Collider has published a ranked list of the 25 best books of the 21st century, defining the century as beginning in 2001 rather than 2000, which excludes contenders such as House of Leaves and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The list features a mix of fiction and non-fiction, with only one author appearing twice to preserve variety across the selection.

Entries revealed so far include Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005) at number 25, a subdued science-fiction novel praised as a psychological drama that has aged like a modern classic, and James Ellroy's The Cold Six Thousand (2001) at number 24, the middle instalment of his Underworld USA trilogy covering the years 1963 to 1968, following on from American Tabloid.

– A ranked countdown of 25 standout books published from 2001 onwards
– Only one author features twice; both fiction and non-fiction are included
– Number 25 is Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005)
– Number 24 is James Ellroy's The Cold Six Thousand (2001), part of his Underworld USA trilogy