“Not the NYT list” is a 2024 reading list of 100 books selected by Delhi bookseller The Bookshop Inc as an international-minded response to The New York Times’ 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. It spans fiction, nonfiction, poetry and graphic narrative, including books translated into English during this century. It is a curated alternative, not a ranked or authoritative canon.
What is “Not the NYT list”?
Published by Scroll.in on July 21, 2024, the list was assembled by The Bookshop Inc after its team reviewed its bookselling records and sought recommendations from authors, literary critics, publishing peers and its wider community. LibraryThing also attributes the list to The Bookshop Inc and describes contributions from readers, writers, critics and publishing professionals.
The project responds to the New York Times’ 2024 selection of 100 Best Books of the 21st Century and the debate over which books and literary traditions receive visibility. The curators say they chose books they believe significantly influenced readers when they appeared during the preceding 24 years. Their introduction says: “In no way is it authoritative, but we’ve tried our best to accommodate a diversity of books from around the world.”
That distinction matters: this is the booksellers’ considered selection, not a survey, a measured account of global representation or a definitive verdict on the century’s literature.
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How the list is organized—and what it includes
The 100 titles are arranged alphabetically by authors’ first names, not ordered from best to worst. The selection crosses genres and forms, including novels, nonfiction, poetry and graphic narrative. It also reaches beyond books originally written in English: some titles appear in English translation, and the curators note that some works were written in the 1900s but translated into English in the 21st century.
That means “of the 21st century” does not necessarily mean every work was first published in its original language after 2000. The list brings together books with different publication histories, so readers interested in chronology should distinguish original publication from the date of English translation.
Examples from the 100 books
The list’s range is visible in its mix of titles, subjects and forms:
- Minor Detail by Adania Shibli and Khwabnama by Akhtaruzzaman Elias.
- Carpentaria by Alexis Wright, Sudden Death by Álvaro Enrigue and The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh.
- Marjane Satrapi’s The Complete Persepolis, a graphic narrative, and Bhimayana.
- The Butterfly’s Burden, translated from Arabic by Fady Joudah.
- Nonfiction titles including Are Prisons Obsolete?, The Mushroom at the End of the World and Kitchen Confidential.
- How to Write About Africa: Collected Works.
These examples show why the list is useful as a route into varied reading rather than a single-genre canon. The Scroll.in article presents the complete selection; LibraryThing provides a catalog record and title listings.
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How it differs from the NYT list
The clearest distinction established by the list’s framing is its intended breadth: The Bookshop Inc presents its selection as a response to a high-profile US newspaper list and emphasizes books from around the world, translated literature and multiple forms. The Scroll.in article also argues that the NYT exercise appeared to omit areas such as small presses, working-class writers, genre fiction and poetry; that is the article’s critique, not a measured comparison of all 100 selections.
The two lists should not be treated as directly comparable rankings. “Not the NYT list” is alphabetical, and its curators do not claim objective authority or statistical representativeness. Its value is in offering another bookseller-shaped path through contemporary and newly translated writing.
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Where to read the list
Read the complete list and The Bookshop Inc’s explanation in Scroll.in’s original article. For a catalog view of the titles, see LibraryThing’s list. These pages establish the selection; they do not establish current stock, formats or regional availability for individual books.
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