The most popular essays books of 2021

Essays are short works of nonfiction in which a writer thinks something through. The subject can be anything: politics, a walk, a film, a grief. What matters is the mind at work and the voice. Collections here range from the classic to the sharply contemporary. This list shows the ones first published in 2021.

Cover of The Netanyahus

The Netanyahus

Joshua Cohen

2021 · 2022 edition

239 pages

Cover of I Hope This Finds You Well

I Hope This Finds You Well

Kate Baer

Published 2021

81 pages

Cover of Sellout The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994-2007)

Sellout The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994-2007)

Dan Ozzi

2021 · 2022 edition

464 pages

Cover of Reunion Beach

Reunion Beach

Elin Hilderbrand, Adriana Trigiani, Patti Callahan Henry, Cassandra King, Nathalie Dupree, Marjory Wentworth, Mary Alice Monroe

Published 2021

392 pages

Cover of Hola Papi How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons

Hola Papi How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons

John Paul Brammer

Published 2021

224 pages

Cover of Punch Me Up to the Gods

Punch Me Up to the Gods

Published 2021

250 pages

Cover of Manifesto On Never Giving Up

Manifesto On Never Giving Up

Bernardine Evaristo

2021 · 2022 edition

191 pages

Cover of Please Don't Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes

Please Don't Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes

Phoebe Robinson

2021 · 2022 edition

320 pages

Cover of Greedy

Greedy

Jen Winston

Published 2021

336 pages

Cover of Everyone You Hate is Going to Die

Everyone You Hate is Going to Die

Daniel Sloss

Published 2021

272 pages

Cover of You Are Your Best Thing Vulnerability, Shame Resilience and the Black Experience

You Are Your Best Thing Vulnerability, Shame Resilience and the Black Experience

Tarana Burke, Brené Brown

Published 2021

256 pages

Cover of Wholehearted Faith

Wholehearted Faith

Rachel Held Evans, Jeff Chu

2021 · 2023 edition

224 pages

Cover of The Secret History of Food

The Secret History of Food

Matt Siegel

Published 2021

288 pages

Cover of Real Estate

Real Estate

Deborah Levy

Published 2021

296 pages

Cover of Can the Monster Speak?

Can the Monster Speak?

Paul B. Preciado

Published 2021

103 pages

Cover of Dear Senthuran A Black Spirit Memoir

Dear Senthuran A Black Spirit Memoir

Akwaeke Emezi

Published 2021

240 pages

Cover of Misfits A Personal Manifesto - by the Creator of 'I May Destroy You'

Misfits A Personal Manifesto - by the Creator of 'I May Destroy You'

Michaela Coel

Published 2021

128 pages

Cover of On Animals

On Animals

Susan Orlean

Published 2021

241 pages

Cover of Walk in My Combat Boots True Stories from America's Bravest Warriors

Walk in My Combat Boots True Stories from America's Bravest Warriors

Matt Eversmann, Chris Mooney

Published 2021

404 pages

Cover of What White People Can Do Next From Allyship to Coalition

What White People Can Do Next From Allyship to Coalition

Emma Dabiri

Published 2021

158 pages

Cover of Like Streams to the Ocean Notes on Ego, Love, and the Things That Make Us Who We Are

Like Streams to the Ocean Notes on Ego, Love, and the Things That Make Us Who We Are

Jedidiah Jenkins

Published 2021

272 pages

Cover of My Mess Is a Bit of a Life

My Mess Is a Bit of a Life

Georgia Pritchett

Published 2021

282 pages

Cover of Murakami T The T-Shirts I Love

Murakami T The T-Shirts I Love

Haruki Murakami

Published 2021

178 pages

Cover of The 2000s Made Me Gay

The 2000s Made Me Gay

Grace Perry

Published 2021

288 pages

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