Year-End Lists

National Book Award: Nonfiction 2021

[see also Fiction 2023 • Nonfiction 2023 • Fiction 2022 • Nonfiction 2022 • Fiction 2021 • Fiction 2020 • Nonfiction 2020 • Fiction 2019 • Nonfiction 2019 • Fiction 2018 • Nonfiction 2018 • Fiction 2017 • Nonfiction 2017 • Fiction 2016 • Nonfiction 2016 • Fiction 2013 • Nonfiction 2013]

Winner

• All That She Carried

  The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
  Tiya Miles

Finalists

• A Little Devil in America

  Notes in Praise of Black Performance
  Hanif Abdurraqib
• Running Out

  In Search of Water on the High Plains
  Lucas Bessire
• Tastes Like War

  A Memoir
  Grace M. Cho
• Covered with Night

  A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America
  Nicole Eustace

Longlist

• The Ground Breaking

  An American City and Its Search for Justice
  Scott Ellsworth
• The Sum of Us

  What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
  Heather McGhee
• The Free World

  Art and Thought in the Cold War
  Louis Menand
• How the Word Is Passed

  A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
  Clint Smith
• The Black Civil War Soldier

  A Visual History of Conflict and Citizenship
  Deborah Willis

National Book Award: Poetry 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2013]

Winner

• Floaters
  Martín Espada

Finalists

• What Noise Against the Cane
  Desiree C. Bailey
• Sho
  Douglas Kearney
• A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure
  Hoa Nguyen
• The Sunflower Cast a Spell To Save Us From The Void
  Jackie Wang

Longlist

• The Wild Fox of Yemen
  Threa Almontaser
• Ghost Letters
  Baba Badji
• Master Suffering
  CM Burroughs
• The Vault
  Andrés Cerpa
• Twice Alive
  Forrest Gander

Rough Trade: US Albums of the Year 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019]

• New Long Leg
  Dry Cleaning
• Collapsed in Sunbeams
  Arlo Parks
• Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
  Little Simz
• Isles
  Bicep
• Jubilee
  Japanese Breakfast
• Before I Die
  Park Hye Jin
• Afrique Victime
  Mdou Moctar
• Cavalcade
  black midi
• Fatigue
  L'Rain
• Ignorance
  The Weather Station
• Crawler
  Idles
• Sound Ancestors
  Madlib
• For the First Time
  Black Country, New Road
• Daddy's Home
  St. Vincent
• Bright Green Field
  Squid
• Endeavor
  The Muckers
• An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
  Cassandra Jenkins
• Blue Weekend
  Wolf Alice
• Colourgrade
  Tirzah
• Flock
  Jane Weaver

Mojo Magazine: The 75 Best Albums of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Promises
   Floating Points / Pharoah Sanders / London Symphony Orchestra
2. Daddy's Home
   St. Vincent
3. Chemtrails over the Country Club
   Lana Del Rey
4. Hey What
   Low
5. Carnage
   Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
6. Fat Pop (Volumn 1)
   Paul Weller
7. Coral Island
   The Coral
8. Black To The Future
   Sons of Kemet
9. Raise The Roof
   Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
10. Fever Dreams
    Villagers
11. Boy from Michigan
    John Grant
12. Ignorance
    The Weather Station
13. Spare Ribs
    Sleaford Mods
14. For the First Time
    Black Country, New Road
15. New Long Leg
    Dry Cleaning
16. The Ultra Vivid Lament
    Manic Street Preachers
17. I Don’t Live Here Anymore
    The War on Drugs
18. Crawler
    Idles
19. For Free
    David Crosby
20. Afrique Victime
    Mdou Moctar
21. Fire
    The Bug
22. Comfort To Me
    Amyl and The Sniffers
23. Endless Arcade
    Teenage Fanclub
24. Nine
    Sault
25. Delta Kream
    The Black Keys
26. As The Love Continues
    Mogwai
27. Lindsey Buckingham
    Lindsey Buckingham
28. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
    Little Simz
29. Flat White Moon
    Field Music
30. Stand For Myself
    Yola
31. L.W.
    King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
32. McCartney III
    Paul McCartney
33. Admonitions
    Endless Boogie
34. Man Made
    Greentea Peng
35. Dark Matters
    The Stranglers
36. Blue Weekend
    Wolf Alice
37. Cuttin' Grass, Vol. 2: The Cowboy Arms Sessions
    Sturgill Simpson
38. I've Been Trying To Tell You
    Saint Etienne
39. Flock
    Jane Weaver
40. Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan
    Chrissie Hynde
41. Space 1.8
    Nala Sinephro
42. Private Space
    Durand Jones & The Indications
43. The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows
    Damon Albarn
44. As Days Get Dark
    Arab Strap
45. Loving In Stereo
    Jungle
46. I Know I'm Funny haha
    Faye Webster
47. Call Me If You Get Lost
    Tyler, The Creator
48. Bright Green Field
    Squid
49. Bright Magic
    Public Service Broadcasting
50. Superwolves
    Matt Sweeney & Bonnie "Prince" Billy
51. Black Metal 2
    Dean Blunt
52. Psalms
    Nathan Salsburg
53. LIVE
    Angel Bat Dawid & Tha Brothahood
54. Smoke From The Chimney
    Tony Joe White
55. Talk Memory
    BADBADNOTGOOD
56. Solar Power
    Lorde
57. A Little More Time with Reigning Sound
    Reigning Sound
58. Course In Fable
    Ryley Walker
59. Hardware
    Billy F Gibbons
60. I Be Trying
    Cedric Burnside
61. Other You
    Steve Gunn
62. Sympathy for Life
    Parquet Courts
63. The Dharma Wheel
    Howlin Rain
64. There Is No End
    Tony Allen
65. G_d's Pee at State's End!
    Godspeed You! Black Emperor
66. Home Video
    Lucy Dacus
67. Power Up
    AC/DC
68. Still Woman Enough
    Loretta Lynn
69. Sweep It Into Space
    Dinosaur Jr.
70. Cavalcade
    black midi
71. Yellow
    Emma-Jean Thackray
72. Quietly Blowing It
    Hiss Golden Messenger
73. Busy Guy
    Stephen Fretwell
74. Seeking New Gods
    Gruff Rhys
75. Abantu / Before Humans
    BLK JKS

Vogue: The 19 Best TV Shows of 2021

[see also 2023]

• All Creatures Great and Small
• The Chair
• Hacks
• Halston
• Kevin Can F**k Himself
• Loki
• Maid
• Mare of Easttown
• Nine Perfect Strangers
• The North Water
• Only Murders in the Building
• Philly D.A.
• The Pursuit of Love
• Reservation Dogs
• Scenes from a Marriage
• The Serpent
• Too Close
• The Underground Railroad
• The White Lotus

Publishers Weekly: 10 Best Books of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

• Assembly
  Natasha Brown
• Second Place
  Rachel Cusk
• A Shock
  Keith Ridgway
• The War for Gloria
  Atticus Lish
• Wayward
  Dana Spiotta
• All That She Carried

  The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
  Tiya Miles
• All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days

  The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler
  Rebecca Donner
• Dirty Work

  Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America
  Eyal Press
• A Little Devil in America

  Notes in Praise of Black Performance
  Hanif Abdurraqib
• Somebody's Daughter
  Ashley C. Ford

Publishers Weekly: Best Poetry Books of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

• The Essential June Jordan
  June Jordan
• frank

  sonnets
  Diane Seuss
• Playlist for the Apocalypse
  Rita Dove
• The Sunflower Cast a Spell To Save Us From The Void
  Jackie Wang
• A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure
  Hoa Nguyen

Uncut Magazine: 75 Best Albums of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. Ignorance
   The Weather Station
2. Promises
   Floating Points / Pharoah Sanders / London Symphony Orchestra
3. Carnage
   Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
4. Hey What
   Low
5. Nine
   Sault
6. Vulture Prince
   Arooj Aftab
7. An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
   Cassandra Jenkins
8. I Don’t Live Here Anymore
   The War on Drugs
9. For the First Time
   Black Country, New Road
10. Henki
    Richard Dawson & Circle
11. Chemtrails over the Country Club
    Lana Del Rey
12. Black To The Future
    Sons of Kemet
13. Afrique Victime
    Mdou Moctar
14. I've Been Trying To Tell You
    Saint Etienne
15. As The Love Continues
    Mogwai
16. Spare Ribs
    Sleaford Mods
17. New Long Leg
    Dry Cleaning
18. Quietly Blowing It
    Hiss Golden Messenger
19. Boy from Michigan
    John Grant
20. Island Of Noise
    Modern Nature
21. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
    Little Simz
22. Coral Island
    The Coral
23. Daddy's Home
    St. Vincent
24. The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers
    Valerie June
25. Flock
    Jane Weaver
26. Fat Pop (Volumn 1)
    Paul Weller
27. Collapsed in Sunbeams
    Arlo Parks
28. Course In Fable
    Ryley Walker
29. Other You
    Steve Gunn
30. Endless Arcade
    Teenage Fanclub
31. Raise The Roof
    Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
32. Open Door Policy
    The Hold Steady
33. The Cinder Grove
    Chuck Johnson
34. Things Take Time, Take Time
    Courtney Barnett
35. The Stars Are God's Bullet Holes
    John Murry
36. As Days Get Dark
    Arab Strap
37. I Have Nothing to Say to the Mayor of L.A.
    Dean Wareham
38. Sound Ancestors
    Madlib
39. Bright Green Field
    Squid
40. The Ballad of Dood & Juanita
    Sturgill Simpson
41. The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows
    Damon Albarn
42. I Know I'm Funny haha
    Faye Webster
43. My Morning Jacket
    My Morning Jacket
44. They're Calling Me Home
    Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi
45. Utopian Ashes
    Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth
46. Topaz
    Israel Nash
47. Arrival Of The New Elders
    Elephant9
48. For Free
    David Crosby
49. Pick A Day To Die
    Sunburned Hand of the Man
50. Lindsey Buckingham
    Lindsey Buckingham
51. Urban Driftwood
    Yasmin Williams
52. NOW
    Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble
53. Delta Kream
    The Black Keys
54. Axacan
    Daniel Bachman
55. Former Things
    LoneLady
56. A Sky Record
    Damon & Naomi
57. The Hill, The Light, The Ghost
    Haiku Salut
58. How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?
    Big Red Machine
59. In Heaven
    Strand of Oaks
60. Shade
    Grouper
61. The Besnard Lakes Are the Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings
    The Besnard Lakes
62. A Beginner's Mind
    Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine
63. Time No Changes
    Chris Schlarb & Chad Taylor
64. Notes With Attachments
    Blake Mills and Pino Palladino
65. Black Encyclopedia of the Air
    Moor Mother
66. Antiphonals
    Sarah Davachi
67. Home Video
    Lucy Dacus
68. Song of Co-Aklan
    Cathal Coughlan
69. We're All Alone in This Together
    Dave
70. Cavalcade
    black midi
71. Buffalo Nichols
    Buffalo Nichols
72. She Walks in Beauty
    Marianne Faithfull with Warren Ellis
73. Path of Wellness
    Sleater-Kinney
74. No Medium
    Rosali
75. Earth Trip
    Rose City Band

Oprah Daily: 20 Favorite Books of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022]

1. Cloud Cuckoo Land
   Anthony Doerr
2. The Man Who Lived Underground
   Richard Wright
3. The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
   Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
4. On Freedom

   Four Songs of Care and Constraint
   Maggie Nelson
5. Great Circle
   Maggie Shipstead
6. Putting It Together

   How Stephen Sondheim and I Created "Sunday in the Park with George"
   James Lapine
7. The Sweetness of Water
   Nathan Harris
8. The Lincoln Highway
   Amor Towles
9. New York, My Village
   Uwem Akpan
10. Infinite Country
    Patricia Engel
11. Crossroads
    Jonathan Franzen
12. Bewilderment
    Richard Powers
13. Harlem Shuffle
    Colson Whitehead
14. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
    Mariana Enriquez
15. Mrs. March
    Virginia Feito
16. Intimacies
    Katie Kitamura
17. These Precious Days
    Ann Patchett
18. The Sentence
    Louise Erdrich
19. Major Labels

    A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres
    Kelefa Sanneh
20. On Juneteenth
    Annette Gordon-Reed

Powell's Books: The 14 Best Nonfiction Books of 2021

[see also Best Nonfiction of 2023 • Best Fiction of 2023 • Best Nonfiction of 2022 • Best Fiction of 2022 • The 18 Best Novels of 2021 • Best Fiction of 2020 • Best Nonfiction of 2020 • Best Fiction of 2019 • Best Nonfiction of 2019 • Best Fiction of 2018 • Best Nonfiction of 2018 • Best Nonfiction of 2017 • Best Fiction of 2017 • Best Fiction of 2016 • Best Nonfiction of 2016 • Best Nonfiction Books of 2015 • Best Fiction Books of 2015 • Best Fiction of 2014 • Best Nonfiction of 2014]

• How to Resist Amazon and Why
  Danny Caine
• Crying in H Mart
  Michelle Zauner
• Poet Warrior
  Joy Harjo
• Work Won't Love You Back

  How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone
  Sarah Jaffe
• On Time and Water
  Andri Snær Magnason
• The Sum of Us

  What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together
  Heather McGhee
• Hip-Hop (And Other Things)
  Shea Serrano
• Empire of Pain

  The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
  Patrick Radden Keefe
• Icebound

  Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World
  Andrea Pitzer
• Islands of Abandonment

  Nature Rebounding in the Post-Human Landscape
  Cal Flyn
• The Secret to Superhuman Strength
  Alison Bechdel
• A Little Devil in America

  Notes in Praise of Black Performance
  Hanif Abdurraqib
• No Planet B

  The Teen Vogue Guide to the Climate Crisis
  Lucy Diavolo (editor)
• The 1619 Project

  A New Origin Story
  Nikole Hannah-Jones (creator)