NPR's Best Books of 2021

1.
Somebody's Daughter
Somebody's Daughter 4.02 avg rating — 71,678 ratings
2.
Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing
Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing 3.42 avg rating — 10,422 ratings
3.
Crying in H Mart
Crying in H Mart 4.24 avg rating — 555,527 ratings
4.
Klara and the Sun
Klara and the Sun 3.74 avg rating — 408,829 ratings
5.
A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome
A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome 4.08 avg rating — 5,630 ratings
6.
Matrix
Matrix 3.68 avg rating — 64,935 ratings
7.
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake 3.93 avg rating — 7,986 ratings
8.
Filthy Animals
Filthy Animals 3.63 avg rating — 9,742 ratings
9.
Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law
Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law 3.84 avg rating — 28,253 ratings
10.
The Five Wounds
The Five Wounds 4.13 avg rating — 19,165 ratings
11.
Goldenrod: Poems
Goldenrod: Poems 3.93 avg rating — 4,877 ratings
12.
The Morning Star (Morgenstjernen, #1)
The Morning Star (Morgenstjernen, #1) 3.95 avg rating — 15,965 ratings
13.
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water 4.69 avg rating — 4,679 ratings
14.
A Calling for Charlie Barnes
A Calling for Charlie Barnes 3.75 avg rating — 3,850 ratings
15.
A Ghost in the Throat
A Ghost in the Throat 4.02 avg rating — 10,194 ratings
16.
A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance
A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance 4.59 avg rating — 9,718 ratings
17.
A Lot Like Adiós (Primas of Power, #2)
A Lot Like Adiós (Primas of Power, #2) 3.70 avg rating — 14,047 ratings
18.
A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding, #1)
A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding, #1) 3.94 avg rating — 48,580 ratings
19.
A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World’s Smartest Birds of Prey
A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World’s Smartest Birds of Prey 4.17 avg rating — 2,741 ratings
20.
A Passage North
A Passage North 3.70 avg rating — 8,657 ratings
21.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)
A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1) 4.23 avg rating — 166,929 ratings
22.
A Singing Army: Zilphia Horton and the Highlander Folk School
A Singing Army: Zilphia Horton and the Highlander Folk School
by: Kim Ruehl
4.48 avg rating — 27 ratings
23.
A Slow Fire Burning
A Slow Fire Burning 3.50 avg rating — 174,370 ratings
24.
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life 4.54 avg rating — 23,123 ratings
25.
A Thousand Ships
A Thousand Ships 4.06 avg rating — 85,310 ratings
26.
A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure
A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure 3.88 avg rating — 321 ratings
27.
A Town Called Solace
A Town Called Solace 4.01 avg rating — 27,988 ratings
28.
Abundance
Abundance 3.83 avg rating — 1,900 ratings
29.
American Delirium
American Delirium 2.81 avg rating — 720 ratings
30.
Beautiful World, Where Are You
Beautiful World, Where Are You 3.53 avg rating — 470,384 ratings
31.
Bewilderment
Bewilderment 3.91 avg rating — 68,457 ratings
32.
The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly
The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly
by: Kate Lebo
3.77 avg rating — 1,151 ratings
33.
The Committed (The Sympathizer, #2)
The Committed (The Sympathizer, #2) 3.96 avg rating — 11,762 ratings
34.
The Copenhagen Trilogy (The Copenhagen Trilogy, #1-3)
The Copenhagen Trilogy (The Copenhagen Trilogy, #1-3) 4.36 avg rating — 21,418 ratings
35.
Creatures of Passage
Creatures of Passage 3.97 avg rating — 1,506 ratings
36.
The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America
The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America 4.25 avg rating — 1,875 ratings
37.
Detransition, Baby
Detransition, Baby 3.93 avg rating — 88,709 ratings
38.
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty 4.54 avg rating — 126,884 ratings
39.
Five Tuesdays in Winter
Five Tuesdays in Winter
by: Lily King
3.71 avg rating — 22,114 ratings
40.
Floaters: Poems
Floaters: Poems 4.40 avg rating — 613 ratings
41.
Great Circle
Great Circle 4.10 avg rating — 78,585 ratings
42.
Hell of a Book
Hell of a Book 4.03 avg rating — 25,820 ratings
43.
In the Country of Others
In the Country of Others 3.77 avg rating — 17,107 ratings
44.
Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal
Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal 4.05 avg rating — 2,321 ratings
45.
The Legend of Auntie Po
The Legend of Auntie Po 4.05 avg rating — 2,860 ratings
46.
Let Me Tell You What I Mean
Let Me Tell You What I Mean 3.84 avg rating — 19,065 ratings
47.
Light Perpetual
Light Perpetual 3.67 avg rating — 5,918 ratings
48.
The Loneliest Americans
The Loneliest Americans 3.71 avg rating — 2,397 ratings
49.
Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo
Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo 3.68 avg rating — 1,732 ratings
50.
No One Is Talking About This
No One Is Talking About This 3.55 avg rating — 53,352 ratings
51.
On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint
On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint 3.99 avg rating — 2,858 ratings
52.
Palmares
Palmares 2.92 avg rating — 847 ratings
53.
People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present
People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present
by: Dara Horn
4.36 avg rating — 10,558 ratings
54.
Skinship
Skinship
by: Yoon Choi
4.15 avg rating — 2,248 ratings
55.
Small Things Like These
Small Things Like These 4.13 avg rating — 350,041 ratings
56.
The Sunflower Cast a Spell To Save Us From The Void
The Sunflower Cast a Spell To Save Us From The Void 3.84 avg rating — 608 ratings
57.
Tastes Like War
Tastes Like War 3.91 avg rating — 13,907 ratings
58.
Velvet Was the Night
Velvet Was the Night 3.51 avg rating — 29,772 ratings
59.
What Storm, What Thunder
What Storm, What Thunder 3.95 avg rating — 3,075 ratings
60.
Zorrie
Zorrie 3.84 avg rating — 8,826 ratings