East Bay View (a blog about several things)

now 98% free of substantive content

Monday, October 12, 2009

50 favourite fiction books of the decade

Not a pure response to this, since my working definition of "of the decade" is more flexible. Though the Brits are overrepresented (too much reading of the Guardian) my list is more internationalist than the Millions list, plus I like some picture books a lot. Comics aside, there's very little genre fiction on the list: I find it hard to work out what's worth reading, as recommendations, whether from inside or outside the relevant subcultures, more often than not end up dead ends for me. Leads consistent with the list below welcome.

1. Orhan Pamuk, Snow
2. Richard Powers, The Time of Our Singing
3. Irene Nemirovsky, Suite Francaise
4. Zadie Smith, White Teeth
5. Morrison/Quitely/Grant, All-Star Superman
6. Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty
7. Alice Munro, Hateship Friendship Loveship Courtship Marriage
8. Roberto Bolano, 2666
9. Paul Auster, The Book of Illusions
10. Ali Smith, The Accidental
11. Junot Diaz, The Brief Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao
12. Aaron McGruder, The Bookdocks: A Right to Be Hostile
13. Chris Ware, Jimmy Corrigan
14. W.G. Sebald, Austerlitz
15. Ian McEwan, Atonement
16. Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
17. Per Olov Enquist, The Royal Physician's Visit
18. Mary Gaitskill, Veronica
19. Michel Houellebecq, Platform
20. Sarah Waters, Fingersmith
21. Robert Charles Wilson, Spin
22. Philip Roth, The Human Stain
23. David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
24. Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections
25. Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Wizard of the Crow
26. Caryl Phillips, A Distant Shore
27. Sarah Waters, The Night Watch
28. Monica Ali, Brick Lane
29. Dave Eggers, What Is the What
30. Ian McEwan, Saturday
31. Imre Kertesz, Fatelessness
32. Kate Atkinson, Case Histories
33. Toni Morrison, Love
34. Colson Whitehead, John Henry Days
35. Mikael Niemi, Popular Music from Vittula
36. David Mitchell, number9dream
37. E.L. Doctorow, The March
38. Kelly Link, Magic for Beginners
39. Javier Cercas, Soldiers of Salamis
40. Irina Denezhkina, Give Me (Songs for Lovers)
41. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus
42. Edward P. Jones, The Known World
43. Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
44. Carol Shields, Unless
45. Marilynne Robinson, Gilead
46. Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra, Y: The Last Man
47. Julian Barnes, Arthur & George
48. Dubravka Ugresic, The Ministry of Pain
49. Arthur Phillips, Prague
50. Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Labels:

2 Comments:

  • At 5:52 am, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Great story you got here. I'd like to read something more about that theme. Thnx for giving this material.
    Sexy Lady
    High Class Escorts

     
  • At 8:25 am, Blogger Margo said…

    I was very encouraged to find this site. I wanted to thank you for this special read. I definitely savored every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
    Kiev escort

     

Post a Comment

<< Home