Summer is a slow time in the publishing business. With fewer big, buzzy books coming out and reviewers in the doldrums, come July you鈥檙e likely to see exercises like the New York Times鈥 recent 鈥.鈥
Catnip for book lovers, it鈥檚 a list the Times created after they 鈥渟ent a survey to hundreds of literary luminaries, asking them to name the 10 best books published since Jan. 1, 2000.鈥 According to the Times, 503 people responded, including a wide range of novelists, nonfiction writers, poets and critics.
The list was instant clickbait, as was a second list of . They鈥檙e both bountiful material for discussion of (or arguments about) the worthiness of books, and I am always glad to see people talking about books. They also brim with suggestions 鈥 the Times even included handy check boxes to mark those you鈥檝e read and those you want to read.
People are also reading…
But of course I had a few quibbles.
First, the idea of 鈥渂est鈥 is pretty bogus in this context. Unlike scoring a gymnastics routine with measurable parameters, judging a book is deeply personal and infinitely complex.
And the word implies comparison, the idea that these 100 books exceed all others. Given that more than 1 million new books are published in the U.S. every year, nobody, but nobody, has read them all to be able to compare them.
Furthermore, the Times asked those who took its survey to rank books published in English in the United States, which leaves out the majority of all books published across the globe in a plethora of other languages.
So 鈥渂est鈥 is, at best, relative.
I also detected some curation in both lists, particularly in terms of genre. The lists do include fiction, nonfiction and a smidge of poetry, but almost all of the novels are literary fiction, despite the popularity of genres like romance and science fiction. A handful of fantasy and horror books made it 鈥 鈥淭he Hunger Games,鈥 鈥淗arry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,鈥 Stephen King鈥檚 stellar 鈥11/22/63.鈥
But not a single book of crime fiction, even though the 21st century has been a golden age for that genre? No Michael Connelly, no Dennis Lehane, no S.A. Cosby ... don鈥檛 get me started. I could make a list of 100 best crime fiction books of the 21st century without breaking a sweat. Even the choice of works by single authors reveals this genre snobbery: Kate Atkinson鈥檚 splendid historical novel 鈥淟ife After Life鈥 makes the lists, but none of her equally splendid Jackson Brodie crime novels do.
A number of books appear on both lists, but sometimes with very different rankings. (The only one ranked the same on both lists is Kazuo Ishiguro鈥檚 heartbreaking 鈥淣ever Let Me Go鈥 at No. 9.)
On the luminaries list, Barbara Kingsolver鈥檚 stunner 鈥淒emon Copperhead鈥 is ranked No. 61. On the readers鈥 list, it鈥檚 No. 1.
Another wide gap is Donna Tartt鈥檚 epic 鈥淭he Goldfinch,鈥 No. 46 on the luminaries list, No. 4 for readers.
Most surprising to me, though, were some of the books that didn鈥檛 make either list that for me are among the most memorable of the century so far.
Not a single book by the mighty Louise Erdrich (鈥漈he Round House,鈥 鈥淟aRose,鈥 鈥淭he Sentence鈥) or the electric Lauren Groff (鈥滷lorida,鈥 鈥淔ates and Furies,鈥 鈥淢atrix鈥)? Where are Jim Harrison鈥檚 鈥淏rown Dog,鈥 Peter Matthiessen鈥檚 鈥淪hadow Country,鈥 Gary Shteyngart鈥檚 鈥淪uper Sad Love Story鈥?
Even book critics can鈥檛 read everything, but I鈥檝e read about two-thirds of the books on each list. I haven鈥檛 loved all of those, but many of them would make my personal list of 21st century standouts.
Here they are. I鈥檓 not calling them the best, and I鈥檓 not ranking them. (They鈥檙e alphabetical by author.)
These are the books that I鈥檝e read in the 21st century that made the New York Times鈥 lists and that have also resonated for me, that still live in my head. They are wildly different from each other. I recommend them all.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 鈥淎mericanah鈥
Kate Atkinson, 鈥淟ife After Life鈥
Alison Bechdel, 鈥淔un Home鈥
Katherine Boo, 鈥淏ehind the Beautiful Forevers鈥
Michael Chabon, 鈥淭he Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay鈥
Ta-Nehisi Coates, 鈥淏etween the World and Me鈥
Matthew Desmond, 鈥淓victed鈥
Junot Diaz, 鈥淭he Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao鈥
Joan Didion, 鈥淭he Year of Magical Thinking鈥
Jennifer Egan, 鈥淎 Visit From the Goon Squad鈥
Jeffrey Eugenides, 鈥淢iddlesex鈥
Percival Everett, 鈥淓rasure,鈥 鈥淛ames鈥
David Grann, 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon鈥
Kazuo Ishiguro, 鈥淣ever Let Me Go,鈥 鈥淜lara and the Sun鈥
Edward P. Jones, 鈥淭he Known World鈥
Patrick Radden Keefe, 鈥淪ay Nothing,鈥 鈥淓mpire of Pain鈥
Barbara Kingsolver, 鈥淒emon Copperhead鈥
Helen Macdonald, 鈥淗 Is for Hawk鈥
James McBride, 鈥淒eacon King Kong,鈥 鈥淭he Heaven & Earth Grocery Store鈥
Cormac McCarthy, 鈥淭he Road鈥
Ian McEwan, 鈥淎tonement鈥
Toni Morrison, 鈥淎 Mercy鈥
Maggie O鈥橣arrell, 鈥淗amnet鈥
Tommy Orange, 鈥淭here There鈥
Ann Patchett, 鈥淭he Dutch House,鈥 鈥淭om Lake鈥
George Saunders, 鈥淭enth of December,鈥 鈥淟incoln in the Bardo鈥
Rebecca Skloot, 鈥淭he Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks鈥
Elizabeth Strout, 鈥淥live Kitteridge鈥
Donna Tartt, 鈥淭he Goldfinch鈥
Amor Towles, 鈥淎 Gentleman in Moscow鈥
Colson Whitehead, 鈥淭he Underground Railroad,鈥 鈥淭he Nickel Boys鈥
Isabel Wilkerson, 鈥淭he Warmth of Other Suns鈥