,

Best 21st Century Non-Fiction

Non-fiction that you enjoyed reading. Books that changed your thinking, changed your mind, enlightened you, helped you move ahead, helped you heal, in short, made a difference. Just plain, good non-fiction.

Note: the 21st Century began on January 1st, 2001. Books originally published in 2000 or before are not eligible.

See also
Most Rated Book By Year
Best Books of the 21st Century
Best Fantasy Books of the 21st Century
Best Historical Fiction of the 21st Century
Best Horror Books of the 21st Century
Best Science Fiction Books of the 21st Century
1

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4.08 avg rating — 442,304 ratings
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4.12 avg rating — 746,412 ratings
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4.47 avg rating — 1,578,011 ratings
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 694,698 ratings
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10

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4.81 avg rating — 36 ratings
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11

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4.33 avg rating — 104,245 ratings
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13

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4.18 avg rating — 511,072 ratings
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14

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4.28 avg rating — 188,390 ratings
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15

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4.16 avg rating — 26,117 ratings
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16

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4.08 avg rating — 363,634 ratings
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17

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4.40 avg rating — 337,303 ratings
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18

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4.09 avg rating — 232,782 ratings
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19

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4.18 avg rating — 205,433 ratings
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20

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3.87 avg rating — 33,141 ratings
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21

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4.16 avg rating — 187,910 ratings
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22

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4.49 avg rating — 194,962 ratings
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23

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4.20 avg rating — 255,910 ratings
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24

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4.21 avg rating — 291,774 ratings
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25

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4.36 avg rating — 50,323 ratings
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26

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3.93 avg rating — 71,881 ratings
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27

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4.19 avg rating — 799,220 ratings
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28

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4.40 avg rating — 689,609 ratings
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29

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4.30 avg rating — 161,964 ratings
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30

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3.88 avg rating — 90,232 ratings
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31

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3.88 avg rating — 204,447 ratings
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32

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4.05 avg rating — 78,660 ratings
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33

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3.96 avg rating — 1,015,135 ratings
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34

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4.22 avg rating — 183,771 ratings
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35

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4.15 avg rating — 584,217 ratings
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36

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4.70 avg rating — 131 ratings
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37

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4.31 avg rating — 217,023 ratings
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38

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4.21 avg rating — 76,001 ratings
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39

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4.19 avg rating — 68,999 ratings
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40

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4.47 avg rating — 104,282 ratings
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41

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4.39 avg rating — 325,062 ratings
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42

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3.95 avg rating — 58,119 ratings
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43

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4.47 avg rating — 507 ratings
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44

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4.14 avg rating — 368,006 ratings
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45

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4.38 avg rating — 192,230 ratings
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46

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4.31 avg rating — 25,919 ratings
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47

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4.05 avg rating — 88,327 ratings
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48

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4.22 avg rating — 75,361 ratings
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48

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3.88 avg rating — 43,953 ratings
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50

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4.19 avg rating — 90,469 ratings
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51

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4.16 avg rating — 188,279 ratings
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52

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4.17 avg rating — 208,693 ratings
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53

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4.16 avg rating — 1,262,079 ratings
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54

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3.96 avg rating — 55,595 ratings
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55

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4.95 avg rating — 21 ratings
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56

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4.22 avg rating — 21,847 ratings
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57

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4.05 avg rating — 56,389 ratings
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58

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3.96 avg rating — 113,283 ratings
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59

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4.13 avg rating — 38,855 ratings
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60

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4.23 avg rating — 56,606 ratings
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61

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4.45 avg rating — 1,072,837 ratings
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62

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4.15 avg rating — 40,478 ratings
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63

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3.69 avg rating — 101,964 ratings
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64

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3.98 avg rating — 110,691 ratings
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65

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4.35 avg rating — 124,969 ratings
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66

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3.86 avg rating — 416,923 ratings
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67

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4.39 avg rating — 273 ratings
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68

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4.01 avg rating — 2,016 ratings
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69

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4.09 avg rating — 222,773 ratings
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70

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3.73 avg rating — 118,125 ratings
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71

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4.16 avg rating — 10,092 ratings
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72

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4.42 avg rating — 45,400 ratings
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73

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3.90 avg rating — 166,534 ratings
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74

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4.07 avg rating — 20,630 ratings
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75

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4.21 avg rating — 1,697 ratings
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76

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4.01 avg rating — 31,552 ratings
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77

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3.76 avg rating — 23,589 ratings
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78

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4.20 avg rating — 108,895 ratings
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79

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4.06 avg rating — 1,907 ratings
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80

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3.86 avg rating — 500,193 ratings
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81

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3.93 avg rating — 251,522 ratings
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82

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3.60 avg rating — 39,389 ratings
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83

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3.82 avg rating — 8,802 ratings
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84

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4.02 avg rating — 15,616 ratings
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85

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4.41 avg rating — 22,576 ratings
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86

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3.86 avg rating — 70,260 ratings
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87

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4.31 avg rating — 12,889 ratings
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88

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4.31 avg rating — 1,079 ratings
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89

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4.06 avg rating — 74,938 ratings
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90

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4.17 avg rating — 17,081 ratings
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91

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4.10 avg rating — 39,867 ratings
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92

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4.20 avg rating — 33,148 ratings
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93

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4.26 avg rating — 133,668 ratings
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94

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3.87 avg rating — 46,105 ratings
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95

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3.89 avg rating — 98,036 ratings
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96

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4.07 avg rating — 76,480 ratings
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97

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4.20 avg rating — 96,325 ratings
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98

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4.15 avg rating — 8,342 ratings
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99

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4.63 avg rating — 236,720 ratings
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100

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3.89 avg rating — 53,279 ratings
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36 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Steve 1555 books
33 friends
Ben 1082 books
71 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3372 books
861 friends
Jennifer 3590 books
997 friends
Bettie 15798 books
20 friends
Manu 2 books
7 friends
Virginia 847 books
15 friends
Sam 191 books
26 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-16 of 16 (16 new)

dateDown arrow    newest »

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Guns, Germs, and Steel, despite being terrific, was first published in 1997.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Removed for being first published before 2000:

Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela (1990)
Seabiscuit, by Laura Hillenbrand (1999)
A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn (1980)
Natasha's Story, by Michael Nicholson (1997)
Song for the Blue Ocean, by Carl Safina (1998)
Gay New York, by George Chauncey (1994)
In Pursuit of Happiness, by Mark Kingwell (1998)
We Die Alone, by David Howarth (1955)

Removed for being fiction:

11/22/63, by Stephen King
Honolulu, by Alan Brennert
Killing Rommel, by Steven Pressfield


message 3: by Steve (new)

Steve Thanks for editing the list.


message 5: by Paul (new)

Paul Bowes I have removed six books from the top 100 that were ineligible by virtue of publication dates before January 1st, 2001.


message 6: by Elyse (new)

Elyse I removed The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat and Homicide. Both were published prior to 1/1/2001. Read them both and they are great books!


message 7: by Prince (new)

Prince Epic List!


message 9: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Mar 31, 2019 05:49AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Removed for not being first published in the 21st century:
A History of Western Philosophy (1945)
Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy (1918)
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (1991)
Letters, 1925-1975 (1998)
From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present (2000)
Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne (2000)
Legacy: A Biography of Moses and Walter Annenberg (1999)
George Eliot: The Last Victorian (1999)
Shakespeare's English Kings: History, Chronicle, and Drama (1977)
The Anthology and the Rise of the Novel: From Richardson to George Eliot (1996)
The True History of the Elephant Man (1980)
The Great Escape (1950)
Lakota Woman (1990)
Means of Ascent (1990)
A Remarkable Woman: A Biography of Katharine Hepburn (1985)
The Life of Elizabeth I (1996)
The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism (1988)
King Leopold's Ghost (1998)
Paris to the Moon (2000)
James Joyce (1959)
The Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon (2000)
Anne Frank Remembered (1987)
Warranted Christian Belief (1999)
Mind in a Physical World: An Essay on the Mind-Body Problem and Mental Causation (1998)
The Lost Daughters of China (2000)
The Animal Rights Handbook: Everyday Ways to Save Animal Lives (1990)
The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (1999)
Discipline Without Punishment: The Proven Strategy That Turns Problem Employees into Superior Performers (1995)
Herk: Hero of the Skies: The Story of the Lockheed C-130 and Its Adventures Around the World ... (1983)
Knowledge and Its Limits (2000)
Multiple Sclerosis: A Guide for Patients and Their Families (1983)
Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe (2000)
The Problems of Philosophy (1912)
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (1991)
Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy (1985)
The Eat Right 4 Your Type (1991)
Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the Seventeenth Century to the Present (1994)
Yoga Mind and Body (1996)
The Lost Wolves of Japan (2000)
Leonardo Da Vinci (1996)
From Difficult to Disturbed: Understanding and Managing Dysfunctional Employees (1905)
Logic, Semantics, Metamathematics (1956)
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine (1990)
Tracking The Vanishing Frogs: An Ecological Mystery (1994)
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (1997)
Introduction to Logic: and to the Methodology of Deductive Sciences (1993)
Historia de la Economia (1987)
A Measure of Danger (1991)
Anarchism and Other Essays (1910)
Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1998)
The Art of Happiness (1998)

The description clearly says "Books originally published in 2000 or before are not eligible."


message 10: by Elyse (new)

Elyse Booklovinglady wrote: "Removed for not being first published in the 21st century:
Booklovinglady - Thank you for all your hard work! I think this is an important list and your diligence is appreciated.



BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Elyse wrote: "Booklovinglady wrote: "Removed for not being first published in the 21st century:
Booklovinglady - Thank you for all your hard work! I think this is an important list and your diligence is apprecia..."


Thanks Elyse 😊


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Consider yourself reported for spam, "Kardi."


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Consider yourself flagged, you disgusting spammer.


message 14: by Vicki (last edited Sep 30, 2023 05:06PM) (new)

Vicki #1180 Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman = great book, but published in 1985.
Also, A Visit from the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer for fiction, thus doesn't belong here.


message 15: by Vicki (last edited Oct 01, 2023 10:03AM) (new)

Vicki Duplicates #339 & #366: The God Delusion (and/or #1455)


message 16: by Agnieszka (last edited Mar 24, 2024 12:38PM) (new)

Agnieszka Vicki wrote: "#1180 Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman = great book, but published in 1985.
Also, A Visit from the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer for fiction, thus doesn't belong here."


Thank you for the information. Deleted both.


The system found and removed 4 duplicates

Deleted Desert Flower - originally published 1998


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