Book Riot – The Podcast

Episode: Power Ranking the Books of 2016
Date: February 11, 2026
Hosts: Jeff O’Neal & Rebecca Schinsky

Episode Overview

Jeff and Rebecca revisit the literary landscape of 2016, power ranking the ten books from that year that resonated the most both at the time and over the decade since. The discussion covers notable debuts, enduring bestsellers, memoirs, and critical darlings that shaped the book world or wider culture. The tone is reflective, thoughtful, and occasionally playful as they struggle with the challenge of ranking an exceptionally strong publishing year.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The 2016 Zeitgeist

• A Turning Point Year: 2016 is recast as a pivotal moment, both “the last good year” before political and cultural upheavals, and a time when genre fiction began impacting literary fiction in lasting ways. (02:30)
• Robust Literary Culture: More newspapers had book reviews, BookTube was thriving, and Book Riot itself was in its prime. Bookstagram was yet to explode. “BookTube was the hotness at that point.” (07:34, B)
• Diversity and Celebration: There was a sense of genuine appreciation and celebration of diverse voices, particularly Black authors, in mainstream publishing. (08:46, B)
• Audiobook Boom Began: 2016 marked the early surge of audiobooks as a major medium, with several releases now iconic in audio form. (09:55, A)
• Notable Trends: The seeds of “romantasy” and commercial fantasy’s crossover with literary fiction were being planted. (10:00, A)

Power Ranking Methodology

• Not a “Best of” List: The list aims to reflect books’ importance and impact rather than just quality or personal favorites. Both hosts independently chose their top ten, revealing overlap and divergence as they count down.
• Mix of Head and Heart: Jeff jokes about “internal organ strife,” describing the conflict between objectivity and passion in making the list. (05:01, A)
• Selection Criteria:
  • Lasting impact
  • Relevance to cultural and literary conversations
  • Awards and sales
  • Debuts that launched major careers

The Power Rankings – Broken Down

#10

• Rebecca: Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
  Memoir about women in STEM, work, friendship. "A wonderful story. Really everything I want from an audiobook, frankly—it's personal. I learned something. It felt human." (11:42, A)
• Jeff: Grit by Angela Duckworth
  Popular psychology on resilience. “Doing hard things over time does things for you that not doing hard things over time doesn’t.” (13:08, A)

#9

• Rebecca: The Girls by Emma Cline
  Fictional take on cults and coming-of-age. “One of the biggest hyped debuts of the year that lived up to the hype.” (15:45, B)
• Jeff: The Mothers by Brit Bennett
  Early achievement presaging The Vanishing Half. “I wanted a Brit Bennett book here.” (16:48, A)

#8

• Both: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
  Sweeping, multi-generational novel about the legacy of slavery. “This was a seven-figure advance for this...one of the best books of the 21st century so far.” (18:24, A)

#7

• Rebecca: Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
  Nonfiction about Black women mathematicians at NASA—a major adaptation followed. “The pop history hit of the year...It was everywhere.” (21:33, B)
• Jeff: Evicted by Matthew Desmond
  Exposé on housing and poverty. “Felt like it was part of a larger conversation even than Hidden Figures was.” (22:53, A)

#6

• Rebecca: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
  Candid, humorous memoir of growing up mixed-race in apartheid South Africa. “An all-timer audiobook experience.” (24:22, B)
• Jeff: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
  Historical fiction with broad appeal. “Toles is a brand for a certain kind of literary upmarket reader.” (29:13, A)

#5

• Rebecca: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
  Memoir by neurosurgeon confronting terminal illness. “Everyone read this book...just a really astonishing hit for what the subject matter was.” (27:18, B)
• Jeff: The Vegetarian by Han Kang
  First South Korean and Asian woman Nobel laureate (2024), dark surreal fiction. (29:14, A)

#4

• Rebecca: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
  “A huge hit and I think a forever recommendable book.” (32:22, A)
• Jeff: It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
  Though not a big deal in 2016, the book became a phenomenon later. “It is also bequeathed to us...one of the great Hollywood mud fights I’ve seen in my life” (34:12, A)

#3

• Rebecca: Evicted by Matthew Desmond
  “Prescient at the time and it just stays relevant...I think it will sadly continue to be relevant.” (35:39, B)
• Jeff: Dog Man by Dav Pilkey
  Mega-selling children’s series that exploded in popularity. “A metric ass ton is the note I have here about how many copies Dogman has sold.”—(37:04, A, humorous)

#2

• Rebecca: The Vegetarian by Han Kang
  “The book was originally published in Korean well before 2016...She goes on to win the Nobel in 2024.” (44:47, B)
• Jeff: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
  Literary/historical/speculative fiction, multiple awards, critical and commercial hit. (39:09, A)

#1

• Rebecca: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
  “It’s the turning point for Colson Whitehead’s career…the journey is such a joy with Colson Whitehead.” (47:24, B)
• Jeff: Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
  “It’s up there with maybe the most influential political books of all time…” (39:19, A) Though uncomfortable with his pick, Jeff argues the book's stature and unforeseen consequence (catapulting Vance toward a vice presidency) secure its top spot.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jeff (on time passing): “Every generation needs to encounter the passage of time for the first time. So maybe 22-year-olds are like, wow, it was a lot different when I was 12. It's like that's how time works.” (01:25, A)
• Rebecca (nostalgia for 2016): “You could not turn around in a bookstore after this without running into a paperback of Hidden Figures.” (22:11, B)
• Jeff (on making the list): “The Apollonian man, the Dionysian man are in conflict because my head is telling me one thing and my heart is telling me something else…my stomach is turning.” (04:32, A)
• Rebecca (on 2016): “This really feels like a time capsule.” (09:55, B)
• On Born a Crime:
  • “Clint called me, crying, laughing, just recalling a scene with a poop story...just an epic poop story that Trevor Noah tells.” (24:22, B)
• On impact of Dog Man:
  • Jeff: “A metric ass ton is the note I have here about how many copies Dogman has sold.” (37:04, A)
  • Rebecca: “If you could go back to 2016, Dav Pilkey—no one would be more surprised than him where Dogman has landed in 2026.” (38:24, B)
• On Hillbilly Elegy:
  • Jeff: “It’s like a petri dish of mitochondrial DNA that got shot from space and landed in a lake and created this whole other life form that we weren’t expecting.” (39:19, A)
  • Rebecca: “I think for me, because his current audience or constituency is not into him for reasons connected to the book...I put it to the side.” (41:52, B)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:07 – Introducing the episode theme: revisiting 2016 & why it resonates
• 05:01 – The challenge of ranking a "stacked" literary year
• 07:32–09:55 – How 2016 felt in book culture and industry trends
• 11:06 – Countdown of top 10 books begins
• 18:57 – (Midpoint) – Acknowledgement of sponsors, then deeper into top rankings
• 21:28–24:56 – Discussion of big nonfiction & memoir hits (Hidden Figures, Born a Crime, etc.)
• 32:56 – The ascent of translated/international fiction (The Vegetarian)
• 34:12–35:39 – It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover, and viral book phenomena
• 37:04–38:24 – The “Dog Man” explosion in kids’ lit
• 39:19–43:45 – Hillbilly Elegy’s legacy and the struggle to rank it
• 43:47–45:32 – Han Kang, Nobel, and translated lit in the U.S.
• 47:24–51:13 – Recap of lists and reflection on how these books “stick”
• 52:09–56:47 – Honorable mentions and books that almost made the cut
• 57:13–58:52 – Closing thoughts: What a year! Discomfort and satisfaction with the final lists

Honorable Mentions & “Also Rans”

• The Undoing Project (Michael Lewis)
• The Wild Robot
• Sleeping Giants (Sylvain Neuvel)
• Woman in Cabin 10
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Originals (Adam Grant)
• I Contain Multitudes (Ed Yong)
• The Gene (Siddhartha Mukherjee)
• The Dry (Jane Harper)
• Swing Time (Zadie Smith)
• Love Warrior (Glennon Doyle)
• Stamped from the Beginning (Ibram X. Kendi)
• Sweetbitter (Stephanie Danler)
• The Nest (Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney)
• Key graphic novels: Paper Girls and Monstrous
• The Power (Naomi Alderman)
• Sweary self-help: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F (Mark Manson)
• Additional debuts: Behold the Dreamers (Imbolo Mbue), Here Comes the Sun (Nicole Dennis-Benn)

Takeaways & Tone

The conversation is reflective, at times rueful or affectionate, and marked by a spirit of honesty—even when a book’s cultural significance outweighs the hosts’ personal feelings. The tone frequently veers into playful bickering (“You were due a moment of being right. It's fine.”), and there’s a generous recognition that many “also-rans” could easily have topped other years.

Both panelists agree: 2016 was a landmark, possibly unrepeatable year in books.

Complete Ranked Lists

Rebecca’s Top 10:

1. The Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead
2. The Vegetarian – Han Kang
3. Evicted – Matthew Desmond
4. A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles
5. When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
6. Born a Crime – Trevor Noah
7. Hidden Figures – Margot Lee Shetterly
8. Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
9. The Girls – Emma Cline
10. Lab Girl – Hope Jahren

Jeff’s Top 10:

1. Hillbilly Elegy – J.D. Vance
2. The Underground Railroad – Colson Whitehead
3. Dog Man – Dav Pilkey
4. It Ends with Us – Colleen Hoover
5. The Vegetarian – Han Kang
6. A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles
7. Evicted – Matthew Desmond
8. Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
9. The Mothers – Brit Bennett
10. Grit – Angela Duckworth

Closing Note

This affectionate and thoughtful deep-dive affirms 2016’s unique place in contemporary literary history. For new listeners: this is an excellent crash course in how books shape both reading culture and broader society—and a reminder of the irresistible subjectivity of “power ranking” what truly matters on a bookshelf.