Year-End Lists

Entertainment Weekly: The 20 Best Books of 2016

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015]

1. The Nix
   Nathan Hill
2. When Breath Becomes Air
   Paul Kalanithi
3. Homegoing
   Yaa Gyasi
4. LaRose
   Louise Erdrich
5. All the Single Ladies

   Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation
   Rebecca Traister
6. The Vegetarian
   Han Kang. Translated by Deborah Smith
7. The Girls
   Emma Cline
8. The Sun Is Also a Star
   Nicola Yoon
9. Lab Girl
   Hope Jahren
10. Evicted

    Poverty and Profit in the American City
    Matthew Desmond
11. The Mothers
    Brit Bennett
12. The Sport of Kings
    C.E. Morgan
13. Shirley Jackson

    A Rather Haunted Life
    Ruth Franklin
14. The Gene

    An Intimate History
    Siddhartha Mukherjee
15. Barkskins
    Annie Proulx
16. Dark Money

    The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
    Jane Mayer
17. Modern Lovers
    Emma Straub
18. Sweetbitter
    Stephanie Danler
19. Today Will Be Different
    Maria Semple
20. Here Comes the Sun
    Nicole Dennis-Benn

Entertainment Weekly: 10 Best TV Shows of 2016

[see also 2017]

1. O.J.: Made in America
2. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
3. The Americans
4. The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
5. Atlanta
6. Better Things
7. Rectify
8. The Good Place
9. Search Party
10. Westworld
11. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
12. American Crime
13. Black-ish
14. Mr. Robot
15. Documentary Now!
16. Better Call Saul
17. Roots
18. Lady Dynamite
19. Stranger Things
20. Horace and Pete

Paste Magazine: 25 Best TV Shows of 2016

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

1. The Americans
2. Stranger Things
3. Atlanta
4. BoJack Horseman
5. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
6. The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
7. Veep
8. Better Call Saul
9. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
10. Halt and Catch Fire
11. Westworld
12. Fleabag
13. Game of Thrones
14. Black Mirror
15. Silicon Valley
16. Last Man on Earth
17. Transparent
18. Steven Universe
19. Rectify
20. American Crime
21. Documentary Now!
22. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
23. The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore
24. Jane the Virgin
25. Insecure

Jonathan Rosenbaum: Top 10 Films of 2016, as submitted to the IndieWire Poll

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Paterson
   Jim Jarmusch
2. Cemetery of Splendor
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
3. Everybody Wants Some!!
   Richard Linklater
4. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
5. Arrival
   Denis Villeneuve
6. The Love Witch
   Anna Biller
7. Indignation
   James Schamus
8. Hell or High Water
   David Mackenzie
9. Certain Women
   Kelly Reichardt
10. Miles Ahead
    Don Cheadle

Elizabeth Lund: 5 Best Poetry Collections of 2016, as published by The Washington Post

[see also 2018 • 2017 • 2015]

• Blackacre
  Monica Youn
• Blue Laws

  Selected and Uncollected Poems, 1995-2015
  Kevin Young
• Garden Time
  W.S. Merwin
• Look
  Solmaz Sharif
• ShallCross
  C.D. Wright

Katie Rife: The Best Films of 2016, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015]

1. Moonlight
   Barry Jenkins
2. The Handmaiden
   Park Chan-wook
3. Arrival
   Denis Villeneuve
4. Green Room
   Jeremy Saulnier
5. The Lobster
   Yorgos Lanthimos
6. Silence
   Martin Scorsese
7. American Honey
   Andrea Arnold
8. Elle
   Paul Verhoeven
9. Manchester by the Sea
   Kenneth Lonergan
10. Hell or High Water
    David Mackenzie
11. The Love Witch
    Anna Biller
12. The Fits
    Anna Rose Holmer
13. Toni Erdmann
    Maren Ade
14. The Witch
    Robert Eggers
15. Kubo and the Two Strings
    Travis Knight

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: 20 Best Films of 2016

Jesse Hassenger: The Best Films of 2016, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014]

1. La La Land
   Damien Chazelle
2. American Honey
   Andrea Arnold
3. Green Room
   Jeremy Saulnier
4. Arrival
   Denis Villeneuve
5. Manchester by the Sea
   Kenneth Lonergan
6. Hail, Caesar!
   Joel & Ethan Coen
7. Hell or High Water
   David Mackenzie
8. The Fits
   Anna Rose Holmer
9. Everybody Wants Some!!
   Richard Linklater
10. Sing Street
    John Carney
11. Star Trek Beyond
    Justin Lin
12. The Lobster
    Yorgos Lanthimos
13. The Witch
    Robert Eggers
14. The Handmaiden
    Park Chan-wook
15. Certain Women
    Kelly Reichardt

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: 20 Best Films of 2016

BuzzFeed: 11 Best Poetry Books of 2016

[see also 2019 • 2015]

1. Night Sky With Exit Wounds
   Ocean Vuong
2. Look
   Solmaz Sharif
3. Odes
   Sharon Olds
4. Cannibal
   Safiya Sinclair
5. The Performance of Becoming Human
   Daniel Borzutzky
6. Garden Time
   W.S. Merwin
7. Collected Poems

   1974-2004
   Rita Dove
8. Blackacre
   Monica Youn
9. Bestiary
   Donika Kelly
10. Collected Poems

    1950-2012
    Adrienne Rich
11. So Much Synth
    Brenda Shaughnessy

The New York Times Book Review: 10 Best Books of 2016

[see also The 10 Best Books of 2023 • 100 Notable Books of 2023 • The 10 Best Books of 2022 • 100 Notable Books of 2022 • The 10 Best Books of 2021 • 100 Notable Books of 2021 • The 10 Best Books of 2020 • 100 Notable Books of 2020 • 100 Notable Books of 2019 • The 10 Best Books of 2019 • 10 Best Books of 2018 • 100 Notable Books of 2018 • 100 Notable Books of 2017 • 10 Best Books of 2017 • 10 Best Books of 2015 • The 10 Best Books of 2014 • The 10 Best Books of 2013 • 100 Notable Books of 2012 • 10 Best Books of 2012 • 100 Notable Books of 2011 • Ten Best Books of 2011]

Fiction

• The Association of Small Bombs
  Karan Mahajan
• The North Water
  Ian McGuire
• The Underground Railroad
  Colson Whitehead
• The Vegetarian
  Han Kang. Translated by Deborah Smith
• War and Turpentine
  Stefan Hertmans. Translated by David McKay

Nonfiction

• At the Existentialist Café

  Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
  Sarah Bakewell
• Dark Money

  The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
  Jane Mayer
• Evicted

  Poverty and Profit in the American City
  Matthew Desmond
• In the Darkroom
  Susan Faludi
• The Return

  Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between
  Hisham Matar

Alison Herman: 10 Best TV Shows of 2016, as published by The Ringer

[see also 2023 • 2017]

• Atlanta
• The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
• BoJack Horseman
• Transparent
• High Maintenance
• Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
• Halt and Catch Fire
• The Girlfriend Experience
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend