Most Influential Books of the 21st Century So Far: 12 Picks

The most influential books of the 21st century so far include Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend, Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, alongside global bestsellers such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Sapiens and Atomic Habits. Each won major awards, sold millions or changed how people read.

This list picks 12 books published since 2000. The choices draw on major literary prizes (the Booker, the Pulitzer, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award), The New York Times 2024 survey of the best books of the century and confirmed sales figures. Influence here means a book that shaped readers, writers, screen adaptations or public conversation.

1. My Brilliant Friend (2011)

Elena Ferrante’s novel, first published in Italian in 2011 and in Ann Goldstein’s English translation in 2012, follows a lifelong friendship rooted in Naples. It opens the four-part Neapolitan Novels.

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In 2024, The New York Times Book Review asked 503 authors, critics, editors and other literary figures to name their favourite books since 2000, and My Brilliant Friend came first. The first volume alone had sold 10 million copies by July 2024. HBO and RAI adapted the series for television.

Why it made the list: It was voted the best book of the century and brought translated fiction to a mass audience.

2. Wolf Hall (2009)

Hilary Mantel’s historical novel tells the rise of Thomas Cromwell at the court of Henry VIII. It won the 2009 Booker Prize, and its sequel Bring Up the Bodies also won the Booker, making Mantel a two-time winner. The trilogy closed with The Mirror and the Light in 2020.

The trilogy has sold an estimated 5 million copies worldwide. A BBC Two series aired in 2015, and a second series followed in 2024.

Why it made the list: It changed what serious historical fiction could look like and placed third in the New York Times survey.

3. The Road (2006)

Cormac McCarthy’s short novel follows a father and son walking south across a destroyed America after an unnamed catastrophe. It won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was picked for Oprah’s Book Club the same year.

A film adaptation came out in 2009. It remains one of the most discussed American novels of the century.

Why it made the list: It took a literary novel about the end of the world to a mainstream readership.

4. The Underground Railroad (2016)

Colson Whitehead imagines the escape network for enslaved people as a literal railway under the ground. The novel follows Cora, who flees a Georgia plantation while a slave catcher chases her.

It won the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction, the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. Barry Jenkins wrote and directed a limited series for Prime Video, released in May 2021. Streaming availability varies by country.

Why it made the list: It won the biggest American fiction prizes and renewed debate about how fiction treats history.

5. Never Let Me Go (2005)

Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel is narrated by Kathy, who looks back on her school days at Hailsham, a boarding school in an alternate England whose students turn out to be clones raised as organ donors.

It was shortlisted for the 2005 Booker Prize and named by Time as the best novel of that year. A film followed in 2010, and Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017.

Why it made the list: It showed that science fiction ideas could carry a quiet, literary novel about memory and loss.

6. The Kite Runner (2003)

Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan-American doctor, wrote this story of Amir, a boy in Kabul who betrays his friend Hassan and later returns to Taliban-run Afghanistan to make amends.

The book stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for about two years after reaching it in 2005, and sold more than 7 million copies in the US by 2013. A film adaptation was released in 2007.

Why it made the list: It gave millions of readers their first close look at Afghan life and history.

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)

The final book in J.K. Rowling’s series came out on 21 July 2007 in the UK and the US at the same time. It sold 8.3 million copies in the US and 2.65 million in the UK in its first 24 hours.

It holds a Guinness World Record as the fastest-selling fiction book in 24 hours for its US sales. The two-part film adaptation was released in 2010 and 2011.

Why it made the list: Its launch was a global event that showed the reach a single book could have.

8. The Hunger Games (2008)

Suzanne Collins’s dystopian young adult novel became a publishing phenomenon. It entered The New York Times bestseller list in November 2008 and stayed for more than 100 consecutive weeks.

By March 2012, the first book had sold over 17.5 million copies. A film adaptation was released on 23 March 2012.

Why it made the list: It drove a wave of dystopian young adult novels and films.

9. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2011)

Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari first published Sapiens in Hebrew in 2011, with the English edition following in 2014. It traces human history from early humans to the present in plain language.

The book has been translated into 65 languages. Its success helped make big-picture history a bestselling category.

Why it made the list: Few nonfiction books of the century have been read as widely across countries.

10. Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011)

Daniel Kahneman, who shared the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics for his work on human judgement and decision-making, explains two modes of thought. System 1 is fast and instinctive, while System 2 is slower and more logical.

The book sold more than one million copies by 2012 and won the 2012 National Academies Communication Award. Its ideas now appear in business, policy and personal finance writing.

Why it made the list: It brought behavioural economics to general readers.

11. Americanah (2013)

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel follows Ifemelu, who leaves Nigeria to study in the United States, and Obinze, who goes to London. Both later return home to Nigeria.

It won the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and was named one of The New York Times 10 best books of 2013.

Why it made the list: It shaped discussion of race, migration and identity across continents.

12. Atomic Habits (2018)

James Clear’s self-help book argues that small changes, repeated daily, add up to large results, and that lasting habits come from changing how you see yourself.

It had sold nearly 20 million copies by February 2024, which makes it one of the best-selling nonfiction books of recent years.

Why it made the list: It set the template for a generation of practical self-improvement books.

Quick facts: the 12 books at a glance

Book	Author	Year	Key recognition
My Brilliant Friend	Elena Ferrante	2011	No. 1 in NYT 2024 survey
Wolf Hall	Hilary Mantel	2009	Booker Prize 2009
The Road	Cormac McCarthy	2006	Pulitzer Prize 2007
The Underground Railroad	Colson Whitehead	2016	National Book Award, Pulitzer
Never Let Me Go	Kazuo Ishiguro	2005	Booker shortlist 2005
The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini	2003	7 million+ US copies
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows	J.K. Rowling	2007	Guinness record for 24-hour sales
The Hunger Games	Suzanne Collins	2008	100+ weeks on NYT list
Sapiens	Yuval Noah Harari	2011	65 translations
Thinking, Fast and Slow	Daniel Kahneman	2011	National Academies award
Americanah	Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie	2013	NBCC Award 2013
Atomic Habits	James Clear	2018	Nearly 20 million copies

For more reading and culture stories, visit our lifestyle section. Screen adaptations of several of these books are covered in entertainment, and study and reading guides appear under education.

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Sources: Book Riot on The New York Times 100 best books of the 21st century, The Booker Prizes: Wolf Hall, The Pulitzer Prizes: Colson Whitehead, Nobel Prize: Literature 2017.