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In July, the New York Times published their “100 Best Books of the 21st Century”(so far), and then followed up with an additional list selected by readers. We asked our particular reading audience what books they’d add to the Times’ collections – and we got some passionate responses. Find them all on the Library’s shelves.
Fiction
What Happened to Sophie Wilder by Christopher Beha (2012)
A heartfelt exploration of faith and love and friendship, What Happened To Sophie Wilder is a beautiful, absorbing work about the redemptive power of storytelling: a literary love story.
Tell Me What You See by Terena Elizabeth Bell (2022)
A collection of 10 experimental short stories about coronavirus quarantines, the January 6th invasion on the US Capitol, climate change, and other current events Its title story is a 2021 New York Foundation for the Arts City Artist Corps winner.
Milkman by Anna Burns (2019)
Winner of the Man Booker Prize. “Everything about this novel rings true. . . . Original, funny, disarmingly oblique and unique.”―The Guardian
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (2023)
The Booker Prize–winning author of The Luminaries brings us Birnam Wood, a gripping thriller of high drama and kaleidoscopic insight into what drives us to survive.
The Wizard of the Kremlin by Giuliano da Empoli (2023)
Filled with real political insight and intrigue, this thrilling novel explores the nature of power through the inner workings of Putin’s regime.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (2013)
A haunting novel that explores the awesome power of memory, friendship, and sacrifice.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (2022)
Meet Elizabeth Zott: “a gifted research chemist, absurdly self-assured and immune to social convention” (The Washington Post) in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show.
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (2008)
The first in an epic trilogy, Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies is "a remarkably rich saga . . . which has plenty of action and adventure à la Dumas, but moments also of Tolstoyan penetration--and a drop or two of Dickensian sentiment" (The Observer [London]).
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (2017)
A story of shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel (2006)
Amy Hempel is a master of the short story. This celebrated volume gathers together her complete work - four short collections of stunning stories about marriages, minor disasters, and moments of revelation.
The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman (2014)
An extraordinary novel about an electric and impassioned love affair—“an enchanting love story rich with history and a sense of place” (USA Today).
This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Holmes (2006)
A vivid, uplifting, and revealing story about compassion, transformation, and what can happen if you are willing to lose yourself and open up to the world around you.
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (2021)
An intimate yet sweeping novel that chronicles the journey of one American family, from the centuries of the colonial slave trade through the Civil War to our own tumultuous era.
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (2005)
A long-lost book reappears, mysteriously connecting an old man searching for his son and a girl seeking a cure for her widowed mother's loneliness.
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (2023)
Winner of the Booker Prize | "A prophetic masterpiece." — Ron Charles, Washington Post
My Friends by Hisham Matar (2024)
A “masterly” (The New York Times, Editors’ Choice), “riveting” (The Atlantic) novel of friendship, family, and the unthinkable realities of exile, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Return.
The Magician by Colm Tóibín (2021)
A dazzling, epic family saga set across a half-century spanning World War I, the rise of Hitler, World War II, and the Cold War that is “a feat of literary sorcery in its own right” (Oprah Daily).
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams (2019)
A profound and enchanting bestselling novel from Booker Prize-longlisted author Niall Williams about the loves of our lives and the joys of reminiscing.
Nonfiction
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan (2023)
A historical thriller by the Pulitzer and National Book Award-winning author that tells the riveting story of the Klan's rise to power in the 1920s, the cunning con man who drove that rise, and the woman who stopped them.
Bite the Hand that Feeds You: Essays and Provocations by Henry Fairlie (2009)
Henry Fairlie was one of the most colorful and trenchant journalists of the twentieth century. Bite the Hand That Feeds You restores a compelling voice that, among its many virtues, helps Americans appreciate their country anew.
Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein (2021)
A revolutionary exploration of why people make bad judgments, and how to control both noise and cognitive bias.
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (2016)
A “brilliant” (Lupita Nyong’o, Time), “poignant” (Entertainment Weekly), “soul-nourishing” (USA Today) memoir about coming of age during the twilight of apartheid
American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic by Victoria Reynolds (2018)
The untold story of Hamilton’s―and Burr’s―personal physician, whose dream to build America’s first botanical garden inspired the young Republic. (Winner of a 2018-2019 New York City Book Award!)
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong (2022)
A “thrilling” (The New York Times), “dazzling” (The Wall Street Journal) tour of the radically different ways that animals perceive the world that will fill you with wonder and forever alter your perspective, by Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Ed Yong.
