Arts & Life

Here are the Books We Love: 360+ great 2021 reads recommended by NPR

By Tayla Burney,

Beth Donovan, Natalie Escobar, Rose Friedman, Megan Lim, Petra Mayer, Beth Novey, Ashley Pointer, Meghan Collins Sullivan

Published November 24, 2021 at 6:00 AM CST

NPR's Books We Love, formerly the Book Concierge, has a new name and 360+ new titles handpicked by NPR staff and trusted critics. Find nine years of Concierge recommendations all in one place – that's more than 2,800 great reads.

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Tayla Burney

Beth Donovan

Beth Donovan works jointly with NPR's News and Programming teams and is the executive producer of Life Kit. This is the third podcast Donovan has led for NPR. She was the co-creator and executive producer of The NPR Politics Podcast from its November 2015 launch through May 2019 and was the co-creator and senior editor of It's All Politics, NPR's first podcast to exclusively feature original content.

Natalie Escobar

Natalie Escobar is an assistant editor on the Code Switch team, where she edits the blog and newsletter, runs the social media accounts and leads audience engagement. Before coming to NPR in 2020, Escobar was an assistant editor and editorial fellow at The Atlantic, where she covered family life and education. She also was a ProPublica emerging reporter fellow, where she helped their Illinois bureau do experimental audience engagement through theater workshops. (Really!)

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Rose Friedman

Rose Friedman is an Associate Editor for NPR's Arts, Books & Culture desk. She edits radio pieces on a range of subjects, including books, pop culture, fine arts, theater, obituaries and the occasional Harry Potter-check-in. She is also co-creator of NPR's annual Book Concierge and the podcast recommendation site Earbud.fm. In addition, Rose has edited commentaries for the network, as well as regular features like This Week's Must Read on All Things Considered.

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Megan Lim

Petra Mayer

Petra Mayer died on November 13, 2021. She has been remembered by friends and colleagues, including all of us at NPR. The Petra Mayer Memorial Fund for Internships has been created in her honor.

See stories by Petra Mayer

Beth Novey

Beth Novey is a producer for NPR's Arts, Books & Culture desk. She creates and edits web features, plans multimedia projects, and coordinates the web presence for Fresh Air and Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!

See stories by Beth Novey

Ashley Pointer

Ashley Pointer is a news assistant for NPR Music.

Meghan Collins Sullivan

Meghan Collins Sullivan is a senior editor on the Arts & Culture Desk, overseeing non-fiction books coverage at NPR. She has worked at NPR over the last 13 years in various capacities, including as the supervising editor for NPR.org – managing a team of online producers and reporters and editing multi-platform news coverage. She was also lead editor for the 13.7: Cosmos and Culture blog, written by five scientists on topics related to the intersection of science and culture.

See stories by Meghan Collins Sullivan