Go beyond just the current list of New York Times Fiction Best Sellers to discover every bestselling book listed on the NYT Bestseller List in 2021.
Since 1931, The New York Times has been publishing a weekly list of bestselling books. Since then, becoming a New York Times bestseller has become a dream for virtually every writer.
When I first started reading adult fiction, one of the first places I went for book recommendations was the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers. I wanted to know what books were the most widely read, and start with those.
However, scrolling through the list week by week on The New York Times website is rather annoying. I just wanted all the bestselling fiction books gathered together in one place.
When I couldn’t find it, I decided to create it.
Here are all the New York Times fiction bestsellers from this year. I’ve got the current #1 and this week’s bestselling list, both of which you can find all over the place.
This list also compiles every book that appears on the New York Times Fiction Best Sellers list in 2021 for Hardcover Fiction. Every week I update it so you can get the most accurate view of the year in one place.
Since this is a bit of a sprawling post, feel free to jump to the section that most interests you or take your time scrolling through the complete list of New York Times fiction best sellers.
Quick Links
Current #1 New York Times Best Seller
The Hill We Climb
Amanda Gorman
(2 Weeks) In 2021, Amanda Gorman became the youngest presidential inaugural poet in US history when she read her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” at President Biden’s inauguration. A special edition hardcover copy of her inaugural poem with a foreword by Oprah Winfrey.
Current List of New York Times Best Sellers
1.The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman
The poem read on President Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day, by the youngest poet to write and perform an inaugural poem.
2.
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
As dust storms roll during the Great Depression, Elsa must choose between saving the family and farm or heading West.
3.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Nora Seed finds a library beyond the edge of the universe that contains books with multiple possibilities of the lives one could have lived.
4.
Good Company by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
The foundation of a marriage between actors is shaken when they reunite with an old friend who is now a TV star.
5.
The Red Book by James Patterson and David Ellis
The second book in the Black Book thriller series. Chicago detective Billy Harney investigates his own past.
6.
First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami
A collection of eight short stories on love, childhood and memory.
7.
Northern Spy by Flynn Berry
The sister of a BBC producer may have joined the Irish Republican Army.
8.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
A Faustian bargain comes with a curse that affects the adventure Addie LaRue has across centuries.
9.
Win by Harlan Coben
Windsor Horne Lockwood III might rectify cold cases connected to his family that have eluded the F.B.I. for decades.
10.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
An “Artificial Friend” named Klara is purchased to serve as a companion to an ailing 14-year-old girl.
11.
You Love Me by Caroline Kepnes
The third book in the You series. Joe becomes interested in a librarian who appears to be too busy for him.
12.
Life After Death by Sister Souljah
In a sequel to “The Coldest Winter Ever,” Winter Santiaga emerges after time served and seeks revenge.
13.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The lives of twin sisters who run away from a Southern black community at age 16 diverge as one returns and the other takes on a different racial identity but their fates intertwine.
14.
Eternal by Lisa Scottoline
Three people involved in a love triangle find everything they hold dear is tested as Mussolini’s power grows and laws change in Rome.
15.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
An aspiring historian in London finds a clue that might put to rest unsolved apothecary murders from 200 years ago.
See what Upcoming Releases are coming out soon!
Previous #1 New York Times Fiction Best Sellers
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens
(133 Weeks) For years, Kya Clark has survived alone in the marshes of the North Carolina coast. Dubbed “The Marsh Girl” by the locals, she was abandoned by her family and has been raised by nature itself. Now, as she comes of age, she begins to yearn for something more than her loneliness – maybe even a connection with the locals.
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett
(45 Weeks) Growing up in a small black community in the Deep South, the Vignes sisters run away at age sixteen. Though identical twins, their lives end in completely different paths. One returns to live in their hometown while the other secretly passes as white. Bennett explores more than race, as she contemplates how the past affects future generations when their daughters’ lives intersect.
American Dirt
Jeanine Cummins
(35 Weeks) In Mexico, bookstore owner Lydia is charmed to meet Javier, a man who shares her taste in books, only to find he is the local drug lord. When her husband exposes Javier’s secrets, the wrath of the cartel falls upon her family. Lydia and her son Luca must flee from his wrath – all the way to American soil.
The Guest list
Lucy Foley
(25 Weeks) On a remote Irish island, the perfect wedding turns deadly in this thrilling mystery. The high profile wedding between a television star and a magazine publisher is supposed to be the perfect event. Yet once the guests arrive, past conflicts come into play and someone turns up dead. Was it the bride? The best man? The wedding planner?
Anxious People
Fredrik Backman
(24 Weeks) After a failed bank robbery, a banker robber on the run accidentally ends up with a room full of hostages at an open house. After letting all of the hostages go, the police storm the apartment, only to find it empty. Now the police must interview the dysfunctional group to figure out what exactly happened. Backman purposely plays on your assumptions and uses an unusual narration style that gives the story an allegorical feel.
The Return
Nicholas Sparks
(22 Weeks) After being injured in a bombing in Afghanistan, a Navy doctor settles at his late grandfather’s cabin in North Carolina. While recuperating from his wounds, Trevor Benson never expects to find love, but he can’t fight the attraction he feels to deputy sheriff Natalie Masterson. However, Natalie remains distant, and a sullen teenage girl might be more connected to Trevor’s grandfather’s death than any suspected.
If It Bleeds
Stephen King
(20 Weeks) A collection of four novellas. In “If It Bleeds,” a standalone sequel to The Outsider, a bomb at a middle school prompts an investigation into the lead reporter by Holly Gibney. Other stories include “Mr. Harriagan’s Phone,” “The Life of Chuck,” and “Rat.”
A Time for Mercy
John Grisham
(19 Weeks) John Grisham returns you to Clanton, Mississipi, the setting of his debut novel A Time to Kill. After appearing in the novel Sycamore Row, lawyer Jake Brigance is back, this time defending a teenager accused of killing a local deputy. With demand rising for a swift guilty verdict and the death penalty, Brigance realizes the town is against him as he pleads for mercy along with justice.
The Evening and the Morning
Ken Follett
(12 Weeks) Thirty years after publishing The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett has written a prequel revealing the events that led up to his epic work. At the end of the Dark Ages in England, one man’s determination to make his abbey the center of learning changes the lives of a boatbuilder, a noblewoman, and the monk in unexpected ways.
Ready Player Two
Ernest Cline
(12 Weeks) Ernest Cline returns with a sequel to his science fiction bestseller, Ready Player One. After winning James Halliday’s contest, Wade Watts finds another easter egg hidden in Halliday’s vaults – a technological advance leagues ahead of the OASIS. Wade and his friends must solve this new riddle in a plot eerily reminiscent of the first book. And, yes, Wil Wheaton is narrating the audiobook.
The Sentinel
Lee Child and Andrew child
(10 Weeks) In the 25th Jack Reacher novel, Lee Child teams up with his younger brother Andrew. When Jack Reacher intervenes in an ambush in Tennessee, he meets an unassuming IT manager. Recently fired from his job after a cyberattack, Rusty Rutherford just wants to clear his name. Instead, they stumble upon a much larger conspiracy.
The Four Winds
Kristin Hannah
(10 Weeks) In the Texas panhandle in 1934, severe drought plagues the land. With crops failing, dust storms whip up, leaving the farmers fighting for survival. In the perilous times of the Great Depression, Elsa Martinelli must decide whether to stay and fight for her land or head west to California which offers her family a better life.
Fortune and Glory
Janet Evanovich
(8 Weeks) The 27th Stephanie Plum novel. After Grandma Mazur’s new husband dies, he leaves her the key to his massive fortune. As Stephanie and her grandma search for the treasure, they realize they aren’t the only ones looking. Stephanie’s old nemesis from Little Havana is hot on the trail. Can Stephanie outwit her? And will she finally decide between Joe Morelli and Ranger?
The Law of Innocence
Michael Connelly
(7 Weeks) After a big courtroom win, Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller is pulled over by the police who find the body of a former client in his trunk. Unable to post bail, Haller must defend himself against murder charges from his jail cell while fending off enemies from the inside and out. Haller knows that it’s not enough to get a not guilty verdict. To be free of the charges, he must find out who really did it.
Life After Death
Sister Souljah
(6 Weeks) In the sequel to The Coldest Winter Ever, Winter Santiago is out of prison and ready to take her to get her revenge, reclaim her father’s status, and reunite with Midnight. But Winter’s business partner Simone is also out for revenge, and Winter is her main target.
A Court of Silver Flames
Sarah J. Maas
(6 Weeks) The fifth book in Maas’s bestselling fantasy series, A Court of Thorns and Roses. Haunted by the horrors of the previous war, Nesta’s temper is constantly on edge, and no one seems to bother her more than Cassian. When the human queens threaten the fragile peace, she must work with Cassian to save the kingdom.
The Russian
James Patterson and James O. Born
(5 Weeks) In the thirteenth book in the series, Detective Michael Bennett connects a series of murders of young women in New York City to similar cases in San Francisco and Atlanta. Detective Bennett must do his best to solve the case without falling into the killer’s trap – all while preparing for his wedding to Mary Catherine.
Star Wars: Light of the Jedi
Charles Soule
(4 Weeks) Two hundred years before the events of The Phantom Menace, the High Republic is at its peak. Peace flourishes under the rule of the Senate and the watchful eye of the Jedi. When a hyperspace catastrophe with sinister roots tears a ship apart, the shrapnel threatens an entire system and the Jedi are pushed to their limits.
Win
Harlan Coben
(4 Weeks) Twenty years ago, a rich heiress was abducted. Although she escaped, her captors were never found or the family’s items recovered. When his suitcase is found at a murder scene, Windsor Horne Lockwood III, “Win” to his friends, becomes entangled in an investigation into two cold cases where the suspect may have also been involved in domestic terrorism.
Heavyweights
(10+ Weeks on the NYT Bestseller List)
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
V. E. Schwab
(24 Weeks) To escape a forced marriage, Addie LaRue makes a bargain with the devil in 1714. She gets to live forever, but the catch is she will be forgotten by everyone she meets. After 300 years, Addie has become resigned to her fate until she meets a young man who remembers her name.
The Midnight Library
Matt Haig
(19 Weeks) In the Midnight Library, there are two books – one book for the life you’ve lived and one for the one you could have lived. Nora Seed must decide which book to choose from. What if she had made different choices? Would her life truly have been better?
Fan Favorites
(5+ Weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List)
Deadly Cross by James Patterson
(8 Weeks) The 28th book in the Alex Cross series. An investigation of a double homicide of the ex-wife of the Vice President and sends Alex Cross to Alabama to investigate.
Daylight by David Baldacci
(7 Weeks) The F.B.I. agent Atlee Pine’s search for her kidnapped twin sister overlaps with a military investigator’s hunt for someone involved in a global conspiracy.
The Awakening by Nora Roberts
(6 Weeks) The first book in the Dragon Heart Legacy series. Breen Kelly travels through a portal in Ireland to a land of faeries and mermaids.
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
Amazon | Goodreads | More Info
(6 Weeks) Elin Warner must find her estranged brother’s fiancée, who goes missing as a storm approaches a hotel that was once a sanatorium in the Swiss Alps.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Amazon | Goodreads | More Info
(6 Weeks) An “Artificial Friend” named Klara is purchased to serve as a companion to an ailing 14-year-old girl.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Amazon | Goodreads | More Info
(6 Weeks) An aspiring historian in London finds a clue that might put to rest unsolved apothecary murders from 200 years ago.
Neighbors by Danielle Steel
(5 Weeks) A Hollywood recluse’s perspective changes when she invites her neighbors into her mansion after an earthquake.
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker
(5 Weeks) Trouble might start for the chief of police and a self-proclaimed outlaw teen when a man is released from prison.
Honorable Mention
(2-4 Weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List)
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict – What might have happened during the 11 days in which a rising mystery author went missing in 1926.
Outlawed by Anna North – Ada, who apprentices midwifery under her mother, must decide whether to aid a band of outlaws who want to create a safe haven for outcast women.
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell – An imagined exploration of how the death of an 11-year-old boy to the Black Plague in 1596 might have affected a famous playwright and his wife.
The Push by Ashley Audrain – A devastating event forces a mother who questions her child’s behavior and her own sanity to confront the truth.
The Scorpion’s Tail by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child – The second book in the Nora Kelly series. An F.B.I. agent and an archaeologist identify a mummified corpse and its gruesome cause of death.
Faithless in Death by J. D. Robb – The 52nd book of the In Death series. Eve Dallas investigates the murder of a young sculptor in the West Village.
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles – A teenager in Montana discovers that her elderly neighbor worked decades earlier at the American Library in Paris and was part of the Resistance.
Dark Sky by C. J. Box – The 21st book in the Joe Pickett series. The Wyoming game warden becomes a target when taking a tech baron on an elk hunting trip.
The Affair by Danielle Steel – A French author’s extramarital relationship affects various members of his wife’s family.
Fast Ice by Clive Cussler by Graham Brown – The 18th book in the NUMA Files series. Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala uncover a decades-old conspiracy when they search for a missing former colleague in Antarctica.
Eternal by Lisa Scottoline – Three people involved in a love triangle find everything they hold dear is tested as Mussolini’s power grows and laws change in Rome.
The Red Book by James Patterson and David Ellis – The second book in the Black Book thriller series. Chicago detective Billy Harney investigates his own past.
One Hit Wonders
(1 Week on the New York Times Best Seller List)
