Best Books of the Decade: 2000s
The best books published during the 2000s decade (2000 - 2009).
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7) by J.K. Rowling   4.50 avg rating — 531,561 ratings
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The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini  4.15 avg rating — 509,821 ratings
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The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (Goodreads Author)  3.91 avg rating — 402,728 ratings
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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6) by J.K. Rowling 4.42 avg rating — 514,824 ratings
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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4) by J.K. Rowling 4.40 avg rating — 535,763 ratings
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5) by J.K. Rowling 4.33 avg rating — 514,833 ratings
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The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins 4.54 avg rating — 423,070 ratings
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Twilight (Twilight, #1) by Stephenie Meyer 3.67 avg rating — 836,695 ratings
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A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini 4.28 avg rating — 194,410 ratings
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Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen 4.06 avg rating — 305,461 ratings
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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Goodreads Author) 4.33 avg rating — 147,391 ratings
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The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold 3.66 avg rating — 498,447 ratings
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| 13 |
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Life of Pi by Yann Martel 3.78 avg rating — 213,930 ratings
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| 14 |
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The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd 3.86 avg rating — 379,988 ratings
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The Road by Cormac McCarthy 3.93 avg rating — 145,252 ratings
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Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 3.83 avg rating — 207,417 ratings
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Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4) by Stephenie Meyer 3.77 avg rating — 411,400 ratings
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The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2) by Dan Brown 3.60 avg rating — 732,552 ratings
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon 3.76 avg rating — 221,348 ratings
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Eclipse (Twilight, #3) by Stephenie Meyer 3.84 avg rating — 441,220 ratings
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The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Goodreads Author) 4.45 avg rating — 295,376 ratings
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My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult 4.00 avg rating — 212,341 ratings
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Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2) by Suzanne Collins 4.38 avg rating — 289,771 ratings
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New Moon (Twilight, #2) by Stephenie Meyer 3.65 avg rating — 460,747 ratings
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The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 3.98 avg rating — 284,572 ratings
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The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls 4.14 avg rating — 158,479 ratings
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Atonement by Ian McEwan 3.74 avg rating — 100,223 ratings
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The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón 4.17 avg rating — 63,474 ratings
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Harry Potter Boxset (Harry Potter, #1-7) by J.K. Rowling 4.71 avg rating — 50,024 ratings
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The Host (The Host, #1) by Stephenie Meyer 3.87 avg rating — 149,695 ratings
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Angels and Demons (Robert Langdon, #1) by Dan Brown 3.71 avg rating — 348,102 ratings
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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer 4.12 avg rating — 71,279 ratings
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The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom 3.72 avg rating — 120,689 ratings
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American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author) 4.06 avg rating — 82,379 ratings
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Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 3.38 avg rating — 352,448 ratings
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The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 3.89 avg rating — 68,102 ratings
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Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 3.83 avg rating — 57,844 ratings
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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows 4.10 avg rating — 113,512 ratings
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The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon 4.16 avg rating — 55,430 ratings
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The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory 3.95 avg rating — 119,593 ratings
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Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris 3.84 avg rating — 256,268 ratings
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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (Goodreads Author) 3.98 avg rating — 77,683 ratings
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The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) by Rick Riordan 4.13 avg rating — 153,835 ratings
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The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson (Goodreads Author) 3.91 avg rating — 81,351 ratings
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Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson (Goodreads Author) 3.77 avg rating — 91,193 ratings
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Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 3.71 avg rating — 65,957 ratings
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The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova 3.66 avg rating — 64,933 ratings
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Looking for Alaska by John Green 4.27 avg rating — 39,610 ratings
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Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer 3.88 avg rating — 47,418 ratings
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Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke 3.74 avg rating — 40,141 ratings
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City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1) by Cassandra Clare (Goodreads Author) 4.17 avg rating — 107,513 ratings
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Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult 3.95 avg rating — 72,805 ratings
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The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri 3.89 avg rating — 69,673 ratings
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A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers 3.59 avg rating — 70,544 ratings
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Uglies (Uglies, #1) by Scott Westerfeld 3.89 avg rating — 84,571 ratings
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The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch 4.15 avg rating — 59,426 ratings
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The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson 4.14 avg rating — 152,710 ratings
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The History of Love by Nicole Krauss 3.85 avg rating — 39,401 ratings
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Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt 3.74 avg rating — 166,973 ratings
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The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen 3.66 avg rating — 40,089 ratings
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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz 3.81 avg rating — 52,718 ratings
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The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards 3.48 avg rating — 227,784 ratings
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Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1) by Richelle Mead (Goodreads Author) 4.24 avg rating — 65,884 ratings
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Coraline by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author) 3.91 avg rating — 64,202 ratings
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Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs 3.51 avg rating — 95,327 ratings
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The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author) 4.09 avg rating — 58,347 ratings
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Oryx and Crake (MaddAdam Trilogy, #1) by Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author) 3.92 avg rating — 32,579 ratings
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The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan 4.19 avg rating — 50,218 ratings
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Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami 4.06 avg rating — 36,797 ratings
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The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author) 3.86 avg rating — 32,355 ratings
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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi 4.20 avg rating — 32,062 ratings
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No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy 4.00 avg rating — 30,220 ratings
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Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell 4.18 avg rating — 19,734 ratings
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| 74 |
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The Shack by William P. Young 3.47 avg rating — 88,329 ratings
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What is the What by Dave Eggers 4.16 avg rating — 28,747 ratings
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Empire Falls by Richard Russo 3.80 avg rating — 29,361 ratings
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The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) by Patrick Rothfuss (Goodreads Author) 4.54 avg rating — 34,451 ratings
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| 78 |
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A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle, #1) by Libba Bray (Goodreads Author) 3.76 avg rating — 52,805 ratings
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House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (Goodreads Author) 4.10 avg rating — 21,234 ratings
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World Without End (The Pillars of the Earth, #2) by Ken Follett 4.11 avg rating — 34,764 ratings
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| 81 |
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Eragon (Inheritance, #1) by Christopher Paolini 3.63 avg rating — 258,961 ratings
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| 82 |
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The Pact by Jodi Picoult 3.86 avg rating — 62,003 ratings
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Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand 4.03 avg rating — 22,586 ratings
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The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski 3.52 avg rating — 38,545 ratings
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White Teeth by Zadie Smith 3.66 avg rating — 30,625 ratings
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| 86 |
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Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser 3.65 avg rating — 116,069 ratings
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Blink by Malcolm Gladwell 3.72 avg rating — 70,440 ratings
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The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama 3.69 avg rating — 25,435 ratings
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| 89 |
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Peace Like a River by Leif Enger 3.90 avg rating — 23,001 ratings
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| 90 |
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Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver 4.04 avg rating — 35,971 ratings
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| 91 |
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Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (Goodreads Author) 3.91 avg rating — 40,890 ratings
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| 92 |
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The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, #3) by Philip Pullman 3.97 avg rating — 66,281 ratings
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| 93 |
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John Adams by David McCullough 4.26 avg rating — 25,837 ratings
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| 94 |
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Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer 3.89 avg rating — 40,579 ratings
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| 95 |
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Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks 3.91 avg rating — 27,517 ratings
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| 96 |
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Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult 3.90 avg rating — 43,661 ratings
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| 97 |
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Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende 3.79 avg rating — 26,227 ratings
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| 98 |
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The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #12) by Lemony Snicket 3.90 avg rating — 19,349 ratings
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| 99 |
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Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts 4.20 avg rating — 17,901 ratings
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Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky 3.73 avg rating — 21,164 ratings
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3,104 books ·
13,851 voters ·
list created May 29th, 2008
by deleted user.
Tags:
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and best
Lists are re-scored approximately every 500 seconds.
Comments (showing 1-50 of 77) (77 new)
I think some of the best books of the decade have been published for children and teens, but this isn't bad in terms of books for adults.
Removed "House of the Spirits" and "Matilda" from the list as they were definitely not published in the 2000s (not originally anyway). If you see any others that are wrongly categorised (don't have time to go through them all) please don't hesitate to send me a comment and let me know.
Do you want the book to be made into a movie? In my view your whole story - the war in Yugoslavia and your experiences in South Africa - are eminently suitable to make a Hollywood movie. In truth the book could have been just about your life in two very difficult countries. The UFO aspect - I, too, was for a while obsessed with wanting contact with UFO's....there are so many 'co-incidences' in what I read in your book...Elizabeth Klarer...I interviewed her twice...similarities aplenty. So dear Momo, just from reading your book I can see why Dr Johan Joubert - he incidentally extracted my beloved little Pomeranian's teeth! - had nothing but praise for you. I feel as though you and I and he know each other - or knew each other in a previous life. All the subjects that interest you, that preoccupy you, are the subjects that fascinate me too. I salute you for writing a book in a language that isn't even your own! Warm regards God bless Jani Juliett Allan --Radio presentorHello! I heard you speak on radio this evening and was surprised and pleased to hear someone speak such intelligent, civilised good sense. It was very uplifting and inspiring Whatever you have learned from Other World intelligences, you are bound by conscience and humanity to share it with all who will listen When I was young, I knew an elderly man in California who regularly disappeared from his home and returned days later with "communication" from Other Worlds via ET flying craft. I am sure he was one of the wisest people I've ever met Unfortunately he had developed a taste for the music of Other Worlds and would attempt to reproduce it on various instruments. It was the worst music I have ever heard! I would be interested to know more about the UFOs you spoke of With best wishes Dr Ian Bell "It's never too late to have a happy childhood" (Me, 1996) --Email regarding the author's radio talk show
Hi Carol Thanks for organising the evening. The experience of listening to Momo and then talking to him afterwards when he autographed our book was profound.His message transcended words as the gentleness of his nature has a subtle effect on the senses and one realises that there is a deeper message, in that, through simplicity, love and acceptance of life, we all have the ability to communicate from our realm to other realms. If we can accept that divinity exists within each and every one of us, and that loving gestures reflect the true purpose of our being, all obstacles can be overcome without the pain and suffering to which we constantly expose ourselves. I would like to communicate further with Momo and would appreciate if you could you let me have his e-mail address Regards Issy Lichtenstein --The letter regarding the author's talk show
Emily are you vettting the list? I found several more that were first published before 2000..
Into Thin Air
White Oleandar
No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
Love two out of the three but won't vote for them since they don't fit the criteria as stated. Was that geeky enough?
I removed some books that were not initially published from 2000-2009:Alias Grace
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Also deletedThe Alchemist
Originally published in 1988
Plainsong
Originally published in 1999
Bridget Jones's Diary
Originally published in 1996
just a few more that were originally published in the 90's or earlier.Jeanette Winterson's Written on the Body (1992)
Katherine Dunn's Geek Love: A Novel (1989)
Jose Saramago's Blindness (1995)
Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies (1999)
i actually voted for the Interpreter of Maladies and then realized that it might have not been published 2000 or later.
thank you
I'd like to have voted for The Cave by José Saramago, but I'm told it isn't a book of this decade? It was originally published in 2000, and I believe the English translation is copyright 2002.
Book Review: Nesohc a new version of Jesus
Few books pack superb insightfulness, precise scientific research, wonderful human characterization, verifiable scientific explanations, unsurpassed argumentative dialogue, outstanding innovative views on the life and works of the most influential man in history "Jesus Christ". If you add a mind boggling plot to top it off, you may get a nanometric idea of the reach and wonder of this masterpiece. The book is a marvelous novel with a new twist on the origin, birth, life, miracles, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus. The novel is very well researched and the plot unfolds in an enjoyable and easy to follow manner which glues you to the book from beginning to end. The protagonists, (Jesus and the disciples), are depicted in a fresh, realistic, humorous and earthly manner befitting of their true nature. The plot, although a personal interpretation of the life of Jesus, is so plausible that it is difficult throw it in the “science fiction” bag. The author presents reasonable alternatives as to the origin of life on earth; the development, nature, and ultimate destination of the human soul; a feasible method for travelling in space, infinitely faster than the speed of light; and many other wonderfully creative insights which provide much fuel for thought.
Although the primary purpose of the book is that of entertainment, the very nature of its content is bound to produce a great deal of introspection in those with an open mind. The author advocates no theories, but merely presents a script which differs from traditional orthodox views. He makes no claim as to the validity of the script, but merely spills a glass which is soaked by the creative and imaginative minds of the readers I highly recommend this book to all audiences. Its fast and easy to follow style will provide many hours of enjoyable and thoughtful entertainment for readers all ages. Its deep philosophical implications make it a worthy mental exercise for analytical individuals interested in philosophy, metaphysics, religion, psychology, and ethics.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable, entertaining, and easy to follow book which provides a banquet for thought.
Amy wrote: "I removed some books that were not initially published from 2000-2009:Alias Grace
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
"
if you give a mouse a cookie was my favorite book in kindergarden, 22 years ago! i love the newer ones with the pig and the moose. they've proved timeless with kids i work with :)
I love this book! It is very sad, really, but with a good ending. I hate that the mother favored her sister so much and then Priscilla had to deal with that even during the depression when they had no place to live, really.
IkraAmesta wrote: "i guess 3 of the top 5 from this list are highly overrated books."
Twilight and harry potter aren't overrated, its just that they largely appeal to young people in the same way that the Time travellers wife largely appeals to idiots.
28: Twilight and harry potter aren't overrated, its just that they largely appeal to young people in the same way that the Time travellers wife largely appeals to idiots.hahahaha
but seriously... TTTW at no 1? and the popularity of the twilight series really makes me wonder if this website is populated by women between the ages of 15-35....
Angryy0uth wrote: "28: Twilight and harry potter aren't overrated, its just that they largely appeal to young people in the same way that the Time travellers wife largely appeals to idiots.hahahaha
but seriously... ..."
It makes me sick how much people think Twilight should be called "literature."
I expected to see more good read titles ie The Safe house, Nicci French.December, Elizabeth Windthrop.The Reader,Bernard Schlink. Arthur &George, Julian Barnes. These are only a selection of my 2009 good reads.
Have just finished reading Guernica by Dave Boling. Not on this list yet. An epic read; but I wouldn't compare it with "The English Patient"
It prompted me to take a better look at and appreciate Picasso's Guernica.
porno for marx wrote: "bastard out of carolina is from the early frigging nineties"And it has the correct original publication date. I suspect it was added when it had an incorrect one. Frankly, I'm too tired right now to delete it.
elissa wrote: "I think some of the best books of the decade have been published for children and teens, but this isn't bad in terms of books for adults."Great idea to make a list of children's and teens books... I love books in that genre and would love to see a list!
Amy wrote: "I removed some books that were not initially published from 2000-2009:Alias Grace
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
"
Thanks for keeping the list up, Amy. Ann-Marie MacDonald's Fall On Your Knees was also originally published in 1996.
Great list.
James Baldwin, "Giovanni's Room" was published in the 1950's or 1960's. "The Life and Times of Michael K" was written in the 1980's or 1990's.
If you'll tell me which pages the books in question are on, I'll be happy to remove them.(Giovanni's Room is 1940, and Michael K won the Booker in 1983.)
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