Best Books of the Year
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Vogue

Vogue Best Books of the Year 2021

Vogue Best Books of the Year 2021 names 38 books. 17 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.

  1. A Calling for Charlie Barnes by Joshua Ferrissource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Afterparties by Anthony Veasna Sosource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Aftershocks by Nadia Owususource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Agatha of Little Neon by Claire Luchettesource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Crossroads by Jonathan Franzensource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zaunersource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peterssource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Everything I Have Is Yours: A Marriage by Eleanor Hendersonsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York by Alexander Nemerovsource (opens in a new tab)
  10. Gay Bar by Jeremy Atherton Linsource (opens in a new tab)
  11. Ghosts by Dolly Aldertonsource (opens in a new tab)
  12. Harrow by Joy Williamssource (opens in a new tab)
  13. House of Sticks by Ly Transource (opens in a new tab)
  14. I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness by Claire Vaye Watkinssource (opens in a new tab)
  15. I Wished by Dennis Coopersource (opens in a new tab)
  16. Intimacies by Katie Kitamurasource (opens in a new tab)
  17. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishigurosource (opens in a new tab)
  18. Last Summer in the City by Gianfranco Calligarichsource (opens in a new tab)
  19. Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didionsource (opens in a new tab)
  20. Love Like That by Emma Duffy Comparonesource (opens in a new tab)
  21. Milk Fed by Melissa Brodersource (opens in a new tab)
  22. Misfits by Michaela Coelsource (opens in a new tab)
  23. My Year Abroad by Chang Rae Leesource (opens in a new tab)
  24. Nora by Nuala O'Connorsource (opens in a new tab)
  25. On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint by Maggie Nelsonsource (opens in a new tab)
  26. Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnitsource (opens in a new tab)
  27. Second Place by Rachel Cusksource (opens in a new tab)
  28. Silverview by John Le Carrésource (opens in a new tab)
  29. The Beauty of Living Twice by Sharon Stonesource (opens in a new tab)
  30. The Fourth Child by Jessica Wintersource (opens in a new tab)
  31. The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000-2020 by Rachel Kushnersource (opens in a new tab)
  32. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Davesource (opens in a new tab)
  33. The Magician by Colm Tóibínsource (opens in a new tab)
  34. The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harrissource (opens in a new tab)
  35. These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchettsource (opens in a new tab)
  36. Tom Stoppard: A Life by Hermione Leesource (opens in a new tab)
  37. Wayward by Dana Spiottasource (opens in a new tab)
  38. With Teeth by Kristin Arnettsource (opens in a new tab)

About the Vogue Best Books of the Year

Vogue's year-end best books article each year, unranked, stored as one Best Books list. Vogue blocks AI fetchers in robots.txt, so every page was read from web.archive.org copies of vogue.com, taken just after each year closed. 2014, 2015, and 2017 are book critic Megan O'Grady's ten best; 2018 is editors' favorite reads of the year; 2019 is titled The 21 Best Novels of 2019; 2020-2024 are editors' and writers' picks. 2021, 2023, and 2024 are running lists that Vogue built through the year and closed as the year's best. 2022 and 2025 are left out: their pages still carried the headline "So Far" in every archived copy after the year ended. No year-end list was found for 2016 or before 2014. Vogue's seasonal, monthly, gift, and genre book lists are left out. Some headings lack an author or misspell one; those values come from yearendlists.com, rizzolibookstore.com, hachettebookgroup.com (Less, 2018), and Wikipedia (The Vanity Fair Diaries, 2018). 2015 and 2017 rows were read from yearendlists.com and checked against the archived Vogue pages.

Organization: Vogue. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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