My Best Of The Decade Round Up For 2010-2019 + Podcast
Posted 9th December 2019
Category: Round-Ups Genres: N/A
4 Comments
For today’s podcast, see the bottom of this post. A link to the transcript is included.
Many people are making lists like these and it looks like fun so I’m joining in (if you’re making one, too, do link to it below). I’m doing it now rather than any later because I’ve only a half-plan to read one more book from the decade before the year is out; my reading until January is going to be re-reads and a couple of 2020 publications.
I’m including my 5 star reads from each year and choosing ‘best of’ books from there, and, particularly because I don’t read all that many books in the year they are published, I’m including books no matter which year I read them in. Any future books read from this decade will not be included here; I’m not going to leave this post open to be constantly updated. Some years obviously have more competition than others given length of time since and review copies; the list is a reflection of my time blogging, particularly as I started blogging a couple of months into the decade.
Non-fiction and poetry have been mixed in with the fiction. I’ve used the very first publication date for all books except translations, for which I’ve used the first English translation publication date.
Finally, as there are 70 books here in total I’ve chosen to include covers for the absolute, in my opinion, cream of the crop for each year.
2010
- Ally Condie: Matched
- Asko Sahlberg: The Brothers (English translation: Finnish)
- Beth Hoffman: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
- Catherine Ryan Hyde: Second Hand Heart
2011
- Elle Newmark: The Sandalwood Tree
- Erin Morgenstern: The Night Circus
- Gayle Forman: Where She Went
- J.B.: Zor
- Lauren Oliver: Delirium
- Louise Douglas: The Secrets Between Us
2012
- Ayelet Gundar-Goshen: One Night, Markovitch (English translation: Hebrew)
- Cheryl Rainfield: Parallel Visions
- Eowyn Ivey: The Snow Child
- Gillian Flynn: Gone Girl
- J K Rowling: The Casual Vacancy
- J R Crook: Sleeping Patterns
- John Green: The Fault In Our Stars
- Kate Forsyth: Bitter Greens
- Laura Navarre: By Royal Command
- Rainbow Rowell: Eleanor & Park
- Roelof Bakker (ed.): Still
- Sadie Jones: The Uninvited Guests
- Shannon Stacey: All He Ever Desired
- Shannon Stacey: All He Ever Needed
- Zadie Smith: NW
2013
- Adelle Waldman: The Love Affairs Of Nathaniel P
- Becky Aikman: Saturday Night Widows
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Americanah
- Elizabeth Chadwick: The Summer Queen
- Elizabeth Fremantle: Queen’s Gambit
- Helen Wecker: The Golem And The Jinni
- John Elder Robison: Raising Cubby
- Kate Forsyth: The Wild Girl
- Martin Wagner: Deutschland
- Meike Ziervogel: Magda
- Melissa Marr & Tim Pratt (ed.): Rags & Bones
- Pavarti K Tyler: White Chalk
- Taylor Stevens: The Doll
2014
- Anna Hope: Wake
- E Lockhart: We Were Liars
- James Rhodes: Instrumental
- Johanna Lane: Black Lake
- Meike Ziervogel: Clara’s Daughter
2015
- Cathy Rentzenbrink: The Last Act Of Love
- Claire Watts: How Do You Say Gooseberry In French?
- Meike Ziervogel: Kauthar
- Nicola Cornick: House Of Shadows
- Patrick Gale: A Place Called Winter
- Sara Taylor: The Shore
- Sarah Howe: Loop Of Jade
2016
- Colson Whitehead: The Underground Railroad
- Dan Richards: Climbing Days
- Keith Stuart: A Boy Made Of Blocks
- Kit de Waal: My Name Is Leon
- Helen Oyeyemi: What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours
- Sara Taylor: The Lauras
- Tom Connolly: Men Like Air
- Yaa Gyasi: Homegoing
2017
- Claire Fuller: Swimming Lessons
- Gail Honeyman: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
- Nicholas Royle: An English Guide To Birdwatching
- Orlando Ortega-Medina: Jerusalem Ablaze
- Phillip Lewis: The Barrowfields
- Sofie Laguna: The Choke
- Weike Wang: Chemistry
2018
2019
- Julia Armfield: Salt Slow
- Samantha Sotto: A Dream Of Trees
- Seishi Yokomizo: The Honjin Murders (English translation: Japanese)
What have been your favourites these last years?
Today’s podcast
If you can’t view the media player below or to see all the details and transcript, I’ve made a blog page here.
Charlie and Phillip Lewis (The Barrowfields) discuss planning out fictional houses, the detail and beauty of classical music, books about books, and how real life in all its ups and downs makes its mark on your work.
The podcast is also available on iTunes and Spotify.
December 31, 2019, 2:29 pm
Charlie, I have been enjoying all these books of the decade posts too. Sadly I would find it very hard to join as I haven’t been blogging for long enough to help me remember that long back!
January 5, 2020, 6:05 pm
Here’s my post for the decade:
https://ksrgmck.wordpress.com/2020/01/05/a-decade-of-reading/
January 13, 2020, 3:07 pm
Kelly: Interesting to hear; I’ll be on the look out for mentions or reviews! Thank you for adding your link – I will have a look, fab stuff :D
Jessica: I know what you mean; making the list made me wonder about the 2000s and then I realised I only had data for one year of that, which was kind of a pity (though also probably good as I wasn’t reading much that decade). If the idea interests you, you could always do the years you do remember? :)
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December 9, 2019, 5:05 pm
What an interesting post! I think I’ve only read two of those you’ve listed. I do have several others either in my TBR pile or on my wish list.
I would have trouble making a list for the decade. There have been so many good books! (but you’ve thrown down the gauntlet, so I might have to try…)