The New York Times’ 100 Best Books of the 21st Century Reaction Video 

I would have preferred that they made two separate lists - one for fiction and one for nonfiction but I'll take what I can get. Thanks for this video, Greg.😀

I was so happy to see Edward P. Jones get the title of top-ranking American novel on the list. The Known World doesn't get nearly enough love, though from its showing it's clear to me that everyone who actually read it agrees it's a knockout of a book.

Putting yourself on your list is super bad ass!!! As my great grandfather said, "It ain't bragging if it's true!" (Turns out Stephanie Land put her book Maid on her list also) If you ever do a show on underrated books, I would love to see you read and discuss "The Measure" by Nikki Erlick.

It would be interesting for the New York Times to create a list of the top 100 authors from the data.

I think it's a fun list; nothing truly out of left field (in my opinion) as there are many, many prize winners included and nearly all of the books are familiar to those of us who follow the book world these days. Would have liked to see some more under the radar picks (or maybe books from smaller presses) but I suppose when people are asked to pick their favorites, the books with the biggest spotlight tend to be selected. Thanks for the video!

I’ve been waiting to see your reaction video and loved hearing your thoughts. I thought the list was OK. I didn’t love how many repeating authors were on the list at the expense of some glaring omissions. What I loved is how much Bookstagram embraced this with everybody sharing their own ballots. I definitely added to my TBR last week!

I absolutely love your taste in books. The fact that we’ve DNF’s the exact same books (Overstory, goldfinch, anything jonathan franzen etc) but also loved many of the same books such as train dreams and the secret lives of church ladies! I can always trust your recs!! ☺️ (also anyone who DNFS Jonathan Franzen has a friend in me lol)

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! I need alternate options to prime time tv this week and this was a lovely surprise tonight. Feel free to drop hours and hours of content this week 😂…it’s anxiety relief for those of us that need it ❤

Thank you for this video! Appreciate how you’ve put it together in order to respect the paywall. As someone who absolutely loved the Neapolitan Quartets I would also surprised to see it #1 on the list, I thought something else would supplant it. Also agree that Love Songs and Homegoing should have been in there.

This was fun! Great recap and perspective!

My choices? Deluge by Stephen Markley Ohio by Stephen Markley Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne The Green Road by Ann Enright Foster by Claire Keegan Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark Crow Lake by Mary Lawson I could keep going……

I’m new to your channel and was really excited to see your reaction to this! I’m still figuring out my literary tastes and already borrowed a few from the list that I liked the sound of and will top some off based on your thoughts 😄

Really enjoyed this video. Waited to watch yours first. Think I have five marked to watch tonight; one is in Spanish so I hope subtitles are enabled. Lots of good books there. Wish they would have weighted the ranking a bit (extra % pts for top five books?). Who knows maybe Ferrante would have topped the list anyway. And no Hamnet anywhere??? Mistakes happen, I guess. (Yes, I'm blaming collective amnesia...) At least Under the Dome didn't win. 😉. No shade: I'm reading The Shining and enjoying it.

I've read 45 of the 100. The Known World is well worth reading

I think I would have included The Paying Guests, Shuggie Bain, In The Dreamhouse, maybe Piranesi, and Foster by Claire Keegan. It's certainly a very interesting list. Some of the entries surprised me, but it's causing some passionate book conversation across the internet and that's not a bad thing!

Interesting and fun discussion. I am very surprised There There did not make the list!

I just finished The Love Songs of W.E.B DuBois earlier this month. I'm kind of surprised it didn't make the list.

I read Lincoln in the Bardo in print and loved it. It makes my list. Still haven’t listened to the audio although I keep meaning to do so. Enjoy your review of the list. 🙂

I've seen so many complaints about this list- mainly from genre readers that aren't happy there aren't more sci fi/fantasy novels on it. So I'm glad to see someone appreciate the time and effort that must have gone into making it. It's baffling to me that people are upset- no one's making them read any of the books from it and such a wide pool of people were asked for their input I'm not sure what more NYT could have done D:

Thanks, Greg, this was a great discussion. I was surprised about some of the omissions too, and there were many on the list I wouldn't have chosen. I liked that they let you mark the books you want to read, not like I need a longer TBR 😅but I appreciated seeing books that either I'd forgotten I want to read or hadn't ever heard of. (I marked 7.) I read some of the criticism on Detransition, Baby as well, and at first decided not to read it, but then I saw an article (in Vulture) by Torrey Peters, explaining why she'd written it, that she wasn't implying Ames thought they'd made a mistake, but was trying to figure out what it means to be fully a woman or man, whether as a trans woman you can feel whole without bearing a child...It's so complex, and I'm imagining it's a kind of grieving. At least from the article, I didn't get the sense she was trying to sensationalize, just to explore this complex issue of gender and parenthood. The idea that detransitioning might make her feel whole again felt sketchy to me before reading the article, but the way she describes it, as this realization that everything would be so much easier if she could re-enter the sex she'd been assigned at birth, made sense to me. (I'm cis-het, though, so although I've seen trans people defending the novel, I can completely understand why some might feel differently.) So anyway, I read the book. And I didn't like it, but only because it felt like it was written by and for a millennial, very...peppy, if you know what I mean. So take that for what it's worth!

I read a lot of literary fiction (or however anyone wants to denominate non genre fiction that comes with a strong seasoning of artistic intent) and current nonfiction and I’ve been doing it for a long time. I have read 45 of the books listed and may get around to some of the others. The list is centered around books that got attention from American reviewers and readers, which is fair enough. NYT is an American publication. I think ranking anything more subtle than water slides or ice cream is a little silly, and even judgments about those things are subjective. To me the benefit of a book list like this is that it keeps some worthwhile books from falling off readers’ radar once any initial spotlight has died out. Discussion about perceived omissions or incorrect inclusions magnifies and extends that effect. Based on that, I think the list is pretty good.

I liked the list a lot. I know a lot of people have issues with it. I was extremely surprised The Kite Runner wasn’t on the list.

100. Denis Johnson: Tree of Smoke 99. Ali Smith: How to Be Both 98. Ann Patchett: Bel Canto 97. Jesmyn Ward: Men We Reaped 96. Saidiya Hartman: Wayward Lives Beautiful Experiments 95. Hilary Mantel: Bring Up the Bodies 94. Zadie Smith: On Beauty 93. Emily St. John Mandel: Station Eleven 92. Elena Ferrante: The Days of Abandonment 91. Philip Roth: The Human Stain 90. Viet Thanh Nguyen: The Sympathizer 89. Hisham Matar: The Return 88. Lydia Davis: The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis 87. Torrey Peters: Detransition, Baby 86. David W. Blight: Frederick Douglass 85. George Saunders: Pastoralia 84. Siddhartha Mukherjee: The Emperor of All Maladies 83. Benjamin Labatut: When We Cease to Understand the World 82. Fernanda Melchor: Hurricane Season 81. John Jeremiah Sullivan: Pulphead 80. Elena Ferrante: The Story of the Lost Child 79. Lucia Berlin: A Manual for Cleaning Women 78. Jon Fosse: Septology 77. Tayari Jones: An American Marriage 76. Gabrielle Zevin: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow 75. Mohsin Hamid: Exit West 74. Elizabeth Strout: Olive Kitteridge 73. Robert A. Caro: The Passage of Power 72. Svetlana Alexievitch: Secondhand Time 71. Tove Ditlevsen: The Copenhagen Trilogy 70. Edward P. Jones: All Aunt Hagar’s Children 69. Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow 68. Sigrid Nunez: The Friend 67. Andrew Solomon: Far from the Tree 66. Justin Torres: We the Animals 65. Philip Roth: The Plot Against America 64. Rebecca Makkai: The Great Believers 63. Mary Gaitskill: Veronica 62. Ben Lerner: 10:04 61. Barbara Kingsolver: Demon Copperhead 60. Kiese Laymon: Heavy 59. Jeffrey Eugenides: Middlesex 58. Hua Hsu: Stay True 57. Barbara Ehrenreich: Nickel and Dimed 56. Rachel Kushner: The Flame Throwers 55. Lawrence Wright: The Looming Tower 54. George Saunders: Tenth of December 53. Alice Munro: Runaway 52. Denis Johnson: Train Dreams 51. Kate Atkinson: Life After Life 50. Hernan Diaz: Trust 49. Han Kang: The Vegetarian 48. Marjane Satrapi: Perseopolis 47. Toni Morrison: A Mercy 46. Donna Tartt: The Goldfinch 45. Maggie Nelson: The Argonauts 44. N. K. Jemisin: The Fifth Season 43. Tony Judt: Postwar 42. Marlon James: A Brief History of Seven Killings 41. Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These 40. Helen Macdonald: H Is for Hawk 39. Jennifer Egan: A Visit from the Goon Squad 38. Roberto Bolano: The Savage Detectives 37. Annie Ernaux: The Years 36. Ta-Nehisi Coates: Between the World and Me 35. Alison Bechdel: Fun Home 34. Claudia Rankine: Citizen 33. Jesmyn Ward: Salvage the Bones 32. Alan Hollinghurst: The Line of Beauty 31. Zadie Smith: White Teeth 30. Jesmyn Ward: Sing, Unburied, Sing 29. Helen DeWitt: The Last Samurai 28. David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas 27. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Americanah 26. Ian McEwan: Atonement 25. Adrian Nicole LeBlanc: Random Family 24. Richard Powers: The Overstory 23. Alice Munro: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage 22. Katherine Boo: Behind the Beautiful Forevers 21. Matthew Desmond: Evicted 20. Percival Everett: Erasure 19. Patrick Radden Keefe: Say Nothing 18. George Saunders: Lincoln in the Bardo 17. Paul Beatty: The Sellout 16. Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay 15. Min Jin Lee: Pachinko 14. Rachael Cusk: Outline 13. Cormac McCarthy: The Road 12. Joan Didion: The Year of Magical Thinking 11. Junot Diaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao 10. Marilynne Robinson: Gilead 9. Kazuo Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go 8. W. G. Sebald: Austerlitz 7. Colson Whitehead: The Underground Railroad 6. Roberto Bolano: 2666 5. Jonathan Franzen: The Corrections 4. Edward P. Jones: The Known World 3. Hilary Mantel: Wolf Hall 2. Isabel Wilkerson: The Warmth of Other Suns 1. Elena Ferrante: My Brilliant Friend

The best way to read the Ferrante books is audio- Hilary Huber does an incredible job. Thank you for your thoughts- this was fun!

Lotsa books at once! I agree with many of your thoughts on these, I’ve read most of the fiction and I actually have 2 non-fic books on hold. Detransition, Baby is not great, but I thought the subject was interesting.

I didn't enjoy "My Brilliant Friend" so that was disappointing. I did LOVE "The Warmth of Other Sons"... so, so good. I did love "All the Light We Cannot See" and was sad that it didn't make it. I was surprised that Geraldine Brooks didn't appear..."Year of Wonders" or "People of the Book". I would have loved if "Still Life" by Sara Winman was on the list.

My fav Ann Patchett novel is State of Wonder

Greg, have you tried the audiobook of The Goldfinch? When I couldn't get into the book, I was able to get into the audiobook and then enjoyed going back and forth between the two, just to savor the writing. The audiobook won awards; it's unforgettable.

Hi Greg, I read the NYT list and also their article where celeb authors revealed their picks. Stephen King was not the only one to choose his own. There was a woman who did it too, but we don't hear about that because King is the big target that some people like to snipe at. I looked over my GoodReads, and I did give Under the Dome 5 stars when it came out. Good for him for having the self esteem to list it and the chutzpah to put his votes out for all to see. They certainly did ignore horror, scifi, etc. Two titles that I want to read that came up on a lot of those authors' lists are Redshirts (Scalzi) and Never Let Me Go (Ishiguro). Thank you for reporting on that podcast. It seemed strange that they put authors on the list multiple times instead of just making a decision and leaving room for more authors! It seems extra suss that the votes would end up weighted towards somebody's teacher/mentor. I gave Lincoln in the Bardo 4 stars when it came out, but since then I realized it really creeped me out, and I should take my own feelings more into account when rating books. Later I discovered a short story collection that would absolutely go on my top 100 books of the century list, Vampires in the Lemon Grove (Karen Russell), which was written *before* Lincoln and has a presidents- in-the-bardo story that I feel surpasses LITB in many ways. Also on my list, a non fiction dual biography, Romantic Outlaws by Charlotte Gordon. And probably #1 would be The Hunger Games, although I'm really thinking of the impact of the whole trilogy. It's kind of not fair to the work to have to choose one volume. If they just allowed for multi-volume works, that would have solved the multiple Ferrante issue and left room for The Hunger Games to take its rightful place on the list! 😃

I have the list. I am surprised at the Number 1 book. I am also surprised that Don DeLillo is not on the list. Underworld is one of my favorite books of all time.

I went through the list and you're right, there are very few international books, I'd like to recommend you "Papyrus, The Invention of Books in the Ancient World" by Irene Vallejo. It came out in 2019 and by February of 2023 it had sold 1 million copies, it’s been translated into 35 languages and published in 50 countries, and by 2023 it had been published 45 times. Anyone and everyone who loves books, like obviously you do, just must read this one, I’m sure you’ll thank me for bringing it to your radar

I don’t know who gave me the recommendation for “A Manuel for cleaning women“. But I loved it. Also try her second or last collection “evening in Paradise”. She was a unique ride over the unique point of view. Aloha.

Oh, Hamnet! It would be very near the top of my list, were I to compile one. I think historical fiction, with the exception of Hilary Mantel, seems largely to have been overlooked. But considering I didn’t know huge chunks of these titles, maybe there was more historical fiction than I know. I’m still furious at the NYT for their political games, and it’s hard for me to separate out their book coverage, so I still think this list is kind of crappy. But the thing that I hadn’t considered before watching your video is where the data is coming from. If there was a large chunk of public responses included that might explain the #1 pick (which is probably also historical fiction now that I think of it). I think having that book as #1 sort of makes this list a lot less serious. (No, I haven’t read it. I just have opinions. 🤣) I just got off a mid-year review call with my boss where I expressed extreme frustration with my tasks, something I never do. I’m a keep my mouth shut person unless talking with people at my own level. My boss got both barrels today. 😬 We’ll see it I regret that. Anyway, it kind of explains my sour comments about the top 100. Loved the video though! And little Teddy coming in near the end to camp on the floor behind you! 💜🤎🖤

I've read 36 of them. I wish they'd limited the author repeats; and I feel like they didn't always choose the best offering from some of the authors. Worst omissions in my opinion include Louise Erdrich, Maggie O'Farrell, James McBride. These lists are always fun to consider. I'm currently in the middle of my Elizabeth Strout reread project.

Say Nothing by PRK is amazing!!!

Milkman made my list

I have read 16 of the books on this list, and it's interesting because it includes some of my all time least favorite books (Cloud Atlas, A visit from the Goon Squad, The Amazing Adventures of K and C), and some of my all time favorites (Neapolitan saga, Middlesex, The Sympathizer, The Years, and The Human Stain).

I think that they should make a list for romance books because there are a lot that I feel deserve to be on the list.

I already know the twist of Never Let Me Go. Its how I heard of it. Will I still enjoy it?

Great video as always, thanks! The list... well, ok, it's subjective, but there are too many omissions for me to like it (Paul Auster's 4321, or Aramburu's Patria from Spain, Carrere's L'Adversaire from France, just to mention a few, books they are already classics and should have appeared on the list). As an Italian, and NOT a fan of Ferrante's, seeing two titles of hers and one as number one, is a shame. About your choices, I normally agree with you... BUT on Franzen! I am a die-hard fan of him, therefore: promise me you'll read him, and no one will get hurt...;-)

Thanks for this reaction. I miss Yann Martel's Life of Pi, anything by J. M. Coetzee, or John Banville or Howard Jacobson or Richard Russo. And what happened to Harry Potter?

I appreciate My Brilliant Friend, and I think it's the best one of the quatret... But the best book of the century so far? Eh. It did have A LOT of hype back in the day, though, and I kinda feel like people remember the hype more than the book itself (I feel the same about The Goldfinch). Maybe I'm just being salty)

I missed Paul Auster on the list. A superb author!

Not featuring Sue Monk Kidd, Dan Brown or Dean Koontz....staples on the bestseller list.....who was asked? Who voted?

I've read just a few less than you. Need to read more nonfiction. I love lists like this. Agree or disagree it gets people talking about books and reading books. Personally, it reminds me to pull down those great books that have been sitting on my bookshelves for too long, (looking right at you, 2666) and to check out books that have slipped past my radar. I think that many of the books "missing" from the list are in #101-150. Some of the books you mentioned, like Homegoing and Hamnett, are listed under "read it, might like this" which leads me to think they just missed the cut. Interesting...two of your DNF are two of my all time favorites, Goldfinch and Overstory. I second recommendation for the Goldfinch audiobook. It's going to take you a while to catch up on Ann Patchett. She's written many really good books. Happy reading.

Worth bearing in mind that people were not asked to rank their lists - this top 100 could have been quite differently ordered if nearly everyone who picked My Brilliant Friend put it at number 9, for example. I was appalled at the absence of Ducks, Newburyport, and wondered if that and Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois were too long for enough people to have got around to yet...? (2666 is very long, of course, but that's a fair bit older.)

I've only read 8 of those. The Line of Beauty and Small Things Like These are the only ones I have actually finished, so 6 DNFs 🤭(Gilead ● The Overstory ● A Brief History of Seven Killings ● Trust ● Demon Copperhead ● Septology)

The Goldfinch was a DNF for me. I have zero interest in trying it again. I’m one of those people who hated Detransition Baby. I did it on audio otherwise I would have tossed it across the room.

Just FYI: NYT listed all their books on their Instagram 😊

I would’ve thought Book Thief would be number 1! Did it even make the list?

I think they should not have allowed any author to have more than one book on the list.

Respect the paywall? Dude…NYT has plenty of cash.

I saw the list but I didn’t notice “Love Songs of WEB DuBois” was not on it. Because it didn’t win a major prize (like 95% of the list did)

I’ve read 18 but two were DNFd. American Marriage and Hurricane Season. I tried to leave my own list but they wanted my email first. That means I be bombarded by subscription requests and advertisements.

"Against the Day"?

the lonely polygomist udall, instance at the fingerpost by ian pears and I am radat

Very disappointing omissions for me: Lauren Groff, James McBride , Ruth Ozecki, Louise Erdrich and Ocean Vuong

Twilight should be on the list.

John Boyne.

Gone Girl guaranteed I would never read another Gillian Flynn book. I hated every character in that book.

Stephen King's 'Under the Dome' isn't as good as earlier dome novels like 'All Flesh is Grass' IMHO and I would have voted for 'The Fireman' by Joe Hill if I was him. Even if you argue The Fireman is genre fiction, it's still a fantastic exploration of the true cost of hope and the nature of religion. The thing about Tomorrow x3 is it has an impact that leaves you with a burning desire to contact people whose friendship you may have discounted. How many books command immediate action?

It is very weird to me that this list doesn't have as many super best sellers as it could

Well in 2 years the Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow movie adaptation is supposed to premiere

It would have been far more effective to do a top 50 fiction list and top 50 nonfiction list. Combining the two like this ain't it. Limiting it to one book per author should have been a nonnegotiable rule regardless of approach. The readers list was the more successful attempt.

Really dont understand the love for The Overstory. It was sooooo boring....

Maybe Sarah Jessica Parker has ethics, unlike Stephen King.

I think A Little Life is missing. For sure! 😊

I made this comment on another channel, but I think it deserves repeating. A Little Life was a book readers either lauded or loathed. However, its impact on arts and letters cannot be discounted. The fact that NYT couldn't find a spot for it on a list of 100 tells you how bogus this list is.