The Book Review: Inside the 100 Best List

Plus: romance bookstores dishing out "all the hot stuff you can imagine"

View in browser|nytimes.com July 16, 2024 "After 10 years of living with this thing in my head, I had to invent my own place, and I could see it as well as anything," says Edward P. Jones about the rural Virginia county where his novel "The Known World" is set. Hilton Als By Joumana Khatib Hi readers, You might have seen a small project we put out last week, nothing special, just the top 100 books of the century. One of the best things about working on it for the last several months? The list is really just the beginning. There's plenty more to dive into and dissect. And, thanks to the many of you who commented or lamented omissions, there's a whole lot more to read. So even though the full list is up, we have more to come. New today is a lovely profile of Edward P. Jones, whose book "The Known World" was the top piece of American fiction on the list, coming in at No. 4. I'll admit that this is one of several books on the list I've not read, but it's on the very top of my "read next or else" pile, which is nearing the height of a kindergartner. Thanks to the many of you who read, shared and commented on the list last week. It was fun to spend the week unveiling it together. Let's do it again in 100 years, OK? THE BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY Julia Gartland for The New York Times The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century As voted on by 503 book lovers — with a little help from the staff of The New York Times Book Review. By The New York Times Books Staff The New York Times Stephen King, Sarah Jessica Parker and More Share Their Top Books of the 21st Century We asked some literary luminaries to share their full ballots. By The New York Times Books Staff Julia Gartland for The New York Times; Styling by Alya Hameedi Elena Ferrante's Novels Are Beloved. Her Identity Remains a Mystery. The pseudonymous Italian author has become a worldwide phenomenon. But speculation about who she really is has followed her for years. By Joumana Khatib The New York Times 3 Critics + 100 Books = Something to Argue About The good news: Our "Best Books of the 21st Century" list showed surprising affection for works in translation. But where are Sally Rooney, Ayad Akhtar and others "explaining how we live now"? The Book Review Talking About the Century's Best Books A roundtable of Book Review editors discuss what surprised them, what delighted them, what will send them back to their own shelves. 39 MIN LISTEN In other news Happy 50th anniversary to "Jaws," which not only became the beach read of the summer of 1974: The shark at its center also embodied the unease of an era of political and social upheaval. Weeks after Alice Munro's death, her daughter revealed that her stepfather had sexually abused her, and that her mother stayed with him after she learned of it. Munro's fans said they were "blindsided" by the revelations. Bookstores once shunted romance novels to a shelf in the back. But with romance writers dominating the best-seller lists, a network of dedicated bookstores has sprung up around the country, slinging "all the hot stuff you can imagine." Reagan Arthur, the former publisher of Knopf, is joining Hachette Book Group to start and run a new imprint. We talk to the Ethiopian American author Dinaw Mengestu about his latest novel, "Someone Like Us," and the necessity of telling immigrant stories. RECENT BOOK REVIEWS Nonfiction A Red-Hot Affair With a Younger Man, and the Writing It Kindled "Getting Lost," a diary by the French writer Annie Ernaux, recounts an all-consuming Paris romance. By Dwight Garner Books of The Times Ian McEwan Returns With a Tale of Adolescent Lust and Adult Lassitude In "Lessons," the hero is seduced by his piano teacher when he's 14, then abandoned by his wife while he passively watches history unfold. Are these events connected? By Molly Young Fiction And Now, the Millennial Midlife-Crisis Novel In Halle Butler's new book, "Banal Nightmare," a 30-something woman returns to her hometown to get out of a rut and reassess her life after a bad breakup. By Amil Niazi Fiction 'Bright Objects' Brings Together a Cult, a Comet and a Widow Out for Justice Set among the fevered residents of a remote Australian town, Ruby Todd's debut novel considers how grief can draw people to extreme beliefs. By Ivy Pochoda nonfiction A Phenomenally Weird Tale of a Man and His Rodent Metropolis In "Rat City," Jon Adams and Edmund Ramsden explore the life, times and influence of the scientific Pied Piper, John Bumpass Calhoun. By Ian Volner Love this email? Forward to a friend. Want this email? Sign-up here. Have a suggestion for this email? Then send us a note at books@nytimes.com. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Books from The New York Times. 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