The Best Modern Classics (Books of the Last 50 Years) > Likes and Comments

A few favorites on your list, and some I haven't read yet that I'm adding to my reading list.

Pondering what books would make my own list...

Kushiel's Dart would have to be #1 on my list. I've had friends describe it as a perfect book. I'm not sure it's perfect, but it's very close. I've returned to it before, thinking it couldn't be as good as I remembered, and it always is. The thing that I think keeps it from being more renowned is the subject matter, although it is always handled tastefully.

Probably #2 would be The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. I've probably recommended this book more than any other since I read it.

The Chess Garden is another book that sticks with you and refuses to let go. It's been a few years since I last read it, so I really should read it again soon.

Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster is a children's book that made me wish the boys were younger so we could have curled up and read together.

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County One thing I'm noticing, looking back at these, is that not only did the books stick with me and refuse to leave, but also, they clung tight as I finished the story.

As you turn the last page, you know you've read something special.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - another book I'd consider almost perfect. Stieg Larsson was such a great author, and I'll probably always be sad that he didn't get to finish his series before he died, but the books he did write are amazing.

The Hate U Give - I have no doubt that it belongs on this list, even though the storyline feels more simple than most of the other books here..this could believably be an autobiography, and it hits like truth. There are many people I *wish* I could recommend this book to, but I know they wouldn't get through it, which makes me sad. (By the way, the movie is also very good.)

The 50 year limit makes this difficult. The Westing Game just barely falls within that window (in 2 more years it'll be 50 years old). It was my first favorite non-children's book, and I've read it so many times I've lost count. As a teen, this book, The Outsiders, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, The Dark Is Rising, and Time for the Stars would have all been on my list.

This one is a graphic novel: The Complete Maus. It's another one I've recommended many times, and even had the boys read it as part of our homeschool.

And now we come to #10, which is difficult. What gets included, what gets left out? In the end, it comes down to a choice between Piranesi and My Real Children. Such different books to end up on, and when I turned the last page of Piranesi, I didn't even like it...didn't even add it to my all-time favorites list until later. But it does deserve a place on this list.

My Real Children does as well. It's stuck with me from the beginning and is a topic you almost never see anyone write about (it's a story about families, life choices, and dementia, told from the pov of the dementia patient).

So I guess my top 10 Modern Classics are actually 11. Hope you enjoy the list! :)

I love how these are completely different from my picks - and look forward to reading them!

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on them.