The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century (Data Nerd’s Version)

Interesting insights from my crowdsourced “best books” project

Hello,

Last week was so fun. Thank you for your enthusiasm. Thank you for chatting with me in the comments. Thank you for sharing the lists. At the bottom of this email you’ll find the entire list in one place in case you want to forward it to your book club or any book lover in your life for discussion. This is going to be a long email, so you may need to open it in your browser to see it all.

But first, gather round, nerds…now that the full list is revealed, I want to get into some interesting insights.

Gorgeous illustrations for this series were created by Cat Willett. Cat Willett is an illustrator and author based in Brooklyn, NY who makes comics, books, and sometimes your newsletter graphics, too!

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Does your book club need a new pick?

As we discussed throughout the week, there was surprisingly little crossover between all 3 lists (our crowdsourced list, the main NYT list, and the crowdsourced NYT list). But there were 15 books that made all 3. Crowd-pleasers, if you will. This feels like a great mini-list to mine for potential picks for your IRL book club.

• Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe (2019)

• Atonement by Ian McEwan (2002)

• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (2005)

• The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016)

• Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (2001)

• Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (2002)

• My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (2012)

• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)

• Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013)

• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (2013)

• The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai (2018)

• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (2014)

• Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (2017)

• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022)

• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (2022)

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Let’s Talk About Recency Bias

One comment that came up over and over throughout the week was about recency bias. And yes, it does seem like our list has a recency bias. The average publication year of books on our list was 2015 vs. 2014 for the crowdsourced NYT list and 2011 for the main NYT list.

This might be because people who were invited to contribute to an exclusive list for the New York Times were more thoughtful about their picks than someone filling out a Google Form sent by a newsletter in the middle of the workday. In Tuesday’s letter where we talked about defining “best” a lot of people mentioned memorability as a key factor, and we’re naturally going to remember books read more recently.

But, age of respondents may be another factor. The largest age demo (48%) contributing to our survey was 25 – 34. Someone who is 25 would have been 1 in the year 2000 and someone who is 34 would only have been 10. This might be why Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (2023) placed higher on our list than the same author’s Bel Canto (2001).

I was DMing with Emilie Sommer, a book buyer at East City Bookshop in Washington DC, and she put it this way “I’m glad you asked for our ages—I think that’s key. I’m 46 and I had read 45 titles on the list —a lot of that is that my taste skews very literary, but a huge part of it is that I was already a grown-up when the century started. The older we are, the more of a head start we had!”

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Do Younger People Like Different Books?

This made me curious to see if the list looked wildly different if I isolated votes from people 25 – 34 vs. 35 – 44. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take this analysis further and compare to older demos because of small sample sizes in these buckets.

And the answer is… a little, but not as much as I might have guessed. Here’s a comparison of the top 20:

If we compare these lists to the full Book Enthusiast list, the books that got the biggest boosts in the 25 – 34 demo are Beach Read (+5 slots), Project Hail Mary (+5 slots), Daisy Jones & The Six (+ 10 slots), and Fourth Wing (+13 slots).

On the 35 – 44 side, the biggest movers were Know My Name (-4 slots) and Remarkably Bright Creatures (+4 slots).

But, overall, the top 20 is very similar, just in a slightly different order.

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Author Demographics

What about the authors our list is favoring? Now, this is interesting… on the main NYT list 51 authors were female as compared to 48 on the crowdsourced NYT list. But on our list a whopping 70 were female.

What about age? On the main NYT list, the average age of authors at publication of their book on the list is 50, and their current age (if living) is 59. That drops to 48 at publication and 57 at present for the NYT crowdsourced list. But on our list the average age at publication was 43 and current age is 51.

So, overall, we’re prioritizing younger and female authors. This is likely because younger authors can more readily reflect the experiences of our voting body, 91.6% of whom are 44 or younger.

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What about format and genre?

The main NYT list was by and far the most diverse in terms of format, including a healthier balance of fiction and non-fiction, and also representation for short stories, poetry, graphic novels, and essay collections.

Before we keep going, I need to acknowledge my limitations. Sorting these books into genres was difficult (especially for the NYT lists where I was less familiar with some books and relied on Google descriptions). I also defaulted to the buckets of “Women’s Fiction” (I hate that term… but alas) and “Book Club” with some books that didn’t obviously fit another genre. So, take this data as directional rather than definitive.

Of the non-fiction included on our list, 92% (11 out of 12 books) were memoirs, and we were comparatively light on reported non-fiction, history, and biographies

But, our list did have far more diversity in terms of fiction with representation for YA, thrillers, and romance, which were not seen at all in the main NYT list.

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One-sies and Two-sies

Overall, people voted for 2,320 books (that certainly includes some typos I didn’t catch in my data cleanse and many votes from people who didn’t read the instructions and voted for books published before 2000). Of those, 1,380 had just one vote. As an author, I love this! The lone vocal fan! Hard proof every book is for someone.

But I was most fascinated with the two-sies, the 280 books that had only 2 votes. How fascinating is the idea that if you like something, there’s probably someone else out there who loves it just as much. Book soulmates, if you will.

I wish I could set up the two people who listed Bride by Ali Hazelwood to be friends. My, what a horny book club you’d have. Same goes for the two people who Ducks, Newburyport. Truly, the perseverance of you two against this 1,000+ page book. Or the two people who listed The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Your drawers must be so organized!

Sadly, I can’t share everyone’s personal data to make this a reality, but I fully encourage you to use the comments section as a “missed connections” board and find your obscure book soulmates!

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Raw Data

So, that’s what I’ve got for you, but perhaps you want to dig even deeper. Have at it: here’s an anonymized spreadsheet of raw data.

A few ideas of what you might want to do with this:

• Check to see how close your votes got to the top 100

• Check to see if one of your pick is a two-sie (or three-sie or four-sie) and leave a comment to find your people

Let me know in the comments if you come up with anything interesting!

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Again, thank you for coming with me on this deep dive. I hope it’s been even half as fun for you as it has been for me (which is VERY).

Back to non-book list content starting… now.

Becca

PS: Last ask. This was a fun but MASSIVE undertaking. If you value this work and are in a position to afford it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to this newsletter. Book recs are always free, but paid subscribers get access to travel guides, more personal content, Q&A’s, and more.

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As promised, here’s the full list:

100. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2012) – 26 votes

99. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (2022) – 26 votes

98. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (2008) – 26 votes

97. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (2007) – 26 votes

96. In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (2019) – 27 votes

95. 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand (2020) – 27 votes

94. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (2012) – 28 votes

93. We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman (2022) – 28 Votes

92. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (2003) – 28 votes

91. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (2003) – 28 votes

90. Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe (2019) – 28 votes

89. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (2005) – 28 votes

88. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (2013) – 28 votes

87. This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub (2022) – 29 votes

86. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (2020) – 29 votes

85. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy (2022) – 29 votes

84. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (2016) – 29 votes

83. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng – 31 votes

82. Atonement by Ian McEwan (2002) – 31 votes

81. This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel (2017) – 32 votes

80. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer (2013) – 32 votes

79. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (2021) – 32 votes

78. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (2005) – 33 votes

77. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (2009) – 33 votes

76. Babel by R.F. Kuang (2022) – 33 votes

75. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (2018) – 34 votes

74. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (2016) – 34 votes

73. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016) – 35 votes

72. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (2001) – 35 votes

71. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (2023) – 36 votes

70. Writers & Lovers by Lily King (2020) – 36 votes

69. Verity by Colleen Hoover (2018) – 36 votes

68. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (2015) – 36 votes

67. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (2019) – 37 votes

66. Every Summer After by Carley Fortune (2022) – 37 votes

65. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (2003) – 38 votes

64. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (2009) – 38 votes

63. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (2017) – 38 votes

62. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (2020) – 39 votes

61. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (2015) – 39 votes

60. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (2011) – 41 votes

59. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (2021) – 41 votes

58. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016) – 42 votes

57. Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (2019) – 42 votes

56. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (2021) – 42 votes

55. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (2023) – 43 votes

54. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson (2008) – 45 votes

53. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (2002) – 46 votes

52. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (2014) – 46 votes

51. Becoming by Michelle Obama (2018) – 46 votes

50. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (2012) – 48 votes

49. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (2013) – 48 votes

48. The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls (2005) – 50 votes

47. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (2011) – 50 votes

46. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (2018) – 52 votes

45. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (2019) – 52 vote

44. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005) – 52 votes

43. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (2000) – 54 votes

42. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (2016) – 54 votes

41. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2011) – 56 votes

40. Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson (2022) – 61 votes

39. The Women by Kristin Hannah (2024) – 62 votes

38. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (2007) – 64 votes

37. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (2020) – 68 votes

36. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013) – 68 votes

35. Book Lovers by Emily Henry (2022) – 69 votes

34. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (2020) – 70 votes

33. The Idea of You by Robinne Lee (2017) – 71 votes

32. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (2011) – 72 votes

31. Beartown by Fredrik Backman (2016) – 73 votes

30. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (2023) – 74 votes

29. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003) – 75 votes

28. The House in the Cerulean Sea by Tj Klune (2020) – 75 votes

27. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (2017) – 75 votes

26. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2005) – 77 votes

25. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2019) – 77 votes

24. The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne (2017) – 79 votes

23. Beach Read by Emily Henry (2020) – 80 votes

22. Circe by Madeline Miller (2018) – 87 votes

21. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (2013) – 88 votes

20. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (2022) – 93 votes

19. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (2020) – 96 votes

18. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (2022) – 102 votes

17. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (2023) – 103 votes

16. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai (2018) – 108 votes

15. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (2014) – 108 votes

14. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (2021) – 116 votes

13. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (2017) – 123 votes

12. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008) – 126 votes

11. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014) – 132 votes

10. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (2015) – 134 votes

9. Normal People by Sally Rooney (2018) – 152 votes

8. Know My Name by Chanel Miller (2019) – 152 votes

7. Educated by Tara Westover (2018) – 165 votes

6. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022) – 170 votes

5. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016) – 179 votes

4. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (2015) – 182 votes

3. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2017) – 201 votes

2. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (2012) – 236 votes

1. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (2022) – 358 votes