The Best of "Best Book" Lists

The Best of "Best Book" Lists Collection gathers together a selection of popular bestsellers and fan favorites that frequently appear on "Best of" lists. This diverse Collection includes picks to suit a range of age groups and genre preferences, from otherworldly fantasy to gripping crime thrillers.

Headshot

by Rita Bullwinkel

Publication year 2024

Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Femininity, Gender Identity, Coming of Age, Future, Self Discovery, Social Class, Education, Fame, Wins & Losses

Tags Modern Classic Fiction

... Read Headshot Summary

Heavy

by Kiese Laymon

Publication year 2018

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Truth & Lies

Tags Race & Racism, Social Justice, Biography

Heavy is Kiese Laymon’s 2018 memoir. It won the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction and the LA Times Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose. Earning praise from Alice Walker, The Boston Globe, NPR, Time, and The Paris Review, Heavy acknowledges that “we’ve arrived at the point we have as a country in part because of lies we’ve told ourselves about what America means” (Abdurraquib, Hanif. “Heavy.” 4 Columns, 2018).Other works by this author... Read Heavy Summary

Held

by Anne Michaels

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Memory, Death, Future, The Past, Family, War, Art, Music, Religion & Spirituality, Science & Technology

Tags Military & War, World History, Literary Fiction, Historical Nonfiction

... Read Held Summary

Hell Bent

by Leigh Bardugo

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Power & Greed, Good & Evil, Appearance & Reality

Tags Fantasy, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Modern Classic Fiction, Religion & Spirituality

... Read Hell Bent Summary

Heroes

by Alan Gratz

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Friendship, War

Tags Children`s Literature, World War II, Military & War, World History, Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure

... Read Heroes Summary

Hidden Potential

by Adam Grant

Publication year 2023

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Perseverance, Self Discovery, Education, Equality

Tags Psychology, Self-Improvement, Business & Economics, Leadership, Education, Education, Science & Nature, Psychology

... Read Hidden Potential Summary

Hijab Butch Blues

by Lamya H

Publication year 2023

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Hope, Love, Gender Identity, Race, Family, Friendship, Self Discovery, Community, Immigration, Equality, Justice

Tags Coming of Age, LGBTQ+, Gender & Feminism

... Read Hijab Butch Blues Summary

H Is For Hawk

by Helen Macdonald

Publication year 2014

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Environment, Sexual Identity, Death, Grief

Tags Animals, Science & Nature, Grief & Death, Biography

H Is for Hawk (2014) is British author Helen MacDonald’s award-winning memoir about her attempts to train a goshawk named Mabel in the wake of her father’s death. It is a memoir of grief, self-discovery, and the healing power of nature. MacDonald intersperses her descriptions of training Mabel with references to the memoirs of T.H. White, who writes about his own hapless attempts at falconry in the 1930s. The memoir was an instant bestseller and... Read H Is For Hawk Summary

Home Before Dark

by Riley Sager

Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Self Discovery, Guilt, Memory, Conflict, Perseverance, Fear, Forgiveness, Regret, Revenge, Truth & Lies, Trust & Doubt, Good & Evil, Safety & Danger, Appearance & Reality

Tags Horror & Suspense, Fantasy, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Science Fiction, Religion & Spirituality

... Read Home Before Dark Summary

Homegoing

by Yaa Gyasi

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family

Tags Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Race & Racism, Modern Classic Fiction, World History

Homegoing is a historical fiction novel by Yaa Gyasi, a Ghanaian-American novelist born in 1989. Homegoing was published in 2016 and was awarded the 2017 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, the 2016 John Leonard Prize for outstanding debut novel, and the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 award in 2016. Written in the tradition of Alex Haley’s Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976), Gyasi tells the story of one 18th-century Akan family, tracking it across... Read Homegoing Summary