Air & Space Magazine’s “Best Children’s Book of 2021”
- The Boy Whose Head Was Filled with Stars: A Life of Edwin Hubble by Isabelle Marinov, illus. Deborah Marcero (Enchanted Lion Books)
Artforum’s “Best Books of 2021”
- Slug and Other Stories by Megan Milks (Feminist Press)
Bloomberg’s “Best Books of 2021”
- Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival by Richard Heinberg (New Society Publishers)
Book Mark’s “The Best Reviewed Books of 2021: Memoir and Biography”
- A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Biblioasis)
The Book Table’s “Best Books of 2021”
- Honey Mine by Camille Roy (Nightboat Books)
- Revolutionary Letters: 50th Anniversary Edition by Diane di Prima (City Lights Publishers)
The Boston Globe’s “Best Books of 2021”
FICTION
- The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell by Brian Evenson (Coffee House Press)
POETRY
- All This Time by Cedar Sigo (Wave Books)
- Doppelgangbanger by Cortney Lamar Charleston (Haymarket Books)
- Ceive by B.K. Fischer (BOA Editions)
- Even Shorn by Isabel Duarte-Gray (Sarabande Books)
- The Glass Constellation: New and Collected Poems by Arthur Sze (Copper Canyon Press)
- Popular Longing by Natalie Shapero (Copper Canyon Press)
- Sho by Douglas Kearney (Wave Books)
- The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us from the Void by Jackie Wang (Nightboat Books)
The Chicago Public Library’s “Best of the Best Books 2021”
ADULTS
- A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Biblioasis)
FICTION FOR YOUNGER READERS
- You’re a Star, Lolo! by Niki Daly (Catalyst Press)
- Sato the Rabbit by Yuki Ainoya, trans. Michael Blaskowsky (Enchanted Lion Books)
INFORMATIONAL BOOKS FOR YOUNGER READERS
- Make Meatballs Sing: The Life and Art of Corita Kent by Matthew Burgess, illus. Kara Kramer (Enchanted Lion Books)
TEEN GRAPHIC NOVELS AND MANGA
- We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration by Frank Abe and Tamiko Nimura, illus by Ross Ishikawa and Matt Sasaki (Chin Music Press)
- The Crossroads At Midnight by Abby Howard (Iron Circus Comics)
Horn Book’s “Fanfare 2021 Booklist”
- Sato the Rabbit by Yuki Ainoya, trans. Michael Blaskowsky (Enchanted Lion Books)
- The Night Walk by Marie Dorléans (Floris Books)
- Blancaflor, The Hero with Secret Powers: A Folktale from Latin America by Nadja Spiegelman, illus. Sergio García Sánchez (TOON Books)
Independent Book Review’s “35 Impressive Indie Press Books of 2021”
- Margaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body by Megan Milks (Feminist Press/Amethyst Editions)
- Alien Stories by E.C. Osondu (BOA Editions)
- Tastes Like War by Grace M. Cho (Feminist Press)
- Madder: A Memoir in Weeds by Marco Wilkinson (Coffee House Press)
- Ceive by B.K. Fischer (BOA Editions)
“Best Fiction Books of the Year”
- Loop by Brenda Lozano, trans. Annie McDermott (Charco Press)
- Echo Tree by Henry Dumas (Coffee House Press)
- Untraceable by Sergei Lebedev, trans. Antonina W. Bouis (New Vessel Press)
- Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin, trans. Aneesa Abbas Higgins (Open Letter)
- A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Biblioasis)
- Little Bird’s Day by Sally Morgan, illus. Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr (Blue Dot Kids Press)
- The Snail with the Right Heart by Maria Popova, illus. Ping Zhu (Enchanted Lion Books)
- How War Changed Rondo by Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv (Enchanted Lion Books)
- The Night Walk by Marie Dorléans (Floris Books)
- The Dog Walk by Sven Nordqvist (Floris Books)
- I Am the Subway by Kim Hyo-eun, trans. Deborah Smith (Scribble)
Library Journal‘s “Best Short Stories of 2021”
- Prayer for the Living by Ben Okri (Akashic Books)
- Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejidé (Akashic Books)
- A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Biblioasis)
- Sea Loves Me by Mia Couto (Biblioasis)
- Love and Other Poems by Alex Dimitrov (Copper Canyon Press)
- Tastes Like War by Grace M. Cho (Feminist Press)
- We Are Bridges by Cassandra Lane (Feminist Press)
- CURB by Divya Victor (Nightboat Books)
- The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us from the Void by Jackie Wang (Nightboat Books)
- We Do This ‘Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba (Haymarket Books)
- July by Kathleen Ossip (Sarabande Books)
- Hoarders by Kate Durbin (Wave Books)
- A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure by Hoa Nguyen (Wave Books)
Necessary Fiction’s “Recommended Reading 2021”
- And the Bride Closed the Door by Ronit Matalon, trans. Jessica Cohen (New Vessel Press)
- Prosopagnosia by Sònia Hernández, trans. Samuel Rutter (Scribe)
- Temporary by Hilary Leichter (Coffee House Press)
The New York Public Library’s “Best Books of 2021”
ADULTS
- ✨TOP 10✨ Mama Phife Represents by Cheryl Boyce-Taylor (Haymarket Books)
- The Breaks by Julietta Singh (Coffee House Press)
- Popular Longing by Natalie Shapero (Copper Canyon Press)
- Doppelgangbanger by Cortney Lamar Charleston (Haymarket Books)
- If God is a Virus by Seema Yasmin (Haymarket Books)
- Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap (Small Beer Press)
TEENS
- ✨TOP 10✨ The Crossroads At Midnight by Abby Howard (Iron Circus Comics)
- Queer as All Get Out by Shelby Criswell (Street Noise Books)
KIDS
- The Boy Whose Head Was Filled with Stars: A Life of Edwin Hubble by Isabelle Marinov, illus. Deborah Marcero (Enchanted Lion Books)
- The Night Walk by Marie Dorléans (Floris Books)
- La muñeca de Lucas by Luis Amavisca and Alicia Acosta, illus. Amélie Graux (NubeOcho)
The New York Times
- A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Biblioasis)
“25 Best Children’s Books of 2021”
- Blancaflor, The Hero with Secret Powers: A Folktale from Latin America by Nadja Spiegelman, illus. Sergio García Sánchez (TOON Books)
- The Happiness of a Dog with a Ball in its Mouth by Bruce Handy, illus. Hyewon Yum (Enchanted Lion Books)
- The True Story of a Mouse who Never Asked for It by Ana Cristina Herreros, illus. Violeta Lópiz, trans. Chloe Garcia Roberts (Enchanted Lion Books/Unruly)
- Simple Pleasures: The Art of Doris Lee by Melissa Wolfe (Giles)
- Blood on the Fog by Tongo Eisen-Martin (City Lights Publishers)
- Love and Other Poems by Alex Dimitrov (Copper Canyon Press)
- The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us from the Void by Jackie Wang (Nightboat Books)
- The Vault by Andrés Cerpa (Alice James Books)
“Times Critics’ Top Books of 2021”
- A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Biblioasis)
New Yorker’s “The Best Books We Read in 2021”
- Not One Day by Anne Garréta, trans. Emma Ramadan (Deep Vellum Publishing)
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s “The best books of 2021, to gift or read yourself”
- The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell by Brian Evenson (Coffee House Press)
Politics & Prose’s “2021 Children and Teen Favorites”
- And… by Philippe Jalbert (Berbay Publishing)
- Make Meatballs Sing: The Life and Art of Corita Kent by Matthew Burgess, illus. Kara Kramer (Enchanted Lion Books)
Powell’s “Best Books of 2021: Fiction”
- A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Biblioasis)
- Loop by Brenda Lozano, trans. Annie McDermott (Charco Press)
The Progressive Magazine’s “Favorite Books of 2021”
- The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth by The Red Nation (Common Notions)
Publishers Weekly’s “Best Books of 2021”
- A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Biblioasis)
- Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin, trans. Aneesa Abbas Higgins (Open Letter)
- The Essential June Jordan by June Jordan, ed. Jan Heller Levi & Christoph Keller (Copper Canyon Press)
- The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us from the Void by Jackie Wang (Nightboat Books)
- A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure by Hoa Nguyen (Wave Books)
- The Night Walk by Marie Dorleans (Floris Books)
Seminary Co-op’s “2021 Notables”
- Aftermath by Preti Taneja (Transit Books)
- The Breaks by Julietta Singh (Coffee House Press)
- Studying with Miss Bishop by Dana Gioia (Paul Dry Books)
- We Do This ‘Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba (Haymarket Books)
School Library Journal’s “Best Graphic Novels 2021”
- The Crossroads At Midnight by Abby Howard (Iron Circus Comics)
- Wildflowers by Liniers (TOON Books)
School Library Journal, A Fuse #8 Production
- Birds (Multilingual Board Book) by Motomitsu Maehara (Blue Dot Kids Press)
- Ocean Animals (Multilingual Board Book) by Motomitsu Maehara (Blue Dot Kids Press)
“2021 Fairy Folk, and Religious Tales”
- Blancaflor, The Hero with Secret Powers: A Folktale from Latin America by Nadja Spiegelman, illus. Sergio García Sánchez (TOON Books)
“2021 Translated Books for Kids”
- Coffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost by Betina Birkjær, illus. Anna Margrethe Kjærgaard (Enchanted Lion Books)
- I Am the Subway by Kim Hyo-eun, trans. Deborah Smith (Scribble)
- Olwen Finds Her Wings by Nora Surojegin, illus. Pirkko-Liisa Surojegin (Floris Books)
- Sato the Rabbit by Yuki Ainoya, trans. Michael Blaskowsky (Enchanted Lion Books)
Tattered Cover’s “2021 Books of the Year”
- The Night Walk by Marie Dorleans (Floris Books)
TIME’s “The 100 Must-Read Books of 2021”
- Tastes Like War by Grace M. Cho (Feminist Press)
- The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us from the Void by Jackie Wang (Nightboat Books)
Tombolo Books’s “Bestsellers of 2021”
- Tampa Bay Noir edited by Colette Bancroft (Akashic Books)
Washington Post
“50 Notable Works of Fiction for 2021”
- Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejidé (Akashic Books)
“Best Children’s Books of 2021”
- What is a River? by Monika Vaicenaviciene (Enchanted Lion Books)