Books of the Decade (fiction) (1 Viewer)

[kupcho1]

Here's a first draft, as it were. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, so I may come back and edit this list.

Top 10

Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Jonathan Franzen: The Corrections

John Wray: Canaan's Tongue

Roberto Bolaño: 2666

Kazuo Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go

David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas

Cormac McCarthy: No Country for Old Men

Roberto Bolaño: The Savage Detectives

Michael Chabon: The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Junot Diaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Honorable Mention

Ian McEwan: Atonement

Richard Russo: Empire Falls

Thomas Pynchon: Against the Day

Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Cormac McCarthy: The Road

Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger

Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner

Books that might appear on some peoples' lists, but will absolutely not appear on mine include:

Yann Martel: Life of Pi

David Wroblewski: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

anything by Dan Brown

Probably should start a non-fiction list as well (Consider the Lobster, Heartbreaking Work, John Adams ...)

 

[MCguidance]

I need to read more. This is a good start.

 

[Onions]

 

[mon]

Books that might appear on some peoples' lists, but will absolutely not appear on mine include:

Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

anything by Thomas Pynchon

 

[joffer]

no Vince Flynn?

 

[Thorn]

I've only read Empire Falls on that list.

 

[kupcho1]

Books that might appear on some peoples' lists, but will absolutely not appear on mine include:

Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

anything by Thomas Pynchon

I would like to see your best of list.

no Vince Flynn?

Who?

 

[Mr Clean]

no Vince Flynn?

 

[YSR]

I've got to think that the Vince Flynn mentions are even though I've enjoyed those books.

I swear, to this day, that one of the best books I've read in 10 years has been Shantaram. It's a tome, so it takes some getting into, but I've recommeneded to a FBG or two and at least one has come back with rave reviews.

 

[Anonymous Internet User]

Harry Potter should be 7/10 of these. LERN 2 RED GUDR>

 

[mon]

Books that might appear on some peoples' lists, but will absolutely not appear on mine include:

Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

anything by Thomas Pynchon

I would like to see your best of list.

I don't read a lot of current fiction. McCarthy's The Road is on my "to read" list. In the last couple of months I've read:Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor

Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I read a couple of books by Dave Eggers last year: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and You Shall Know Our Velocity. A Heartbreaking Work was pretty good. I wouldn't be surprised if he was on a few lists.

 

[pollardsvision]

Harry Potter should be 7/10 of these. LERN 2 RED GUDR>

Actually, it's 4, but I agree. The 1st 3 were published in the '90s. I'm probably not the best person to ask though. I'm pretty sure I haven't read any other fiction this decade, aside from Harry Potter. I generally hate fiction.

 

[joffer]

I've got to think that the Vince Flynn mentions are even though I've enjoyed those books.

it isthey're just really fun books to read.

 

[Workhorse]

My top book of the decade:

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers

It's half fiction, half non. So not sure if it qualifies here.

 

[kupcho1]

Books that might appear on some peoples' lists, but will absolutely not appear on mine include:

Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

anything by Thomas Pynchon

I would like to see your best of list.

I don't read a lot of current fiction. McCarthy's The Road is on my "to read" list. In the last couple of months I've read:Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor

Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I read a couple of books by Dave Eggers last year: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and You Shall Know Our Velocity. A Heartbreaking Work was pretty good. I wouldn't be surprised if he was on a few lists.

You really should read some of the more recent books. There've been a number of worthy books written since the invention of movable type.

 

[Abraham]

Alice Seabold - The Lovely Bones. I'm sure the movie will disappoint, but the book is phenomenal. "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers would be 2nd on my list.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

I'm completely dumbfounded that David Eggers gets so much love. His "Heartbreaking Work ..." has to be one of the most self-righteous, pretentious pieces of authorship I've ever read. I forced my way through about 3/4ths of the book, but had to stop reading because I was so annoyed with his arrogance.

 

[mon]

Books that might appear on some peoples' lists, but will absolutely not appear on mine include:

Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

anything by Thomas Pynchon

I would like to see your best of list.

I don't read a lot of current fiction. McCarthy's The Road is on my "to read" list. In the last couple of months I've read:Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor

Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I read a couple of books by Dave Eggers last year: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and You Shall Know Our Velocity. A Heartbreaking Work was pretty good. I wouldn't be surprised if he was on a few lists.

You really should read some of the more recent books. There've been a number of worthy books written since the invention of movable type.

5 of the 7 I mentioned are from this decade, but I've always been more of a "classics" reader. Plus I'm finicky and don't like spending time on something I'm not sure I'll like. Maybe this thread'll help. My Christmas list already has David Sedaris and David Foster Wallace on it.

 

[mon]

I'm completely dumbfounded that David Eggers gets so much love. His "Heartbreaking Work ..." has to be one of the most self-righteous, pretentious pieces of authorship I've ever read. I forced my way through about 3/4ths of the book, but had to stop reading because I was so annoyed with his arrogance.

I somewhat agree with the arrogance and I thought it was a little juvenile, or at least twenty-something. What I enjoyed was the way he turns a sentence and the randomness and artistic form he uses. He's a good writer who might be great if he matures a little.

 

[YSR]

I'm completely dumbfounded that David Eggers gets so much love. His "Heartbreaking Work ..." has to be one of the most self-righteous, pretentious pieces of authorship I've ever read. I forced my way through about 3/4ths of the book, but had to stop reading because I was so annoyed with his arrogance.

I somewhat agree with the arrogance and I thought it was a little juvenile, or at least twenty-something. What I enjoyed was the way he turns a sentence and the randomness and artistic form he uses. He's a good writer who might be great if he matures a little.

The first time I read the book, i thought it was a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Read it again a few years ago and wasn't nearly as impressed.But I like the way Mon sums it up.

 

[kupcho1]

Books that might appear on some peoples' lists, but will absolutely not appear on mine include:

Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

anything by Thomas Pynchon

I would like to see your best of list.

I don't read a lot of current fiction. McCarthy's The Road [2006] is on my "to read" list. In the last couple of months I've read:Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor [1985]

Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut [2008] - would this qualify as fiction???

East of Eden by John Steinbeck [1952]

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez [1967]

I read a couple of books by Dave Eggers last year: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius [2000] and You Shall Know Our Velocity [2002]. A Heartbreaking Work was pretty good. I wouldn't be surprised if he was on a few lists.

You really should read some of the more recent books. There've been a number of worthy books written since the invention of movable type.

5 of the 7 I mentioned are from this decade, but I've always been more of a "classics" reader. Plus I'm finicky and don't like spending time on something I'm not sure I'll like. Maybe this thread'll help. My Christmas list already has David Sedaris and David Foster Wallace on it.

4 of 7?

 

[Kumerica]

Mine would look like:

Dave Eggers - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

Salman Rushdie - The Enchantress of Florence

Michael Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Alice Sebold - The Lovely Bones

Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner

Cormac McCarthy - The Road

Erik Larson - Devil in the White City

 

[mon]

I would like to see your best of list.

I don't read a lot of current fiction. McCarthy's The Road [2006] is on my "to read" list. In the last couple of months I've read:Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor [1985]

Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut [2008] - would this qualify as fiction???

East of Eden by John Steinbeck [1952]

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez [1967]

I read a couple of books by Dave Eggers last year: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius [2000] and You Shall Know Our Velocity [2002]. A Heartbreaking Work was pretty good. I wouldn't be surprised if he was on a few lists.

You really should read some of the more recent books. There've been a number of worthy books written since the invention of movable type.

5 of the 7 I mentioned are from this decade, but I've always been more of a "classics" reader. Plus I'm finicky and don't like spending time on something I'm not sure I'll like. Maybe this thread'll help. My Christmas list already has David Sedaris and David Foster Wallace on it.

4 of 7?

Nice leg work. My error was One Hundred Years -- I guess I was looking at the most recent printing on Amazon. Still, 4 of 7 are fairly recent...

 

[glumpy]

I need to read more. This is a good start.

Seriously!! That list makes me feel tremendously unread.

 

[Idiot Boxer]

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, Mark Haddon

 

[kupcho1]

Haven't read Lovely Bones. Can't believe I left Rushdie off the list; he's one writer I try to read everything by. Shantaram sounds interesting.

Looking for more lists to replenish my reading list.

 

[Wyld Stallyns]

I read The Road recently because I wanted to read it before seeing the movie. It shouldn't be on anybody's list IMNSHO.

mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

Walking around,

Walking around,

Now we're starving,

Oh, hey, there's a (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Flashback sequence,

Walking again,

Walking again,

Danger! Run and/or hide,

Starving again,

Walking again,

Oh, hey, there's another (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Flashback sequence,

Walking again,

Walking again,

Danger! Run and/or hide,

Starving again,

Walking again,

Oh, hey, there's another (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Obvious bad stuff happens,

The end.*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

 

[Hellfire Snail]

I read The Road recently because I wanted to read it before seeing the movie. It shouldn't be on anybody's list IMNSHO.

mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

Walking around,

Walking around,

Now we're starving,

Oh, hey, there's a (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Flashback sequence,

Walking again,

Walking again,

Danger! Run and/or hide,

Starving again,

Walking again,

Oh, hey, there's another (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Flashback sequence,

Walking again,

Walking again,

Danger! Run and/or hide,

Starving again,

Walking again,

Oh, hey, there's another (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Obvious bad stuff happens,

The end.*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

No problem with anybody disliking The Road, or any movie, book, song, whatever, but this style of critisizm can be used to discredit anything. Shawshank Redemption: Hey Andy's in jail! Sitting around, walking around, sitting around, walking around. Talking talking talking. Something bad happens because jail sucks. Talking talking talking. Life wasting away. Sit around, walk around, talking. More bad stuff happens. After 20 years get fed up, escape, the end.

 

[Anonymous Internet User]

I read The Road recently because I wanted to read it before seeing the movie. It shouldn't be on anybody's list IMNSHO.

mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

Walking around,

Walking around,

Now we're starving,

Oh, hey, there's a (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Flashback sequence,

Walking again,

Walking again,

Danger! Run and/or hide,

Starving again,

Walking again,

Oh, hey, there's another (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Flashback sequence,

Walking again,

Walking again,

Danger! Run and/or hide,

Starving again,

Walking again,

Oh, hey, there's another (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Obvious bad stuff happens,

The end.*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

No problem with anybody disliking The Road, or any movie, book, song, whatever, but this style of critisizm can be used to discredit anything. Shawshank Redemption: Hey Andy's in jail! Sitting around, walking around, sitting around, walking around. Talking talking talking. Something bad happens because jail sucks. Talking talking talking. Life wasting away. Sit around, walk around, talking. More bad stuff happens. After 20 years get fed up, escape, the end.

DUDE! SPOILERS!!!

 

[bostonfred]

And Then We Came to the End

 

[igbomb]

Fiction:

Shantaram by David Gregory Roberts

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Non-fiction:

Columbine by Dave Cullen

The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright

Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan

An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina

Manhunt by James L. Swanson

The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer

 

[rascal]

Didn't Glenn Beck write a book?

 

[rascal]

World without End?

 

[shuke]

I read The Road recently because I wanted to read it before seeing the movie. It shouldn't be on anybody's list IMNSHO.

mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

Walking around,

Walking around,

Now we're starving,

Oh, hey, there's a (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Flashback sequence,

Walking again,

Walking again,

Danger! Run and/or hide,

Starving again,

Walking again,

Oh, hey, there's another (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Flashback sequence,

Walking again,

Walking again,

Danger! Run and/or hide,

Starving again,

Walking again,

Oh, hey, there's another (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Obvious bad stuff happens,

The end.*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

 

[Wyld Stallyns]

I read The Road recently because I wanted to read it before seeing the movie. It shouldn't be on anybody's list IMNSHO.

mytagid = Math.floor( Math.random() * 100 );document.write("

Walking around,

Walking around,

Now we're starving,

Oh, hey, there's a (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Flashback sequence,

Walking again,

Walking again,

Danger! Run and/or hide,

Starving again,

Walking again,

Oh, hey, there's another (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Flashback sequence,

Walking again,

Walking again,

Danger! Run and/or hide,

Starving again,

Walking again,

Oh, hey, there's another (house, boat, truck, train, etc) for us to rummage through,

Obvious bad stuff happens,

The end.*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

No problem with anybody disliking The Road, or any movie, book, song, whatever, but this style of critisizm can be used to discredit anything. Shawshank Redemption: Hey Andy's in jail! Sitting around, walking around, sitting around, walking around. Talking talking talking. Something bad happens because jail sucks. Talking talking talking. Life wasting away. Sit around, walk around, talking. More bad stuff happens. After 20 years get fed up, escape, the end.

Great point, agreed. Well put too. That was admittedly a poor effort on my part. I'll also admit that I didn't give The Road a fair shake - I went into it on the recommendation of a friend who claimed that "it changed his life" and was by far the best thing he'd ever read. I think after that build up I just expected it to impact me more than it could.

It's actually a good enough book and worth a read, I'm just surprised to see it get all the praise that it does. I've seen it listed it as the #1 overall for the decade on some lists.

 

[D_House]

Looking at my Goodreads.com profile, I haven't read a whole lot from the 2000s, but my top 5 fiction list from the decade would include (random order):

Life of Pi

The Road

Atonement

The Kite Runner

The Plot Against America (Phillip Roth)

I've read the following and like them all but didn't think they were in the same league as the above:

No Country for Old Men

The White Tiger

Kavalier & Klay

Oscar Wao

Anansi Boys & American Gods (both by Neil Gaiman)

Mystic River (Dennis Lehane)

The Double (Jose Saramago)

Bel Canto (Ann Patchett)

The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)

The following I disliked:

In the Woods (Tana French)

The Ruins (Scott Smith)

Storm Front (Jim Butcher)

I have The Corrections and Yiddish Policeman's Union on my bookshelf, looking forward to those based on the OP.

My non-fiction top 5:

The Devil in the White City

The Looming Tower

1776 (David McCullough)

The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)

A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)

 

[kupcho1]

For those of you including Life of Pi on your lists, I don't think we can ever be friends.

Seriously though, thanks for the list. This forum has proved to be an invaluable resource for book recommendations (e.g., Canaan's Tongue, Song of Fire and Ice series) for me over the years.

 

[Saints-Man]

 

[oso diablo]

i spent much of the decade getting books from the library, and i'm afraid i've forgotten some that might have made the second 5. But the first 5 on my list were unforgettable.

1. Peace Like a River - Leif Enger - the novel i have most enjoyed reading, ever. a writer's novel. as optimistic in outlook as Cormac is bleak

2. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell - Mitchell is my pick for novelist of the decade. this one is genius. I think this may be the first book i ever recommended at FBG.

3. Life of Pi - Yann Martel - sorry, kupcho, but its main theme just really resonated with me.

4. John Henry Days - Colson Whitehead - my pick for American author of the decade, certainly the best under 40.

5. Mystic River - Dennis Lehane

6. Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

7. The Likeness - Tana French

8. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

9. The Preservationist - David Maine - the untold story of Noah and the Flood

10. The Jack Reacher series by Lee Child - outstanding example of populist fiction; beach reads that won't make you

p.s. have a list of 20 titles for the non-fiction thread, should it get going

 

[perry147]

Wow surprised no one has mentioned "Going Rogue".

 

[ScottNorwood]

No mention of Push by Sapphire?

 

[fasteddie_21]

<_<

 

[prosopis]

I would add Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

 

[Thorn]

I've got to think that the Vince Flynn mentions are even though I've enjoyed those books.

I swear, to this day, that one of the best books I've read in 10 years has been Shantaram. It's a tome, so it takes some getting into, but I've recommeneded to a FBG or two and at least one has come back with rave reviews.

Big thumbs up to that book and Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

 

[Arch Stanton]

I've got to think that the Vince Flynn mentions are even though I've enjoyed those books.

I swear, to this day, that one of the best books I've read in 10 years has been Shantaram. It's a tome, so it takes some getting into, but I've recommeneded to a FBG or two and at least one has come back with rave reviews.

Big thumbs up to that book and Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

If you like books about India and Mumbai (Bombay) try Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra. He's not as freewheeling as Rushdie and spins a good cops and robbers yarn while going into a lot of India's history and lifestyles. Not a top 10 book but highly enjoyable.

 

[Sweet J]

What I like about Life of Pi is that it demonstrates one of my basic understandings of the human condition: Everybody lies. To their families, to their friends, to their aquantances, and to strangers. This is because, ultimately, they lie to themselves. What we experience is only what we allow ourselves to see, to understand, to comprehend. Two people can witness an action together and see two comletely different things play out in front of them. It's like I tell my wife: "It's not that I don't believe you, Honey, it's that I don't trust that your interpretation of the events [or whatever] would be the same as mine. I need to see it for myself."

Anyway, I thought Life of Pi did a nice job of playing that concept out.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

1. Peace Like a River - Leif Enger - the novel i have most enjoyed reading, ever. a writer's novel. as optimistic in outlook as Cormac is bleak

Man, I'd forgotten all about this book. It's really, really good. Not sure what to compare it to - it seemed totally original to me when I read it and I'm definitely up for a re-read.

 

[spOOfy]

 

[D_House]

Looking at my Goodreads.com profile, I haven't read a whole lot from the 2000s, but my top 5 fiction list from the decade would include (random order):

Life of Pi

The Road

Atonement

The Kite Runner

The Plot Against America (Phillip Roth)

I've read the following and like them all but didn't think they were in the same league as the above:

No Country for Old Men

The White Tiger

Kavalier & Klay

Oscar Wao

Anansi Boys & American Gods (both by Neil Gaiman)

Mystic River (Dennis Lehane)

The Double (Jose Saramago)

Bel Canto (Ann Patchett)

The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)

The following I disliked:

In the Woods (Tana French)

The Ruins (Scott Smith)

Storm Front (Jim Butcher)

I have The Corrections and Yiddish Policeman's Union on my bookshelf, looking forward to those based on the OP.

My non-fiction top 5:

The Devil in the White City

The Looming Tower

1776 (David McCullough)

The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)

A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)

File Shutter Island (Dennis Lehane) and Let the Great World Spin (Collum McCann) under 'honorable mention'.The McCann book was a National Book Award winner for 2009.

 

[whoknew]

Interesting - almost everyone mentioned Kite Runner but there is no mention of A Thousand Splendid Suns.

I thought A Thousand Splendid Suns was just a devastating book and stayed with me longer than Kite Runner. Both of them were very good. I look forward to what he brings next.