The Greatest Contemporary Books Since 2000

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
443 Americanah Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2013 Nigerian English
1354 Olive Kitteridge Elizabeth Strout 2008 American English
1369 Veronica Mary Gaitskill 2005 American English
1751 NW Zadie Smith 2012 British English
2225 My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh 2018 American English
2468 Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage Alice Munro 2001 Canadian English
2587 Empire Falls Richard Russo 2001 American English
2636 An American Marriage Tayari Jones 2018 American English
3053 Red, White & Royal Blue Casey McQuiston 2019 American English
3139 Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk Ben Fountain 2012 American English
3228 Ghachar Ghochar Vivek Shanbhag 2015 Indian Kannada
3317 The Kiss Quotient Helen Hoang 2018 Vietnamese English
3405 Fifty Shades of Grey: E. L. James 2011 British English
3430 Get A Life, Chloe Brown Talia Hibbert 2019 British English
3444 Transit Rachel Cusk 2016 British English
3473 We Do Not Part Han Kang 2021 Korean Korean
3507 The Most Secret Memory Of Men Mohamed Mbougar Sarr 2021 Senegalese French
3527 All My Puny Sorrows Miriam Toews 2014 Canadian English
3569 Little Fires Everywhere Celeste Ng 2017 American English
3599 The Wedding Date Jasmine Guillory 2018 American English
3608 Virgin River Robyn Carr 2007 American English
3824 Outliers Malcolm Gladwell 2008 Canadian English
4098 Boyfriend Material Alexis Hall 2020 British English
4103 Purge Sofi Oksanen 2008 Finnish Finnish
4371 Crazy Rich Asians Kevin Kwan 2013 American English
4394 The Friend Sigrid Nunez 2018 American English
4417 Detransition, Baby Torrey Peters 2021 American English
4472 Intermezzo Sally Rooney 2024 Irish English
4502 How Should a Person Be? Sheila Heti 2010 Canadian English
4593 Conversations With Friends Sally Rooney 2017 Irish English
4807 Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay Elena Ferrante 2013 Italian Italian
4940 Stone Yard Devotional Charlotte Wood 2023 Australian English
4999 The Sun Is Also A Star Nicola Yoon 2016 American English
5006 Feel Free Zadie Smith 2018 British English
5189 Stay True Hua Hsu 2022 Chinese English
5310 The Emperor's Children Claire Messud 2006 American English
5391 Tom Lake Ann Patchett 2023 American English
5491 The Slap Christos Tsiolkas 2008 Australian English
5494 Royally Screwed Emma Chase 2016 American English
5508 Seven Days In June Tia Williams 2021 American English
5637 Book Lovers Emily Henry 2021 American English
5729 My Kind of Place Susan Orlean 2004 American English
5744 Can You Keep A Secret? Sophie Kinsella 2003 British English
5966 A Princess In Theory Alyssa Cole 2018 American English
5987 The Idiot Elif Batuman 2017 American English
5996 The Green Road Anne Enright 2015 Irish English
6420 Collected Poems Dalia Rabikovitch 2009 Israeli Hebrew
6454 Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 Cho Nam-Joo 2016 Korean Korean
6460 A Gate at the Stairs Lorrie Moore 2009 American English
6490 Happy Are The Happy Yasmina Reza 2013 French French
6525 The Mars Room Rachel Kushner 2018 American English
6530 The Hating Game Sally Thorne 2016 Australian English
6686 Pain Zeruya Shalev 2015 Israeli Hebrew
6737 My Misspent Youth Meghan Daum 2001 American English
6757 Breasts And Eggs Mieko Kawakami 2008 Japanese Japanese
6809 Eastbound Maylis de Kerangal 2012 French French
6891 Bared To You Sylvia Day 2012 American English
6930 Academy Street Mary Costello 2014 Irish English
6965 Bowling Alone Robert D. Putnam 2000 American English
7063 Nightcrawling Leila Mottley 2022 American English
7099 The Dutch House Ann Patchett 2019 American English
7142 Hello Beautiful Ann Napolitano 2023 American English
7154 The Loneliness Of Sonia And Sunny Kiran Desai 2025 Unknown English
7192 Heartstopper Alice Oseman 2018 British English
7212 Boy Swallows Universe Trent Dalton 2018 Australian English
7640 The Sermon On The Fall Of Rome Jerome Ferrari 2012 French French
7690 Birnam Wood Eleanor Catton 2023 New Zealand English
7735 Stag Dance Torrey Peters 2025 American English
7743 Flesh David Szalay 2025 British English
7781 The Pairing Casey McQuiston 2024 Unknown English
7788 Cold Enough For Snow Jessica Au 2022 Australian English
7807 Lick Kylie Scott 2013 Australian English
7845 The Accidental Ali Smith 2005 British English
7851 Paula Spencer Roddy Doyle 2006 Irish English
7855 Heart, Be At Peace Donal Ryan 2024 Unknown English
7877 Baumgartner Paul Auster 2023 American English
7891 Love Toni Morrison 2003 American English
8022 Loved And Missed Susie Boyt 2023 British English
8065 Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt 2022 American English
8067 Bunny Mona Awad 2019 Canadian English
8096 Molly Fox’s Birthday Deirdre Madden 2008 Irish English
8156 Crush Richard Siken 2005 American English
8169 One Day In December Josie Silver 2018 British English
8171 A Long Way Down Nick Hornby 2005 British English
8268 Before I Let Go Kennedy Ryan 2022 American English
8268 Honey And Spice Bolu Babalola 2022 British English
8268 The Dead Romantics Ashley Poston 2022 American English
8268 You Made A Fool Of Death With Your Beauty Akwaeke Emezi 2022 Nigerian English
8268 The Bodyguard Katherine Center 2022 American English
8278 Solace Belinda McKeon 2011 Irish English
8346 Swing Time Zadie Smith 2016 British English
8394 Eventide Kent Haruf 2004 American English
8396 Audition Katie Kitamura 2025 Unknown English
8427 Sad Tiger Neige Sinno 2023 Unknown French
8428 She Said Jodi Kantor 2019 American English
8431 Heart The Lover Lily King 2025 Unknown English
8441 Heaven And Hell Jón Kalman Stefánsson 2007 Icelandic Icelandic
8445 Russian Disco Wladimir Kaminer 2000 German German
8445 Der Geliebte Der Mutter Urs Widmer 2000 Swiss German
8503 Collected Poems Jane Kenyon 2005 American English
8522 The True True Story Of Raja The Gullible Rabih Alameddine 2025 American English
8550 Coffee Boy Austin Chant 2016 Unknown English
8563 Open Lisa Moore 2002 Canadian English
8566 Witness Jamel Brinkley 2023 American English
8603 Small Rain Garth Greenwell 2024 Unknown English
8632 We All Want Impossible Things Catherine Newman 2022 American English
8638 Unformed Landscape Peter Stamm 2001 Swiss German
8693 The Discomfort Of Evening Lucas Rijneveld 2018 Dutch Dutch
8697 Too Much Lip Melissa Lucashenko 2018 Australian English
8715 Gifted Patrick Evans 2010 New Zealand English
8724 King Of Ashes S. A. Cosby 2025 Unknown English
8730 It Happened One Summer Tessa Bailey 2021 American English
8738 The End Of Eddy Édouard Louis 2014 French French
8753 Running Away Jean-Philippe Toussaint 2005 French French
8791 Bittersweet Philip Lee 2001 Canadian English
8799 It Happened One Wedding Julie James 2014 American English
8846 Our Kids Robert D. Putnam 2015 American English
8847 Seeing Red Lina Meruane 2012 Chilean Spanish
8853 I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home Lorrie Moore 2023 American English
8857 What You Are Looking For Is In The Library Michiko Aoyama 2020 Japanese Japanese