Over the past five days, the New York Times published its list of the '100 Best Books of the 21st Century'. The list was compiled by asking hundreds of 'literary luminaries' - like Steven King, Marlon James, Roxane Gay, Bonnie Garmus and others - to name the most important books of the past 25 years. The criteria was simply books published since 1 January 2000 in the United States in English (including in translation). I love a good list and admire many of the people involved in this compilation, so throughout the week I would check in each day as the New York Times gradually revealed the top 100.
My List of Best Books of the 21st Century
The New York Times list then got me thinking about what books I would put on this list. I looked back over my fourteen years of blogging (2011-now) and my catalogue of books read for the years 2000-2010 to see which books I loved. I limited myself to 25 titles for the quarter century and came up with the following (links to my reviews):
- Margaret Atwood - The Testaments (2019)
- Graeme Macrae Burnet - His Bloody Project (2015)
- Eleanor Catton - Birnam Wood (2023)
- Jennifer Egan - A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010) *
- Percival Everett - James (2024)
- Richard Flanagan - The Narrow Road to the Deep North (2013)
- Helen Garner - This House of Grief (2014)
- Dave Grohl - The Storyteller (2021)
- Tayari Jones - An American Marriage (2018) *
- Hannah Kent - Burial Rites (2013)
- Sarah Krasnostein - The Trauma Cleaner (2018)
- Andrea Levy - Small Island (2004)
- Helen Macdonald - H is for Hawk (2014) *
- Emily St John Mandel - Sea of Tranquility (2022)
- Cormac McCarthy - The Road (2006) *
- Ian McEwan - Atonement (2001) *
- Madeline Miller - Circe (2019)
- Maggie O'Farrell - Hamnet (2020)
- Heather Rose - The Museum of Modern Love (2017)
- George Saunders - Lincoln in the Bardo (2017) *
- Douglas Stuart - Young Mungo (2022)
- Colm Tóibín - Brooklyn (2009)
- Colson Whitehead - The Nickel Boys (2019)
- Sarah Winman - Still Life (2021)
- Charlotte Wood - The Natural Way of Things (2015)
*also on the New York Times list
The NYT 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
Here's the New York Times' list, with links to my reviews where available. Visit the Times website for more information about each book and why it was chosen.
- 100. Denis Johnson - Tree of Smoke (2007)
- 99. Ali Smith - How to Be Both (2014)
- 98. Ann Patchett - Bel Canto (2001)
- 97. Jesmyn Ward - Men We Reaped (2013)
- 96. Saidiya Hartman - Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments (2019)
- 95. Hilary Mantel - Bring Up The Bodies (2012)
- 94. Zadie Smith - On Beauty (2005)
- 93. Emily St John Mandel - Station Eleven (2014)
- 92. Elena Ferrante - The Days of Abandonment (2005)
- 91. Philip Roth - The Human Stain (2000)
- 90. Viet Thanh Nguyen - The Sympathiser (2015)
- 89. Hisham Matar - The Return (2016)
- 88. Lydia Davis - The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis (2009)
- 87. Torrey Peters - Detransition, Baby (2021)
- 86. David W Blight - Frederick Douglass (2018)
- 85. George Saunders - Pastoralia (2000)
- 84. Siddharta Mukherjee - The Emperor of All Maladies (2010)
- 83. Benjamin Labatut - When We Cease to Understand the World (2021)
- 82. Fernanda Melchor - Hurricane Season (2020)
- 81. John Jeremiah Sullivan - Pulphead (2011)
- 80. Elena Ferrante - The Story of the Lost Child (2015)
- 79. Lucia Berlin - A Manual for Cleaning Women (2015)
- 78. Jon Fosse - Septology (2022)
- 77. Tayari Jones - An American Marriage (2018)
- 76. Gabrielle Zevin - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (2022)
- 75. Mohsin Hamid - Exit West (2017)
- 74. Elizabeth Strout - Olive Kitteridge (2008)
- 73. Robert Caro - The Passage of Power (2012)
- 72. Svetlana Alexievich - Secondhand Time (2016)
- 71. Tove Ditlevsen - The Copenhagen Trilogy (2021)
- 70. Edward P Jones - All Aunt Hagar's Children (2006)
- 69. Michelle Alexander - The New Jim Crow (2010)
- 68. Sigrid Nunez - The Friend (2018)
- 67. Andrew Solomon - Far From the Tree (2012)
- 66. Justin Torres - We the Animals (2011)
- 65. Philip Roth - The Plot Against America (2004)
- 64. Rebecca Makkai - The Great Believers (2018)
- 63. Mary Gaitskill - Veronica (2005)
- 62. Ben Lerner - 10:04 (2014)
- 61. Barbara Kingsolver - Demon Copperhead (2022)
- 60. Kiese Laymon - Heavy (2018)
- 59. Jeffrey Eugenides - Middlesex (2002)
- 58. Hua Hsu - Stay True (2022)
- 57. Barbara Ehrenreich - Nickel and Dimed (2001)
- 56. Rachel Kushner - The Flamethrowers (2013)
- 55. Lawrence Wright - The Looming Tower (2006)
- 54. George Saunders - Tenth of December (2013)
- 53. Alice Munro - Runaway (2004)
- 52. Denis Johnson - Train Dreams (2011)
- 51. Kate Atkinson - Life After Life (2013)
- 50. Hernan Diaz - Trust (2022)
- 49. Han Kang - The Vegetarian (2016)
- 48. Marjane Satrapi - Persepolis (2003)
- 47. Toni Morrison - A Mercy (2008)
- 46. Donna Tartt - The Goldfinch (2013)
- 45. Maggie Nelson - The Argonauts (2015)
- 44. NK Jemisin - The Fifth Season (2015)
- 43. Tony Judt - Postwar (2005)
- 42. Marlon James - A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014)
- 41. Claire Keegan - Small Things Like These (2021)
- 40. Helen Macdonald - H Is for Hawk (2015)
- 39. Jennifer Egan - A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010)
- 38. Robert Bolano - The Savage Detectives (2007)
- 37. Annie Ernaux - The Years (2018)
- 36. Ta-Nehisi Coates - Between the World and Me (2015)
- 35. Alison Bechdel - Fun Home (2006)
- 34. Claudia Rankine - Citizen (2014)
- 33. Jesmyn Ward - Salvage the Bones (2011)
- 32. Alan Hollihghurst - The Line of Beauty (2004)
- 31. Zadie Smith - White Teeth (2000)
- 30. Jesmyn Ward - Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017)
- 29. Helen DeWitt - The Last Samurai (2000)
- 28. David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas (2004)
- 27. Chimamanda Negozi Adichie - Americanah (2013)
- 26. Ian McEwan - Atonement (2002)
- 25. Adrian Nicole LeBlanc - Random Family (2003)
- 24. Richard Powers - The Overstory (2018)
- 23. Alice Munro - Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (2001)
- 22. Katherine Boo - Behind the Beautiful Forevers (2012)
- 21. Matthew Desmond - Evicted (2016)
- 20. Percival Everett - Erasure (2001)
- 19. Patrick Radden Keefe - Say Nothing (2019)
- 18. George Saunders - Lincoln in the Bardo (2017)
- 17. Paul Beatty - The Sellout (2015)
- 16. Michael Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000)
- 15. Min Jin Lee - Pachinko (2017)
- 14. Rachel Cusk - Outline (2015)
- 13. Cormac McCarthy - The Road (2006)
- 12. Joan Didion - The Year of Magical Thinking (2005)
- 11. Junot Diaz - The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao (2007)
- 10. Marilynne Robinson - Gilead (2004)
- 9. Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go (2005)
- 8. WG Sebald - Austerlitz (2001)
- 7. Colson Whitehead - The Underground Railroad (2016)
- 6. Robert Bolano - 2666 (2008)
- 5. Jonathan Franzen - The Corrections (2001)
- 4. Edward P Jones - The Known World (2003)
- 3. Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall (2009)
- 2. Isabel Wilkerson - The Warmth of Other Suns (2010)
- 1. Elena Ferrante - My Brilliant Friend (2012)
The list is interesting - containing many books on my wish list and a huge number that I have never even heard of. I was pleased to see that it was not only American authors, that it included works in translation, and that there was a mix of fiction and non-fiction. But I do think there are some authors who are over-represented (Elena Ferrante, Jesmyn Ward, George Saunders) with multiple titles appearing in this list of 100. As at July 2024 I have only read 14 titles on the list, so it has certainly inspired me to reprioritise my 'to be read' shelf as there are so many great books to read, and never enough time to read them all.