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It’s hard to wrap your head around the scope of 25 years but, as it turns out, looking back at this century so far in books is a clarifying exercise. You’ve likely seen iterations of these best of the century lists from various outlets, and what makes each of them unique are the perspectives of those curating these lists. Book Riot is composed of a diverse team of contributors and editorial staff, including teachers, librarians, activists, writers, as well as those of us with professions and interests beyond the world of books. All of us are readers with long-held understandings of the importance of books, reading, literacy, and being intentional about diversity and inclusion in all aspects of life. And so we approached our Best Books of the Century (So Far) list pulling from our diverse exposure to books and shared values.
Because we are aware and in awe of the expansive catalogs continually growing various genres and categories, we went the route of splitting this exercise into those genres and categories where we have expertise and that are of greatest interest to our readers. We worked hard to manage recency bias, looking way back to the beginning of the century, surprising ourselves with vivid memories of books from the early aughts while also doing our best to identify the instant classics of today. The point of these lists isn’t to identify our favorite works of the last 25 years, though many of those books made the cut, but to take a broader approach, considering the books that changed the landscape of a genre or broke out into the greater world of culture, becoming franchises, making a big impact on our understanding of the world, and breaking our brains in the best kind of way.
To do this, we asked all of our writers and any staff touching editorial work, from our CEO to our newest contributor recruits, to nominate titles for any categories they are knowledgable in. From there, our staff-appointed editors sorted the lists and weighed titles with multiple nominations, considered any context offered for why titles were nominated, and identified groundbreaking works that required inclusion. While we can’t capture every title every reader believes should make the cut, we can say we took each list seriously and made thoughtful decisions.
From the beginning to the end of 2026, we’ll release lists in the following categories on a monthly (sometimes semi-monthly) basis, and link them here so you can find them all in one place as they’re added:
Our All Access members will receive additional insights and perks designed around these lists, so make sure you’re subscribed to get those benefits.
Enjoy a year of this century’s best books! We send our condolences to your TBR.
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