Top 100 Books of the 21st Century

Last updated

The Top 100 Books of the 21st Century is an ongoing countdown by Australian radio station ABC Radio National over 18 and 19 October 2025. It is the first annual countdown by the nationwide public service radio network.

Contents

Background

In May 2025, Radio National announced a new annual countdown called the Top 100 Books, inspired by Triple J's Hottest 100 music countdown. Each year will feature a different theme, with the inaugural edition focusing on the Top 100 Books of the 21st Century. [1] All books published between 1 January 2000 and 31 August 2025 were eligible for voting, regardless of genre.

Full list

Note: Australian authors
#BookAuthorYearCountry of origin
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41 Shuggie Bain Douglas Stuart 2020United Kingdom/United States
42 A Man Called Ove Fredrik Backman 2012Sweden
43 All That I Am Anna Funder 2011Australia
44 Limberlost Robbie Arnott 2022Australia
45 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger 2003United States
46 Horse Geraldine Brooks 2022Australia/United States
47 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J. K. Rowling 2000United Kingdom
48 Life of Pi Yann Martel 2001Canada
49 A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini 2007Afghanistan/United States
50 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold 2002United States
51 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid 2017United States
52 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson 2005Sweden
53 Prophet Song Paul Lynch 2023Ireland
54 The Rosie Project Graeme Simsion 2013Australia
55 Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo 2018United Kingdom
56 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Alexander McCall Smith 2003United Kingdom/Zimbabwe
57 Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari 2014Israel
58 James Percival Everett 2024United States
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon 2003United Kingdom
60 The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller 2011United States
61 Joe Cinque's Consolation Helen Garner 2004Australia
62 The Covenant of Water Abraham Verghese 2023Ethiopia/United States
63 We Need to Talk about Kevin Lionel Shriver 2003United States
64 Bel Canto Ann Patchett 2001United States
65Question 7 Richard Flanagan 2023Australia
66 The Tattooist of Auschwitz Heather Morris 2018New Zealand
67 Circe Madeline Miller 2018United States
68 Educated Tara Westover 2018United States
69 The Midnight Library Matt Haig 2020United Kingdom
70 Station Eleven Emily St. John Mandel 2014Canada
71 The Bee Sting Paul Murray 2023Ireland
72 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows 2008United States
73The Happiest Man on Earth Eddie Jaku 2020Germany/Australia
74 The Overstory Richard Powers 2018United States
75The Happiest Refugee Anh Do 2010Australia
76 Where is the Green Sheep? Mem Fox and Judy Horacek 2004Australia
77 Life After Life Kate Atkinson 2013United Kingdom
78 The Women Kristin Hannah 2004United States
79 Brooklyn Colm Tóibín 2009Ireland
80 A Short History of Nearly Everything Bill Bryson 2003United Kingdom/United States
81 Too Much Lip Melissa Lucashenko 2018Australia
82 Carpentaria Alexis Wright 2006Australia
83The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Holly Ringland 2018Australia
84 Stone Yard Devotional Charlotte Wood 2024Australia
85 Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens Shankari Chandran 2022Australia
86 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell 2004United Kingdom
87 Fourth Wing Rebecca Yarros 2023United States
88 This House of Grief Helen Garner 2014Australia
89 People of the Book Geraldine Brooks 2008Australia/United States
90 This Is Going to Hurt Adam Kay 2017United Kingdom
91The Bookbinder of Jericho Pip Williams 2023Australia
92 Gone Girl Gillian Flynn 2012United States
93 Project Hail Mary Andy Weir 2021United States
94 Lincoln in the Bardo George Saunders 2017United States
95 Piranesi Susanna Clarke 2020United Kingdom
96 Tom Lake Ann Patchett 2023United States
97 True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey 2000Australia
98 The Heart's Invisible Furies John Boyne 2007Ireland
99 Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides 2002United States
100 Big Little Lies Liane Moriarty 2014Australia

Statistics

Authors with multiple entries

Countries represented

Country#
United States24
Australia19
United Kingdom11
Ireland4
Canada2
Sweden2
Afghanistan1
Ethiopia1
Germany1
Israel1
New Zealand1
Zimbabwe1

References

  1. ↑ Books, Anna Levy for ABC Radio National's Top 100 (2025-10-01). "Australia's favourite authors share their top books of the 21st century". ABC News. Retrieved 2025-10-18.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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