List of The New York Times number-one books of 2021 explained

The American daily newspaper The New York Times publishes multiple weekly lists ranking the best-selling books in the United States. The lists are split in three genres—fiction, nonfiction and children's books. Both the fiction and nonfiction lists are further split into multiple lists.

Fiction

The following list ranks the number-one best-selling fiction books, in the combined print and e-books category.^[1]

The most frequent weekly best seller of the year was The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah with 5 weeks at the top of the list, followed closely by The Duke and I by Julia Quinn with 4 weeks.

Date	Book	Author	Publisher
January 3	A Time for Mercy	John Grisham	Doubleday	^[2]
January 10				^[3]
January 17	The Duke and I	Julia Quinn	Avon	^[4]
January 24				^[5]
January 31				^[6]
February 7				^[7]
February 14	The Russian	James Patterson and James O. Born	Little, Brown and Company	^[8]
February 21	The Four Winds	Kristin Hannah	St. Martin's Press	^[9]
February 28				^[10]
March 7	A Court of Silver Flames	Sarah J. Maas	rowspan+"1"	Bloomsbury Publishing	^[11]
March 14	The Four Winds	Kristin Hannah	St. Martin's Press	^[12]
March 21	Life After Death	Sister Souljah	Emily Bestler Books	^[13]
March 28	The Four Winds	Kristin Hannah	St. Martin's Press	^[14]
April 4	Win	Harlan Coben	Grand Central Publishing	^[15]
April 11	The Four Winds	Kristin Hannah	St. Martin's Press	^[16]
April 18	The Hill We Climb	Amanda Gorman	Viking Books	^[17]
April 25				^[18]
May 2	Ocean Prey	John Sandford	G. P. Putnam's Sons	^[19]
May 9	A Gambling Man	David Baldacci	Grand Central Publishing	^[20]
May 16	Sooley	John Grisham	Doubleday	^[21]
May 23	21st Birthday	James Patterson and Maxine Paetro	Little, Brown and Company	^[22]
May 30	While Justice Sleeps	Stacey Abrams	Doubleday	^[23]
June 6	The Last Thing He Told Me	Laura Dave	Simon & Schuster	^[24]
June 13	Legacy	Nora Roberts	St. Martin's Press	^[25]
June 20	Freed	E. L. James	Bloom Books	^[26]
June 27	The President's Daughter	Bill Clinton and James Patterson	Little, Brown and Company	^[27]
July 4				^[28]
July 11	The Last Thing He Told Me	Laura Dave	Simon & Schuster	^[29]
July 18	Once Upon a Time in Hollywood	Quentin Tarantino	Harper Perennial	^[30]
July 25	The Paper Palace	Miranda Cowley Heller	Riverhead Books	^[31]
August 1	The Cellist	Daniel Silva	HarperCollins	^[32]
August 8	Black Ice	Brad Thor	Emily Bestler Books	^[33]
August 15	The Last Thing He Told Me	Laura Dave	Simon & Schuster	^[34]
August 22	Billy Summers	Stephen King	Scribner	^[35]
August 29				^[36]
September 5	Bloodless	Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child	Grand Central Publishing	^[37]
September 12	The Madness of Crowds	Louise Penny	Minotaur Books	^[38]
September 19	A Slow Fire Burning	Paula Hawkins	Riverhead Books	^[39]
September 26	Forgotten in Death	J. D. Robb	St. Martin's Press	^[40]
October 3	Apples Never Fall	Liane Moriarty	Henry Holt and Company	^[41]
October 10				^[42]
October 17	The Wish	Nicholas Sparks	Grand Central Publishing	^[43]
October 24	The Lincoln Highway	Amor Towles	Viking Books	^[44]
October 31	State of Terror	Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny	Simon & Schuster and St. Martin's Press	^[45]
November 7	The Judge's List	John Grisham	Doubleday	^[46]
November 14	Better Off Dead	Lee Child and Andrew Child	Delacorte Press	^[47]
November 21	Game On	Janet Evanovich	Atria Books	^[48]
November 28	The Dark Hours	Michael Connelly	Little, Brown and Company	^[49]
December 5	Mercy	David Baldacci	Grand Central Publishing	^[50]
December 12	Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone	Diana Gabaldon	Delacorte Press	^[51]
December 19	Wish You Were Here	Jodi Picoult	Ballantine Books	^[52]
December 26	Call Us What We Carry	Amanda Gorman	Viking Books	^[53]

Nonfiction

The following list ranks the number-one best-selling nonfiction books, in the combined print and e-books category.

scope=col	Issue date	scope=col	Title	scope=col	Author(s)	scope=col	Publisher	scope=col class=unsortable
scope=row		A Promised Land	Barack Obama	Crown	^[54]
scope=row					^[55]
scope=row					^[56]
scope=row					^[57]
scope=row					^[58]
scope=row					^[59]
scope=row		Just as I Am	Cicely Tyson	HarperCollins	^[60]
scope=row		Think Again	Adam Grant	Viking Press	^[61]
scope=row		Walk in My Combat Boots	James Patterson and Matt Eversmann with Chris Mooney	Little, Brown and Company	^[62]
scope=row		How to Avoid a Climate Disaster	Bill Gates	Knopf	^[63]
scope=row					^[64]
scope=row					^[65]
scope=row		The Code Breaker	Walter Isaacson	Simon & Schuster	^[66]
scope=row		This Is the Fire	Don Lemon	Little, Brown and Company	^[67]
scope=row		The Code Breaker	Walter Isaacson	Simon & Schuster	^[68]
scope=row					^[69]
scope=row		Broken Horses	Brandi Carlile	Crown	^[70]
scope=row		On the House	John Boehner	St. Martin's Press	^[71]
scope=row		Out of Many, One	George W. Bush	Crown	^[72]
scope=row		What Happened to You?	Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey	Flatiron Books	^[73]
scope=row		Killing the Mob	Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard	St. Martin's Press	^[74]
scope=row					^[75]
scope=row		The Anthropocene Reviewed	John Green	Dutton	^[76]
scope=row		Killing the Mob	Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard	St. Martin's Press	^[77]
scope=row		How the Word Is Passed	Clint Smith	Little, Brown and Company	^[78]
scope=row		Killing the Mob	Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard	St. Martin's Press	^[79]
scope=row					^[80]
scope=row		The Body Keeps the Score	Bessel van der Kolk	Penguin Books	^[81]
scope=row		Nightmare Scenario	Yasmina Abutaleb and Damian Paletta	Harper	^[82]
scope=row		How I Saved the World	Jesse Watters	Broadside Books	^[83]
scope=row		American Marxism	Mark Levin	Threshold Editions	^[84]
scope=row		I Alone Can Fix It	Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker	Penguin Press	^[85]
scope=row		American Marxism	Mark Levin	Threshold Editions	^[86]
scope=row					^[87]
scope=row					^[88]
scope=row					^[89]
scope=row					^[90]
scope=row		The Afghanistan Papers	Craig Whitlock	Simon & Schuster	^[91]
scope=row		American Marxism	Mark Levin	Threshold Editions	^[92]
scope=row					^[93]
scope=row		Peril	Bob Woodward and Robert Costa	Simon & Schuster	^[94]
scope=row					^[95]
scope=row		The Storyteller	Dave Grohl	Dey Street Books	^[96]
scope=row		Midnight in Washington	Adam Schiff	Random House	^[97]
scope=row		Not All Diamonds and Rosé	Dave Quinn	Andy Cohen	^[98]
scope=row		Going There	Katie Couric	Little, Brown and Company	^[99]
scope=row			Paul McCartney	Liveright	^[100]
scope=row		Will	Will Smith with Mark Manson	Penguin Press	^[101]
scope=row		The 1619 Project	Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine	One World	^[102]
scope=row					^[103]
scope=row					^[104]
scope=row					^[105]

See also

• Publishers Weekly list of bestselling novels in the United States in the 2020s

Notes and References

1. News: Combined Print & E-Book Fiction Books – Best Sellers. The New York Times. 2020-12-30. en.
2. Web site: January 3, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
3. Web site: January 10, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
4. Web site: January 17, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
5. Web site: January 24, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
6. Web site: January 31, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
7. Web site: February 7, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
8. Web site: February 14, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
9. Web site: February 21, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
10. Web site: February 28, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
11. Web site: March 7, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
12. Web site: March 14, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
13. Web site: March 21, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
14. Web site: March 28, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
15. Web site: April 4, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
16. Web site: April 11, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
17. Web site: April 18, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
18. Web site: April 25, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
19. Web site: May 2, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
20. Web site: May 9, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
21. Web site: May 16, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
22. Web site: May 23, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
23. Web site: May 30, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
24. Web site: June 6, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
25. Web site: June 13, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
26. Web site: June 20, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
27. Web site: June 27, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
28. Web site: July 4, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
29. Web site: July 11, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
30. Web site: July 18, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
31. Web site: July 25, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
32. Web site: August 1, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
33. Web site: August 8, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
34. Web site: August 15, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
35. Web site: August 22, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
36. Web site: August 29, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
37. Web site: September 5, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
38. Web site: September 12, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
39. Web site: September 19, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
40. Web site: September 26, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
41. Web site: October 3, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
42. Web site: October 10, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
43. Web site: October 17, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
44. Web site: October 24, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
45. Web site: October 31, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
46. Web site: November 7, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
47. Web site: November 14, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
48. Web site: November 21, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
49. Web site: November 28, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
50. Web site: December 5, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
51. Web site: December 12, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
52. Web site: December 19, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
53. Web site: December 26, 2021. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction. January 26, 2024. The New York Times.
54. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. January 3, 2021. January 27, 2021.
55. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. January 10, 2021. January 27, 2021.
56. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. January 17, 2021. January 27, 2021.
57. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. January 24, 2021. January 27, 2021.
58. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. January 31, 2021. January 27, 2021.
59. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. February 7, 2021. January 27, 2021.
60. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. February 14, 2021. January 27, 2021.
61. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. February 21, 2021. January 27, 2021.
62. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. February 28, 2021. January 27, 2021.
63. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. March 7, 2021. January 27, 2021.
64. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. March 14, 2021. January 27, 2021.
65. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. March 21, 2021. January 27, 2021.
66. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. March 28, 2021. January 27, 2021.
67. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. April 4, 2021. January 27, 2021.
68. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. April 11, 2021. January 27, 2021.
69. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. April 18, 2021. January 27, 2021.
70. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. April 25, 2021. January 27, 2021.
71. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. May 2, 2021. January 27, 2021.
72. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. May 9, 2021. January 27, 2021.
73. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. May 16, 2021. January 27, 2021.
74. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. May 23, 2021. January 27, 2021.
75. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. May 30, 2021. January 27, 2021.
76. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. June 6, 2021. January 27, 2021.
77. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. June 13, 2021. January 27, 2021.
78. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. June 20, 2021. January 27, 2021.
79. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. June 27, 2021. January 27, 2021.
80. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. July 4, 2021. January 27, 2021.
81. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. July 11, 2021. January 27, 2021.
82. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. July 18, 2021. January 27, 2021.
83. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. July 25, 2021. January 27, 2021.
84. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. August 1, 2021. January 27, 2021.
85. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. August 8, 2021. January 27, 2021.
86. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. August 15, 2021. January 27, 2021.
87. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. August 22, 2021. January 27, 2021.
88. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. August 29, 2021. January 27, 2021.
89. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. September 5, 2021. January 27, 2021.
90. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. September 12, 2021. January 27, 2021.
91. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. September 19, 2021. January 27, 2021.
92. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. September 26, 2021. January 27, 2021.
93. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. October 3, 2021. January 27, 2021.
94. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. October 10, 2021. January 27, 2021.
95. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. October 17, 2021. January 27, 2021.
96. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. October 24, 2021. January 27, 2021.
97. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. October 31, 2021. January 27, 2021.
98. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. November 7, 2021. January 27, 2021.
99. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. November 14, 2021. January 27, 2021.
100. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. November 21, 2021. January 27, 2021.
101. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. November 28, 2021. January 27, 2021.
102. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. December 5, 2021. January 27, 2021.
103. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. December 12, 2021. January 27, 2021.
104. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. December 19, 2021. January 27, 2021.
105. Web site: Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The New York Times. December 26, 2021. January 27, 2021.