Amazon Announces Their Picks for the Best Books of 2021
While there are still plenty of great books getting published now until the end of December, it’s the season of Best Books of the Year lists, and Amazon has just announced theirs. It includes a top 100 list, a #1 book of the year, editors’ personal favorites, and an ability to browse by category.
The #1 book of the year goes to The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, which has remained high on the Amazon charts since its release and is a New York Times bestseller. Amor Towles’s previous book, A Gentleman in Moscow, was a runaway hit, especially with book clubs, and his follow up has also been received well. An Amazon editor said it “might just be one of the best novels of this decade, which is a feat considering A Gentleman in Moscow, also holds that distinction (in this reviewer’s mind, anyway).” The review continues: “Set in the 1950s, The Lincoln Highway is filled with nostalgia as well as the gentle naïveté and hijinks of those who are young, optimistic, and on a mission. The story follows four boys who set out to travel the country in search of a fresh start…”
The top 20 also includes nonfiction, literary fiction, science fiction, and even a children’s book. Some titles you might recognize are: Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, a memoir about food and grief; The Four Winds by book club favorite Kristin Hannah; Colson Whitehead’s newest release, Harlem Shuffle; Andy Weir’s return to The Martian form with Project Hail Mary; Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun; and Sally Rooney’s latest, Beautiful World, Where Are You.
If you’re reading this as it was first posted, you might still be able to check out the Amazon interview with three of the top authors: Amor Towles, Michelle Zauner, and Jean Hanff Korelitz. They will be answering questions about their books in a livestream starting at 12 PM ET/9 AM PT on November 16th.
You can also read excerpts from editors on their favorite books of the year, and browse by Biographies and Memoirs, Children’s Books, Romance, Mysteries and Thrillers, Science Fiction and Fantasy, and more.
Book Riot will be releasing our own Best Books of the Year list very soon, but in the meantime, you can check out our mid-year The Best Books of 2021 (So Far) list!
