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?
Vegas Linda Lou says
Crystal Zevon's I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon. LOVED IT!!!
scott g.f.bailey says
My Name is Red – Orhan Pamuk
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
The Namesake – Jhumpa Lahiri
A Paperback Writer says
The last 4 volumes of the Harry Potter series, the entire Inkheart series, and The Historian.
Jaime says
I would have to say Twilight, because, like Stacy, it inspired me to write again, and I've just had the best year of my life doing so.
But I also loved The Lovely Bones.
Thanks for all the recommendations! Now I have Christmas present ideas for my husband! Totally selfless ones, of course . . . đŸ˜‰
Marilyn Peake says
More of my favorite books from the past decade, in addition to THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy:
GILEAD by Marilynne Robinson
CLOUD ATLAS by David Mitchell
A DICTIONARY OF MAQIAO by Han Shaogong, translated by Julia Lovell
HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Z. Danielewski
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES by Sue Monk Kidd
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman
BONESHAKER by Cherie Priest
THE HISTORIAN by Elizabeth Kostova
TIME TRAVELER: A SCIENTIST’S PERSONAL MISSION TO MAKE TIME TRAVEL A REALITY by Dr. Ronald L. Mallett (Nonfiction)
Anne Rainey says
One?? I'm to pick one book?? Not possible. I can say that discovering Nalini Singh was pure delight! What a terrific author!
Madeleine says
Here are a few books I loved that I know were published in this past decade. I don't have a very good list in my head because I'm hardly over a decade in age and have only been reading for seven years.
Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Goodness! I'm surprised I can't think of anymore. Although I could name nearly every book on my book shelf. I think I must be tired.
Pam says
"Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" by Christopher Moore.
Kia says
What!? No The Kite Runner yet? It was one of the few books that I actually had to put down to catch my breath after an overwhelming scene.
In addition, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides which is so beautifully written, it makes me feel like a bit of a fraudster calling myself a writer.
And, of course, The Time Traveler's Wife.
PS. Yes, it's 2am in London and I'm sitting in my PJs, reading Nathan's blog. Grr.
David says
Mystic River
Aimee says
The Time Traveler's Wife was the best! And I love The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. That is definitely my favorite book of all time.
Leslie Garrett says
Yes, yes. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Poetic and beautiful and impossible to put down.
mkcbunny says
FYI: Harry Potter (the character and all things HP) was voted by Entertainment Weekly as #1 on their list of the 100 most entertaining things of the decade—among movies, TV, books, music, and all of pop culture. JK Rowling was also voted among the top 15 entertainers of the decade.
Diane Moody says
DECEPTION by Randy Alcorn
WHEN CHARACTER WAS KING by Peggy Noonan (on Ronald Reagan)
THE GLASS HOUSE by Jeanette Walls
TARA ROAD, SCARLET FEATHER, and QUENTINS by Maeve Binchy
THE DEBT by Angie Hunt
IN AN INSTANT by Bob & Dee Woodruff
MY NAME IS RUSSELL FINK by Michael Snyder
Roban says
A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Book Thief were two of my absolute favorites. I love a good heart-wrencher….
Water for Elephants (I'm guessing it was in the '00 decade.)
Roban says
… of course "Water…" was in the '00 decade. Harry Potter books were also favorites. What fun it was to stand in line at midnight to get my book as Dumbledores and Hagrids walked past in full HP regalia!
Alexa says
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta and The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell and many hundreds more đŸ™‚
Lynne says
THE ROAD TO CANA.
Rebekkah says
I have to go with Tamar, by Mal Peet.
Lisa says
The Book Thief. No other book ever got to me like that.
Kathleen says
I liked Shutter Island, Hunger Games, and Atonement. I also felt pretty satisfied with the final HP book.
I read Twilight several times, and like a few other posters here, it jumpstarted my own writing. So I'll have to include that as well.
I'll definitely be checking out The Book Thief. Tried to read The Road twice, put it down. I'll try a third time.
Anita says
These BEST BOOKS lists are like an early Christmas present to me. I'm always looking for great books to read and recommend.
Ali Katz says
Oh, my God, it is NOT the end of the Aughts!!
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman
Lyn Miller-Lachmann says
A shout out to Trée for being the first to choose a book originally published in a language besides English. And 2666 is near the top of my list, but I'd have to give my #1 spot to Roberto Bolaño's The Savage Detectives (which was first published in Spanish in 1998 but not translated into English until 2007). I also recommend the first of Bolaño's novels to be translated into English, By Night in Chile.
Anonymous says
Just one? No way.
Top three:
Tobias Wolff’s Old School
Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Yann Martel’s Life of Pi
Oh, and one more:
Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
and
Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle
Mira says
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoninex, followed closely by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
For non-Harry Potter books, it may not be the best book of the aughts, but one I enjoyed the most was Terry Pratchett's Going Postal. His best so far, imho.
Yamile says
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,
HP and the Deathly Hallows,
HP and the Order of the Phoenix.
The Road
The Book Thief
The Kite Runner (it's still with me, two years after I read it. Can't reread it but think about it all the time)
Twilight
The Hunger Games
Vacuum Queen says
OK, you will think I'm a weirdo, but hey…there's a market for me. I LOVED Kitchen Confidential by Tony Bourdain enough to think of it first. And gosh, after that, I ate up (get it? ha ha) A Cook's Tour. His writing is fantastic. It was early in the aughts, but still there. Also, Comfort Me with apples by Ruth Reichl was faboo. Before her, I never knew it was o.k. to tell stories as if you're gathered around a table. I never wanted her stories to end.
Pure fiction says
What about The Road Home by Rose Tremain? A year-and-a-half after reading it, and dozens of books on, and it's still resonating away in my head.
Ellen B says
Pastoralia, by George Saunders (creeping under the wire, published in 2000)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The Third Angel, by Alice Hoffman.
An odd mixture, but then I'm an odd reader đŸ™‚
Kia says
> Aimee, Leslie Garrett
Yes! I totally forgot The Life of Pi. What a brilliant and unique book. I remember that it started off quite slow so I was a bit dubious about it but it swiftly becamse unputdownable.
Trish says
Matthew Flinders' Cat by Bryce Courtney. (A prominent barrister is now on the streets where he sleeps on a bench outside the state library. Above him on the window sill rests a bronze statue of Matthew Flinders' cat.)
Shannon says
I really enjoyed the Book Thief too, but nothing in the decade has blown me away like Margot Lanagan's Tender Morsels. I really loved that. It gets my vote.
Simon says
Leaving aside the fact the decade still has a year to run, I'd say my favourites have included:
Lunar Park – Bret Easton Ellis
The Savage Detectives – Roberto Bolano
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz
Ben Dutton says
Can't pick one, so I'll pick six, with the least obvious first:
David Vann, Legend of a Suicide (Sukkwan Island may have the most shocking moment of any fiction published in the noughties)
Gwendoline Riley, Cold Water (For describing a milieu not seen in fiction and yet a life recognised by many)
Roberto Bolano, 2666 (The shockwaves of this novel will not be felt until well into the next decade)
Cormac McCarthy, The Road (May well be voted the book of the decade if you collate all the votes cast for it across print and online media)
Ian McEwan, Atonement (McEwan dominated British fiction in the 2000s, and of his novels, it is this one that will be remembered)
Philip Roth, Everyman. Or Exit Ghost. Or The Plot Against America. Or The Human Stain. Or Indignation. I'm a diehard Rothian, but one of them certainly.
G. Jackson says
The Life of Pi, Yann Martel
and everything written by Bill Bryson
and I have to say, because it was an OBSESSION of so many women, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Mardi Link says
Mr. McCarthy's "The Road". I am still both devastated and inspired by that book.
Robin Miura says
Another vote for The Lovely Bones.
But I also really liked Serena by Ron Rash.
Shelby says
Fiction – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Non-Fiction – Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.
Runner up – The Pat Conroy Cookbook. Seriously. It's the stories about the food. Unbelievably inspiring…and it's not realy about the food (at least for me). It's about life.
Claude Forthomme says
I'd vote for A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini…
And what about Stieg Larsson's trilogy?
And what about Ormesson's My last Dream was for You? (yeah, that's in French actually – don't know whether it was ever translated and if so, under what title…I don't know why they can't keep to the original title when they translate something…it would really help!)
Nita Lou Bryant says
IN THE WOODS by Tana French.
Heather says
So tough, but what pops into mind is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, thought about that one for a long time after.
great question!
Anita Saxena says
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Claude Lambert says
It is comforting to see that that there are good books that I have not read yet: I am delighted with the post!The surprise of the decade for me has been Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, a Chinese author writing in French: the story is about surviving communist China's re-education by reading books. Beautiful. (it made a great movie too)
A very enjoyable book for other bookworms:
The Book Nobody Read: Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus by Owen Gingerich
@Matilda: no you are not alone, I did like the abject turtle story by Verlyn Kilnenborg and The curious incident of the dog by Mark Haddon
Trace says
Mystic River. Dennis Lehane. I'm loving The Given Day also.
jmartinlibrarian says
I know this seems like the easy, cop out, but mine was The Road.
For me, the father's love eclipsed a dying world.
Anonymous says
"Shantaram"
Book of Matches Media says
The Graveyard Book by Gaiman
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Nancy Beck says
In His Majesty's Service, aka Temeraire, by Naomi Novik…and all the subsequent Temeraire books.
I'll admit the first few pages in the first book were a bit slow for me, but after that, I could hardly wait to read them! Worth all the gushing (and I hope Peter Jackson gets the film version going sometime soon!).
Nancy Beck says
Whoops, just thought of another one: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. A lovely ending to the story.
And thanks to other posters for their faves; boy, have I missed out on a lot of good books!