best-books-of-the-21st-century

Rank Title Author Added

1

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

by Stieg Larsson

42,223 members

1,723 reviews

4

10 Members: aprille, anglemark, timtom, Kristelh, HxBuff, gypsysmom, ahef1963, NinieB, ManWithAnAgenda, Brandy1411

2

by Gillian Flynn

21,310 members

1,521 reviews

3.9

9 Members: aprille, anglemark, timtom, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, NinieB, steller0707

3

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

by Michael Chabon

18,546 members

409 reviews

4.2

8 Members: hipdeep, anglemark, timtom, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, Charon07

4

by Hilary Mantel

13,271 members

638 reviews

4

6 Members: hipdeep, anglemark, Kristelh, gypsysmom, kara.shamy, NinieB

5

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

43,634 members

1,313 reviews

3.9

8 Members: anglemark, timtom, Cecrow, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

6

by Marilynne Robinson

10,636 members

362 reviews

3.9

6 Members: anglemark, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, steller0707

7

by Sarah Waters

7,704 members

280 reviews

4

7 Members: kathipink, anglemark, Kristelh, gypsysmom, kara.shamy, steller0707, Charon07

8

by Margaret Atwood

16,880 members

526 reviews

3.9

8 Members: aprille, anglemark, Cecrow, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ahef1963, steller0707, Charon07

9

by David Mitchell

17,281 members

671 reviews

4.1

7 Members: anglemark, Cecrow, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ahef1963, steller0707, Charon07

10

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

by J. K. Rowling

98,971 members

869 reviews

½ 4.4

7 Members: anglemark, timtom, Cecrow, Kristelh, ahef1963, kara.shamy, NinieB,ManWithAnAgenda

11

The Fifth Season

by N. K. Jemisin

7,523 members

345 reviews

4.2

7 Members: hipdeep, anglemark, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707, Brandy1411

12

Never Let Me Go

by Kazuo Ishiguro

22,319 members

926 reviews

3.8

6 Members: anglemark, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

13

The Underground Railroad

by Colson Whitehead

8,459 members

433 reviews

4

7 Members: hipdeep, anglemark, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, steller0707

14

Life After Life

by Kate Atkinson

8,018 members

577 reviews

4

7 Members: aprille, anglemark, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, steller0707

15

by Cormac McCarthy

33,621 members

1,388 reviews

4.1

6 Members: aprille, anglemark, Kristelh, gypsysmom, kara.shamy, Lauren_Shriver

16

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

by Michael Pollan

13,672 members

346 reviews

4.2

7 Members: aprille, hipdeep, anglemark, timtom, Kristelh, gypsysmom, steller0707

17

Between the World and Me

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

7,422 members

353 reviews

½ 4.4

6 Members: hipdeep, anglemark, Kristelh, gypsysmom, kara.shamy, steller0707

18

25,995 members

614 reviews

3.9

6 Members: anglemark, timtom, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ahef1963, Charon07

19

Half of a Yellow Sun

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

6,760 members

291 reviews

4.2

6 Members: aprille, anglemark, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ahef1963, steller0707

20

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

by Rebecca Skloot

14,199 members

729 reviews

4.2

6 Members: anglemark, Cecrow, Kristelh, gypsysmom, ahef1963, steller0707

21

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

by Alison Bechdel

7,896 members

361 reviews

4.2

6 Members: hipdeep, anglemark, timtom, gypsysmom, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

22

by Stephen King

18,072 members

503 reviews

4.2

5 Members: hipdeep, anglemark, Cecrow, Kristelh, ManWithAnAgenda

23

The Amber Spyglass

by Philip Pullman

23,129 members

396 reviews

4

4 Members: anglemark, Cecrow, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

24

19,565 members

679 reviews

4

5 Members: aprille, hipdeep, anglemark, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

25

A Visit from the Goon Squad

by Jennifer Egan

8,391 members

507 reviews

½ 3.7

5 Members: anglemark, Kristelh, ahef1963, kara.shamy, steller0707

26

by Hanya Yanagihara

6,798 members

315 reviews

4.1

5 Members: aprille, anglemark, Kristelh, kara.shamy, steller0707

27

Stories of Your Life and Others

4,905 members

228 reviews

4.2

4 Members: aprille, hipdeep, anglemark, ManWithAnAgenda

28

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

by Marjane Satrapi

8,244 members

320 reviews

4.2

5 Members: anglemark, timtom, Kristelh, ahef1963, steller0707

29

True History of the Kelly Gang

4,163 members

78 reviews

½ 3.7

5 Members: aprille, anglemark, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy

30

The Corrections

by Jonathan Franzen

16,386 members

337 reviews

3.8

4 Members: anglemark, Cecrow, gypsysmom, ManWithAnAgenda

31

1,781 members

100 reviews

½ 3.6

5 Members: aprille, anglemark, gypsysmom, kara.shamy, steller0707

32

Thinking, Fast and Slow

by Daniel Kahneman

11,218 members

222 reviews

4.1

4 Members: aprille, hipdeep, anglemark, HxBuff

33

by Terry Pratchett

11,030 members

164 reviews

½ 4.4

4 Members: hipdeep, anglemark, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

34

1,948 members

103 reviews

3.9

4 Members: anglemark, kara.shamy, steller0707, Charon07

35

Citizen: An American Lyric

by Claudia Rankine

1,929 members

68 reviews

4.2

4 Members: aprille, hipdeep, anglemark, steller0707

36

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

by Barbara Demick

3,123 members

174 reviews

½ 4.4

4 Members: aprille, anglemark, HxBuff, ahef1963

37

The Plot Against America

8,818 members

214 reviews

½ 3.7

4 Members: aprille, anglemark, Kristelh, kara.shamy

38

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

by Barbara Ehrenreich

10,731 members

209 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, Lauren_Shriver

39

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

by Olga Tokarczuk

2,529 members

132 reviews

3.9

4 Members: aprille, anglemark, steller0707, Charon07

40

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

by Siddhartha Mukherjee

4,876 members

195 reviews

½ 4.3

4 Members: aprille, anglemark, ahef1963, steller0707

41

The Year of Magical Thinking

10,198 members

288 reviews

3.8

4 Members: anglemark, Kristelh, ahef1963, steller0707

42

Capital in the Twenty-First Century

by Thomas Piketty

3,679 members

68 reviews

4.2

3 Members: hipdeep, anglemark, HxBuff

43

The Line of Beauty

by Alan Hollinghurst

4,518 members

112 reviews

½ 3.6

4 Members: aprille, anglemark, Kristelh, kara.shamy

44

Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets

by Svetlana Alexievich

1,537 members

59 reviews

½ 4.4

3 Members: aprille, hipdeep, anglemark

45

Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945

2,944 members

44 reviews

½ 4.3

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, makuku

46

My Brilliant Friend

by Elena Ferrante

6,849 members

306 reviews

3.9

3 Members: anglemark, kara.shamy, steller0707

47

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

5,231 members

126 reviews

4.2

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, ahef1963

48

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

by Michael Lewis

5,376 members

127 reviews

4.2

3 Members: aprille, hipdeep, anglemark

49

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

by Yuval Noah Harari

11,580 members

365 reviews

4.2

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, ahef1963

50

by Maggie Nelson

1,561 members

77 reviews

4

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, kara.shamy

51

The God Delusion

by Richard Dawkins

16,615 members

363 reviews

3.9

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, HxBuff

52

Tenth of December: Stories

by George Saunders

3,712 members

179 reviews

4

3 Members: anglemark, kara.shamy, steller0707

53

by Sally Rooney

6,336 members

257 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: anglemark, gypsysmom, kara.shamy

54

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

by Elizabeth Kolbert

3,480 members

158 reviews

4.2

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, steller0707

55

My Struggle: Book 1

by Karl Ove Knausgård

2,727 members

104 reviews

3.9

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, kara.shamy

56

Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories

2,971 members

69 reviews

4.1

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, gypsysmom

57

by Seamus Heaney

410 members

13 reviews

3.9

3 Members: aprille, hipdeep, anglemark

58

3,959 members

140 reviews

3.9

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, ahef1963

59

by Anne Enright

945 members

64 reviews

½ 3.6

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, gypsysmom

60

13,443 members

240 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: anglemark, gypsysmom, steller0707

61

The Silence of the Girls

2,241 members

101 reviews

4

3 Members: anglemark, gypsysmom, kara.shamy

62

by Colm Tóibín

5,076 members

289 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, Kristelh

63

The Constant Gardener

by John le Carré

5,101 members

86 reviews

½ 3.6

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, ahef1963

64

Chronicles: Volume One

4,290 members

68 reviews

3.9

3 Members: aprille, hipdeep, anglemark

65

Days without End

by Sebastian Barry

1,230 members

78 reviews

4

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, kara.shamy

66

by Edward St. Aubyn

845 members

36 reviews

½ 3.4

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, Kristelh

67

Women & Power: A Manifesto

1,263 members

48 reviews

4

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, steller0707

68

1,046 members

71 reviews

3.9

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, kara.shamy

69

by Helen Dunmore

992 members

49 reviews

3.9

3 Members: aprille, anglemark, steller0707

70

by W. G. Sebald

4,042 members

96 reviews

4.2

2 Members: anglemark, Kristelh

71

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power

by Shoshana Zuboff

1,402 members

32 reviews

4

2 Members: hipdeep, anglemark

72

The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression

by Andrew Solomon

2,472 members

37 reviews

4.1

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

73

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance

by Edmund De Waal

3,561 members

155 reviews

4

2 Members: anglemark, gypsysmom

74

by Carol Ann Duffy

381 members

3 reviews

4.2

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

75

1,217 members

12 reviews

3.9

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

76

by Julian Barnes

1,032 members

71 reviews

3.9

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

77

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?

by Jeanette Winterson

2,047 members

100 reviews

4.1

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

78

Underland: A Deep Time Journey

by Robert Macfarlane

1,570 members

49 reviews

4.1

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

79

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

by Malcolm Gladwell

21,402 members

325 reviews

3.8

2 Members: anglemark, gypsysmom

80

The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos

685 members

9 reviews

4

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

81

by Alice Oswald

214 members

3 reviews

4

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

82

This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial

by Helen Garner

287 members

19 reviews

4

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

83

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

by Carlo Rovelli

2,270 members

80 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

84

The Infatuations

by Javier Marías

1,126 members

50 reviews

½ 3.5

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

85

Notes on a Scandal

3,060 members

103 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

86

Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth

3,166 members

55 reviews

4.1

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

87

The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger

by Richard Wilkinson

1,340 members

46 reviews

4.1

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

88

Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions

by Valeria Luiselli

619 members

27 reviews

½ 4.3

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

89

Adults in the Room: My Battle with Europe's Deep Establishment

by Yanis Varoufakis

435 members

15 reviews

4.2

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

90

Noughts and Crosses

by Malorie Blackman

2,141 members

67 reviews

3.8

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

91

Bad Blood: A Memoir

739 members

14 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

92

by Jenny Erpenbeck

675 members

47 reviews

3.9

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

93

by M. John Harrison

2,004 members

60 reviews

½ 3.4

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

94

by Nicola Barker

945 members

23 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

95

by Alain Mabanckou

236 members

12 reviews

½ 3.5

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

96

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

3,344 members

150 reviews

½ 3.5

2 Members: aprille, anglemark

97

Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities

by Rebecca Solnit

1,061 members

32 reviews

3.9

Member: anglemark

98

Signs Preceding the End of the World

by Yuri Herrera

762 members

30 reviews

3.9

Member: anglemark

99

The Cost of Living

by Deborah Levy

444 members

18 reviews

4

Member: anglemark

100

Priestdaddy: A Memoir

by Patricia Lockwood

920 members

51 reviews

3.9

Member: anglemark

About This List

Started: anglemark
October 2019
Type: Numbered, Adding restricted

Related Lists

100 New Classics

Current Discussions

None

Related Tags

biography (2,735) dystopia (2,699) ebook (2,757) England (3,763) fantasy (18,794) fiction (52,780) graphic novel (2,941) Harry Potter (3,827) historical fiction (5,538) history (4,753) literature (3,341) magic (3,294) memoir (5,523) mystery (5,706) non-fiction (17,095) novel (7,461) own (2,768) read (8,693) religion (3,030) science (3,926) science fiction (6,562) thriller (2,541) to-read (36,829) WWII (2,723) young adult (3,758)

Verdana Standard Verdana Small The Lorax System Standard System Large Georgia Large Text Atkinson

This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.