Best Books of the Year
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The New York Times

New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year 2021

New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year 2021 names 10 books across 2 categories. 7 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.

Fiction

  1. How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbuesource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Intimacies by Katie Kitamurasource (opens in a new tab)
  3. No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwoodsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jefferssource (opens in a new tab)
  5. When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, translated by Adrian Nathan Westsource (opens in a new tab)

Nonfiction

  1. How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smithsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Invisible Child by Andrea Elliottsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reedsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Red Comet by Heather Clarksource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen, translated by Tiina Nunnally and Michael Favala Goldmansource (opens in a new tab)

About the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year

nytimes.com blocks automated reads, so counts come from Wayback Machine or archive.nytimes.com copies of each year's page; 2024 and 2025 are counted from Book Riot and Kirkus reports of the NYT list. Titles drop subtitles.

Organization: The New York Times. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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