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The Most Acclaimed Books of the 21st Century

This list is composed of prize-winning books and entries on retrospective critics' lists from the past two decades. The sources are:
Man Booker Prize; Pulitzer Prize: Fiction, Drama; National Book Award: Fiction, Nonfiction; Hugo Award; Nebula Award; World Fantasy Award; PEN/Faulkner Award; Newberry Medal; Women's Prize for Fiction; Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction; National Book Critics Circle Award Fiction; Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award
The Guardian 100 Best Books of 21st Century; Tournament of Books semi-finalists and winners 2005-2020; NYT Ten Best Books Through Time (2004-2020); NYT Best American plays Since ANGELS IN AMERICA; CrimeReads 10 Best Crime Novels of the Last Decade; Slate's Best Nonfiction from the Past 25 Years; AV Club's best comics of 2000-9/2010s; Vox best books of the 2010s; Lithub 10 Best Memoirs/Essay Collection of the 2010s; The Independent best essay collections of the 2010s; Vulture's 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
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Love Is Power, or Something Like That (A. Igoni Barrett)
Love Is Power, or Something Like That
1
A. Igoni Barrett
May We Be Forgiven (A.M. Homes)
May We Be Forgiven
2
A.M. Homes
Midnight in Chernobyl (Adam Higginbotham)
Midnight in Chernobyl
3
Adam Higginbotham
Fortune Smiles (Adam Johnson)
Fortune Smiles
4
Adam Johnson
The Orphan Master's Son (Adam Johnson)
The Orphan Master's Son
5
Adam Johnson
Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx (Adrian Nicole Leblanc)
Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx
6
Adrian Nicole Leblanc
Tender Is the Flesh (Agustina Bazterrica)
Tender Is the Flesh
7
Agustina Bazterrica
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Aimee Bender)
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
8
Aimee Bender
An Obedient Father (Akhil Sharma)
An Obedient Father
9
Akhil Sharma
Family Life (Akhil Sharma)
Family Life
10
Akhil Sharma
Freshwater (Akwaeke Emezi)
Freshwater
11
Akwaeke Emezi
Broken Glass (Alain Mabanckou)
Broken Glass
12
Alain Mabanckou
The Line of Beauty (Alan Hollinghurst)
The Line of Beauty
13
Alan Hollinghurst
Promethea (Alan Moore)
Promethea
14
Alan Moore
After the Music Stopped (Alan S. Blinder)
After the Music Stopped
15
Alan S. Blinder
The World Without Us (Alan Weisman)
The World Without Us
16
Alan Weisman
The Book of My Lives (Aleksandar Hemon)
The Book of My Lives
17
Aleksandar Hemon
Zero (Ales Kot)
Zero
18
Ales Kot
Box Office Poison (Alex Robinson)
Box Office Poison
19
Alex Robinson
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century (Alex Ross)
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century
20
Alex Ross
Autumn (Ali Smith)
Autumn
21
Ali Smith
How to Be Both (Ali Smith)
How to Be Both
22
Ali Smith
The Accidental (Ali Smith)
The Accidental
23
Ali Smith
Dear Life (Alice Munro)
Dear Life
24
Alice Munro
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (Alice Munro)
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage
25
Alice Munro
Runaway (Alice Munro)
Runaway
26
Alice Munro
Dart (Alice Oswald)
Dart
27
Alice Oswald
Fun Home (Alison Bechdel)
Fun Home
28
Alison Bechdel
A World on Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War (Amanda Foreman)
A World on Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War
29
Amanda Foreman
A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles)
A Gentleman in Moscow
30
Amor Towles
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel (Amy Hempel)
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel
31
Amy Hempel
Farewell, Fred Voodoo: A Letter From Haiti (Amy Wilentz)
Farewell, Fred Voodoo: A Letter From Haiti
32
Amy Wilentz
Small Island (Andrea Levy)
Small Island
33
Andrea Levy
The Invention of Nature (Andrea Wulf)
The Invention of Nature
34
Andrea Wulf
Less (Andrew Sean Greer)
Less
35
Andrew Sean Greer
Far From the Tree (Andrew Solomon)
Far From the Tree
36
Andrew Solomon
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression (Andrew Solomon)
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression
37
Andrew Solomon
The Turner House (Angela Fluornoy)
The Turner House
38
Angela Fluornoy
The New Yorker Stories (Ann Beattie)
The New Yorker Stories
39
Ann Beattie
Ancillary Justice (Ann Leckie)
Ancillary Justice
40
Ann Leckie
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