I took a look at 2021’s most anticipated and best-of lists from a few publications to see what I could find.
The Overlapping Books
First, let’s talk about what kind of overlap actually exists between these lists, one publication at a time. There were quite a few publications that posted either best-of or most anticipated lists, but not both, so those were, obviously, left out of this. In total, I looked at ten publications.
So, What?
At the end of the day, it turns out that most anticipated and best-of lists aren’t really as similar as they seem. While there are trends in representation, genre, and publication dates, the books seem well-liked by readers and critics alike. What’s missing are books by authors of color, as well as YA, romance, and horror books. Which isn’t nearly as many as I expected. Often, though, the most “buzzed about” books don’t go on to become bestsellers. Publisher’s Weekly talked to editors about which 2021 books they were most excited about, and out of the 27 they named, only four made a bestseller list. Publisher’s Weekly also reported a draw to nonfiction and memoirs, which we can see supported by the popularity of books like Crying in H Mart and Somebody’s Daughter. Readers aren’t so easily swayed after all. It’s pretty clear a few of these books keep showing up across different publications’ articles. No One is Talking About This was selected by Vulture, Buzzfeed, Lithub, and A.V. Club. Klara and the Sun made TIME, Vulture, and Book Page. If you take a look at Lit Hub’s ultimate best books of 2021 article, you’ll see No One is Talking About This made 19 different best-of booklists. Harlem Shuffle made 17, Klara and the Sun and Detransition Baby, 16. The books on these lists were well-loved, at least by publications. But how well-liked were they by the public? The number of ratings on Goodreads ranged from 472 for Children Under Fire to 386,037 for The Four Winds. On average, they received 33,593 ratings and 4,597 reviews per book. The highest rated was How the Word is Passed with a 4.76 rating, the lowest was Fake Accounts with a 2.94. Goodreads ratings certainly aren’t the end-all be-all for how well-liked a novel is, but the general perception is that people liked these books. The publishers with the most books on these lists were Knopf and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux with 4 each followed by Random House and Riverhead books with 3 each. In total, 27 different imprints published this spread, which is a fairly good range. When you’re putting together your most anticipated list for the rest of the year or start noodling on what’ll be on your best-of, take a look at what’s there and what’s missing. Try a book that comes out in November! Pick up a book by an Indigenous author! Maybe you’ll find a new favorite by reading in the gaps.
