I work with a lot of avid readers, so our virtual workplace was buzzing about the picks from the New York Times list of 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. It was brilliant for the NY Times to release 20 books a day over 5 days, as it had us all predicting our favorites. The problem with ANY best book list is they are ultimately disappointing. I can name more books I’d like to have seen on the list than the ones I actually agree with (see below). But no list is perfect. This one was made up of surveys sent to hundreds of writers and celebrities, who were asked to submit their top 10 books, and then the results were compiled. Did you see the list, and if so what did you think?
There’s also a way you can submit your own top ten list, and you can look at the personal top ten lists of a number of famous people (which in a way is more interesting than the overall list). I realize these sites are only open to subscribers, so you can read what I thought about the list below.
Here are the books I was happy to see on the list:
- An American Marriage
- Demon Copperhead
- The Great Believers
- The Underground Railroad
- Americanah
- Never Let Me Go
- A Visit From the Goon Squad
- Olive Kitteridge
- Station Eleven
- The Sympathizer
- The Fifth Season
- Cloud Atlas
- Life After Life
- Persepolis
Here are some I don’t disagree with even if they’re not my personal favorites:
- Middlesex
- Sing, Unburied, Sing
- Pachinko
- Atonement
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
And here are the ones I’ve read that I wouldn’t have put on the list:
- Exit West
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
- Detransition, Baby
- The Goldfinch
Which books on the list would I like to read?
- I’ve read Caste by Isabel Wilkerson but would really like to read The Warmth of Other Suns
- Men We Reaped and Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
- I’ve read Foster by Claire Keegan and would really like to read Small Things Like These
- I love Ann Patchett but haven’t yet read Bel Canto, and it’s sitting on my shelf
- My colleagues have raved about Lincoln in the Bardo, The Overstory, and Behind the Beautiful Forevers
- Alice Munro has several on the list, and has been in the news quite a bit lately. I haven’t read anything by her.
Finally – what books would I have liked to see on the list? Here are a few.
- Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
- Our Missing Hearts or Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
- Year of Wonders, March, or Horse by Geraldine Brooks
- Room or The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boullay
- The Round House by Louise Erdrich
- Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
- News of the World by Paulette Giles
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- Know My Name by Chanel Miller
- The Invisible Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
- Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
- The Leavers by Lisa Ko
- Less by Andrew Sean Greer
- The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
It’s so strange to think we are already 25 years into the 21st century! Which books would make your top 100?