Book Riot – The Podcast

Episode: Ranking Amazon's Best Books of the Century

Hosts: Jeff O’Neal & Rebecca Schinsky
Air Date: February 18, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode is a lively, opinionated deep dive in which Rebecca and Jeff revisit Amazon’s 20 annual “Number One Book of the Year” picks from 2001–2025. Drawing on their bookish expertise (and not a little nostalgia), each host brings a ranked top ten, debating which selections have stood the test of time, which were flashy but fleeting, and which Amazon editorial zags still baffle. Along the way, the duo reflect on career arcs, book club hits, adaptation triumphs (and missteps), and the shifting sands of “It Book” status in the 21st century.
Expect: passionate disagreements, hot takes, literary sidebars, and the inside baseball of contemporary book culture — all with their trademark “low stakes, high opinion” energy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

How the Ranking Works

• Concept: Review all of Amazon’s “Best of the Year” #1 picks from 2001–2025.
• Method: Each host independently ranks their personal top 10, then they compare and contrast their choices and rationale.
• Extra: Three notable “oddities/outliers” from the Amazon picks are discussed at the end.

Countdown: The Top Ten

10. The Round House by Louise Erdrich

Why it’s here:

• Both hosts agree it belongs for literary excellence and underappreciated status.
• “You have to put Louise Erdrich on the top 10. But she is…still on my list of underappreciated, because I just don’t ever think she gets as widely read as she should be.” — Rebecca (02:59)
• Noted for National Book Award win (2012) and for resonating across years.

9. Educated by Tara Westover (Rebecca’s #3, Jeff’s #9), vs. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (Rebecca’s #9)

• Educated: Celebrated as the decade’s biggest memoir not by Michelle Obama, and a genuine phenomenon.
  • “It does the things we want an IT book to do. It sold, it had word of mouth, people liked it. And it is very good.” — Rebecca (05:27)
  • Jeff notes: For Westover, it didn’t trigger a broader literary career.
• The Year of Magical Thinking: Jeff places higher for its genre-defining impact.
  • “Very few of these books…can claim to have introduced new structures of feeling into the reading public…I think you can make an argument that [this] did something different…” — Jeff (28:18)

8. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (Rebecca), The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Jeff)

• Celeste Ng: Saluted for career trajectory and the rare debut that becomes “Book of the Year.”
  • “For a debut to be the book of the year is a huge deal and she did not regress to the mean.” — Rebecca (11:32)
• McBride: Jeff’s pick, though he admits it might be recency bias. Noted for being widely read, award-winning, and likely to remain influential.

7. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Rebecca), A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Jeff)

• Goldfinch: A huge commercial and critical hit, though not beloved by either host.
  • “She only does about a novel every decade…That was a big deal and she’s a big deal.” — Rebecca (14:31)
• A Thousand Splendid Suns: Both hosts acknowledge its powerful emotional impact despite heavy subject matter.
  • “It’s a difficult needle to thread. And he does thread it.” — Rebecca (17:24)

6. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Rebecca), The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (Jeff)

• Henrietta Lacks: Lauded for resonance, staying power, and cultural/policy impact.
  • “It resulted in actual real world policy change and built awareness…also, not an easy subject to take on and make appealing to the book club crowd.” — Rebecca (22:25)
• Kavalier & Clay: Jeff loves it for blending genre/literary, but Rebecca notes it’s faded from current conversation.

5. A Thousand Splendid Suns (Rebecca), Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (Jeff)

• Killers of the Flower Moon: Praised as the standard in historical true crime and for inspiring an acclaimed Scorsese adaptation.

4. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Rebecca), The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Jeff)

• Life of Pi: Noted for long-lasting popularity and adaptation, but a “one-hit wonder.”
  • “For me, I’m not going to put it here. You could say the same thing about my next book.” — Jeff (21:52)
• Henrietta Lacks (again): Its cross-genre appeal and ongoing relevance merit repeated mention.

3. Educated (Rebecca), Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (Jeff)

• Fates and Furies: Jeff’s personal favorite, admitting bias for Groff.
  • “It was my favorite book of the year, and I went on NPR to talk about it. So I have to…” — Jeff (26:41)
• Rebecca leaves it off her top ten, seeing it as more “2015” and understandably favoring Groff’s later work.

2. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (Rebecca), The Year of Magical Thinking (Jeff)

• See thoughts above on both. Both hold importance for lasting cultural and personal impact.

1. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (both)

• Unanimously selected as the pinnacle of the list.
  • “Very few of these books…can claim to have introduced new structures of feeling into the reading public…You can make an argument that your magical thinking did something…but [The Underground Railroad]…the more distance we get, I’m not sure it’s the highest peak, but it’s certainly on the mountain chain.” — Jeff (28:18)
  • “If a book like this became a huge hit today, it would reassure me…about the intellectual health of the general public. Because it’s not easy.” — Rebecca (29:53)
• Noted for National Book Award win, landmark adaptation by Barry Jenkins, enduring literary and cultural relevance.

Notable Side Conversations and Quotes

Adaptation Power & Scarcity

• “There’s a version of me that has [Heaven & Earth Grocery Store] at two…It has a shit ton of Goodreads ratings…He’s won awards. This is also not my favorite McBride…But I really love it…We’re going to continue to be, I think, in the conversation.” — Rebecca (13:07)
• “If you could get a new book announcement from [any living author], plausibly…is Donna Tartt number one in terms of…IT book of the month…What would cap [her return]?” — Jeff (14:44)
• “The scarcity is a huge part of it.” — Rebecca (15:28)

“It Book” Phenomena vs. Literary Longevity

• “[Educated]…the biggest memoir of the last decade that wasn’t by Michelle Obama…” — Rebecca (05:27)
• On The Art of Fielding: “Probably the greatest example of the gap between the hype machine and actually how a book lands that I’ve seen in my career in publishing.” — Rebecca (34:45)
• “For a debut to be the book of the year is a huge deal…” — Rebecca on Celeste Ng (11:32)

Outliers, Oddities, and Picks That Didn’t Age Well

• Boys of Riverside (last year’s pick), A Million Little Pieces (“Doesn’t hold up great as a pick, now”), Art of Fielding, Suite Française, The Testaments, Northern Clemency (“I know that I read it. Zero memory…” — Jeff (37:17-39:14), A Knock at Midnight.

Reflections on the Amazon List

• “When you get it right, you look like a genius. And when you get it wrong, it really looks like, what world were you living?” — Jeff (38:40)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|------------------------------------------| | 01:48 | Explanation of ranking methodology | | 02:50 | #10 – The Round House | | 04:23 | #9 – Educated/Year of Magical Thinking | | 11:02 | #8 – Celeste Ng/McBride | | 13:49 | #7 – The Goldfinch/splendid Suns | | 17:32 | #6 – Henrietta Lacks/Kavalier & Clay | | 19:14 | #5 – Splendid Suns/Flower Moon | | 21:47 | #4 – Life of Pi/Henrietta Lacks | | 26:12 | #3 – Educated/Fates and Furies | | 28:10 | #1 – Underground Railroad | | 33:07 | Outlier picks and oddities | | 34:36 | The Art of Fielding and hype | | 37:17 | Books that faded or were odd picks | | 39:14 | Fun closing thoughts on the project |

Tone & Style

Consistently warm, opinionated, readerly, and a bit irreverent — Rebecca and Jeff point out where their reasoning diverges, debate the merits of literary versus commercial triumph, and frequently break for bookish sidebars and anecdotes. They’re not afraid to address their own subjectivity, nostalgia, or recency bias, and routinely reference literary phenomena old and new to contextualize their arguments.

Memorable Quotes

• “The scarcity is a huge part of [Donna Tartt’s] mystique.” — Rebecca (15:28)
• “If a book like this became a huge hit today, it would reassure me…about the intellectual health of the general public. Because it’s not easy.” — Rebecca on Underground Railroad (29:53)
• “I think when you get it right, you look like a genius. And when you get it wrong, it really looks like, what world were you living?” — Jeff (38:40)

Final Thoughts

This episode is a treasure for book lovers who enjoy spirited discussion and care about how literary taste changes over time. Jeff and Rebecca’s rank-off is a reminder of how the book world both shapes and is shaped by changing interests, industry forces, and the elusive magic that makes a book “of its moment,” and sometimes, truly timeless.