Oh yes, it’s the end of 2009, which means it’s time for decade retrospectives and this blog is no exception.
Last week we named our favorite books published in 2009 – what about the decade? What was your favorite book published in the aughts?
Aside from books by my clients, I’m going to have to go with…. The Corrections. No, Atonement. No, Spin. No, The Book Thief. (I could go on for hours)
It was a pretty great decade for books. Can you pick your favorite?
Jared X says
Very difficult to say, but JOHN HENRY DAYS, by Colson Whitehead springs to mind first.
LIFE OF PI, by Yann Martel and WHAT IS THE WHAT, by Dave Eggers also rank up there.
mlsfleming says
In spite of all the great mysteries by my Big Three fave guys–Lescroart, Connolly, and Burke, gotta say You, Inc.,by the Beckwiths. It could be subtitled
You'd Be Surprised How Successful You'd Be if You Behaved Really Well.
Nathan says
The BFG… wait, what decade are we in?
Fablehaven was really a great, refreshing read.
(Right up there with Vornholt's "The Troll King")
Kristina says
Hard to choose, hard to choose.
Probably Life of Pi by Yann Martel, although I also loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and the 7th Harry Potter.
Michelle says
That's a no-brainer for me. The Time Traveler's Wife. The Book Thief would be my second choice.
My favorite nonfiction was Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
Sissy says
For anyone who reads this is a reeeeealllly hard choice. Wow. Harry Potter (any of them) is close to the top, as is Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Working in a school, that one has stayed with me.
Munk says
I'll go out on a limb here and choose
"George's Secret Key to the Universe" by Stephen and Lucy Hawking.
My kids LOVE the book… Science wrapped around a fun plot.
Dara says
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. I never get tired or reading that book 🙂
And I just found out it's going to be made into a movie. Super excited about it!
mkcbunny says
#1: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.
But I think The Road had the most impact on my life. It sparked a year-long conversation with various friends. And I think that I learned more about writing from its sparseness than I did from any other book this past decade.
And I have to give an overall mention to all things Harry Potter. Goblet of Fire was my favorite, but any series that can make a 45-year-old woman stay up reading until dawn on a work night has to get "best of" nod.
Also, my favorite audio books were:
#1: The Terror, by Dan Simmons, because the narrator, Simon Vance, was fantastic in portraying dozens of characters and telling an engrossing tale. And I have to admit that when I tried to read the book in hardcover, I didn't finish it. Not so with the audio version.
#2: Anything read by Neil Gaiman—even stories I didn't love were entrancing because he is a great storyteller with a fantastic voice. I just bought another story collection just to have something of his on hand to listen to.
Sam Hranac says
There were many I loved, but I most enjoyed the Monster Blood Tattoo series.
Stacy McKitrick says
I'd have to say "Twilight". It was a book that stuck with me like no other (as did the rest of the series). It was also what inspired me to start writing my own novel, and for that I will be grateful.
Valerie says
This is hard! There are so many that I have yet to read, (or finish) that I know should be on this list, like Atonement, Bel Canto, The Road, and The Book Thief. That said, here are some of my picks:
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
The Hunger Games and Catching Fire
The Dead Father's Club
Shutter Island
The Lovely Bones
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (because this is the book where she changed her whole style and the kids grew up and the story became truly dark and it blew my mind that she could do that after the first four books)
Rick Daley says
Winner, hands-down:
THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy
Runner-up:
WORLD WITHOUT END by Ken Follett
Tere Kirkland says
Fingersmith, Sarah Waters. I was surprised at how quickly I read this one. Engrossing and a very thrilling Victorian-noir read.
The Fortress of Solitude, Jonathan Lethem. Loved the characters and the style, to die for!
Atonement for style alone.
And The Hunger Games for the book I've reread the most since it came out.
Anonymous says
Non Harry Potter Books:
(In no particular order)
The Historian (Elizabeth Kostova)
The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)
The Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield)
Harry Potter Books in order:
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of Pheonix
(Not going to list author here, because anyone who doesn't know, really has know business reading a lit agent's blog…)
ryan field says
First. Digging to America by Anne Tyler
Second. A Window Acros the River by Brian Morton.
Third. The Corrections
Eric Christopherson says
Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker
Jade says
Easy. THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR MAO. It wins hands down. That book rocked my world three ways from Wednesday.
Closely followed by THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN by Mitch Albom and the English translation of Per Petterson's OUT STEALING HORSES.
Valerie Geary says
Why do you make me choose?!!!! Since you picked "Atonement" and "The Book Thief" and quite a few people pointed out "The Road"… I'm going to say "What Is The What" by Dave Eggers and "Orxy and Crake" by Atwood. Now please stop asking me to rate my books… there are rumors of revolt coming from my bookshelves. 🙂
Trée says
Robert Bolano's 2666
Marilyn Peake says
Too many to name. Definitely loved THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy.
Alyson Greene says
There's no way I can choose between:
THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy
THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon
THE BOOK THIEF by Marcus Zusak
HUNGER GAMES and HP and the HALF-BLOOD PRINCE are up there too
Cam Snow says
Anything by Christopher Moore (in this order):
Lamb
Bloodsucking Fiends
It's a dirty job
You suck
Fluke
Fool
The Lust Lizard of Melancholy cove
Island of the sequined love nun
The stupidest angel
Practical demonkeeping
Coyotoe Blue
Whew! what a decade for my favorite author!
Bill Greer says
The Ha-Ha by Dave King
Jabez says
I don't think I can choose. But I will give a shout-out to the underappreciated Chris Adrian and his debut novel, GOB'S GRIEF.
onefinemess says
Weird, I thought this was going to be a hard question, but librarything says I have only rated one book from the last decade at five stars. Lots of 4.5s, but only one five:
A Feast for Crows, George R.R. Martin
Thank God for my obsessively anal habit of rating almost everything I read.
Note that I may have read better and just not rated it in the same manner, but for now this just makes things easy!
Michael Pickett says
With every comment that I read, my vote changes. There were too many good books published this decade. I hope that don't do that to us next decade. To spread the love, I'll cast my vote for the book on my list that has recieved the fewest votes so far:
"What is the What" by Dave Eggers.
(It's nothing personal Cormac, Ian, Markus, Khaled, Jefferey, and everyone else who didn't get my vote. You guys have enough already.)
Rhonda says
In coming up with my answer I tried to think of which books have come back to my mind most often after reading them rather than which books I thought were most "significant." I will have to go with The Berrybender Narratives by Larry McMurtry and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Karen says
Sorry to be all popular instead of "artsy," but my favorite book of the decade was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
I've read some great novels over the last ten years, but nothing made me feel as much or gave me as much satisfaction as reading the final book of the Harry Potter series.
robin says
Hm…PROTECTOR OF THE SMALL: KNIGHT, came out in 2002 — and I love Tamora Pierce.
Of course, HP also finished off in the 'aughts', so even though #7 wasn't even close to my favorite, I'd have to mention the series, as a whole.
Nonfiction: Eckhart Tolle, A NEW EARTH
terryd says
THE ROAD forced me to face my fears and write my own dystopian books.
Anonymous says
My three favourites were:
The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire- Suzanne Collins
The Shifting Fog- Kate Morton (in UK and US it was called the House at Riverton)
Tricia says
I came up with my list before reading the posts and several almost made me change mine.
These are the first two that popped into my mind.
Fiction:The Husband Dean Koontz
Nonfiction: Horned Snakes and Axle Grease Jerry and Donna Spangler
lora96 says
Love Walked In, marisa de los santos
deb says
Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, also by Safran Foer
We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver
What is the What, Dave Eggers
(I could keep going…)
Mary says
The Book Thief, one of my top ten books of all time.
I'm interested to see many mentions of the Hunger Games. I didn't consider it a favourite read because it made me SO uneasy. Hmm… perhaps that's the point. Brilliantly done. 🙂
Wendy says
The Time Traveler's Wife, hands down. Closely followed by Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater.
DMBeucler says
Absolute favorite would have to be Patrick Rothfuss's Name of the Wind.
Empty Refrigerator says
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
and
MIDDLESEX
Anne-Marie says
Shutter ISland by Dennis Lehane and
Saturday by ian MacEwan.
Kate says
The Road, McCarthy. But thanks for all the great recommendations!
Demosthenes says
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.
Robena Grant says
The Road, by Cormack McCarthy
Then, in no particular order:
Someone Knows my Name, Lawrence Hill
The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Help, Kathryn Stockett
Circle of Three, Patricia Gaffney
Big Stone Gap, Adriana Trigiani
Amy says
Per Petterson's IN THE WAKE and OUT STEALING HORSES are favorites, as well as Linda Ollson's ASTRID & VERONIKA. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle was a good read, and I too loved The Book Thief.
Karen Schwabach says
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Nicholas says
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark. A work of genius.
Crystal Lee Patriarche says
I would have to go with The Lovely Bones….which I just re-read since the movie is coming out.
Emily Cross says
without a doubt it would have to be the book thief!
Tania says
For me it is My Name Was Judas by C.K. Stead. It is beautiful and confronting and the language alone makes me want to cry. I highly
recommend it.
Gretchen says
The Time Traveller's Wife
Paper Towns by John Green
Harry Potter – the entire series, but especially the last 2.