As 2009 comes to an end, many publications and pundits are offering their assessments of the best whatevers of the decade just past. Inspired by the best books of the decade list from Salon magazine, I’ve listed those from their list with which I agree, and I’ve added my own. These are the books that left the greatest impressions on me as a reader, through the authors’ craft, imagination and that magical je ne sais quoi that makes for a memorable reading experience.

The best books of the decade
A tribute to the fact and fiction we wouldn’t stop talking about in the 2000s
By Laura Miller

From the Salon list, here are the ones I’ve read that I agree are “best of” the last decade:

• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers
• The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen
• Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
• The Fortress of Solitude, Jonathem Lethem

Additionally, here are other books I’ve read since 2000 that I think are “best of’s”, including links to previous reviews on this blog. (I’ll aim to add reviews for the others in, well, the next decade.)

• Darkmans, Nicola Barker

• Wild Dogs, Helen Humphreys

• Mister Pip, Lloyd Jones

• The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri

• Small Island, Andrea Levy

• Family Matters, Rohinton Mistry

• Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell

• A Gate at the Stairs, Lorrie Moore

• Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, Alice Munro



• Gilead, Marilynne Robinson

• We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver

• White Teeth, Zadie Smith

• A Complicated Kindness, Miriam Toews

• The Master, Colm Toibin

• Let’s Talk About Love – A Journey to the End of Taste, Carl Wilson