Best Books of the 21st Century

[JSWolf]

That list (overall) is worthless. It leaves out some really good books that are better than what's on the list. Two examples are The Martian by Andy Weir and Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Both books are better than most on the list.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by crich70

Makes you wonder how many of today's new books will in fact be remembered 100 yrs from now doesn't it.

Here is my guess for the 21st-century-so-far book that will be in the most bookstores 100 years from now, if bookstores still exist:

http://www.amazon.com/102-Minutes-Un...rds=102+floors

I realize that the BBC list was fiction only. But if you ask people a century from now what was memorable about the start of the 21st century, it won't be Harry Potter.

[Lin2412]

I finally have The Road and Middlesex. I'll give it a go very soon, and see if I really agree that it should be on this list. I agree with JSWolf that The Martian should be on the list, I've just read it this year and it's already in my Top books of all time.

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

I haven't read any of these. Of course, I only read "good" books. SciFi and Fantasy.

The Road is SF, and Kavalier & Klay is about comics (and also slightly fantastical, not to mention written by a Hugo winner). Those are the two I've read. I read lit-fic when it brushes up close to SF&F.

[Kasper Hviid]

My own picks:
LEXICON by Max Berry.
JOHN DIES AT THE END by David Wang.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by crich70

Isn't it a bit early for such a list? I mean we're only 14 yrs into the century with the 15th year just beginning.

This....

It is an .....ummm.....ahhhh.....'interesting' list though.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

I haven't read any of these. Of course, I only read "good" books. SciFi and Fantasy.

I like you

[ebusinesstutor]

Originally Posted by Geralt

I like you

Thanks Geralt. I find the "literary" crowd's habit of looking down on genre fiction like science fiction and fantasy to be somewhat annoying so I had to get my little dig in.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

Thanks Geralt. I find the "literary" crowd's habit of looking down on genre fiction like science fiction and fantasy to be somewhat annoying so I had to get my little dig in.

Well you have my support
Nothing against literary people, but I think we read for different reasons. There was a topic here before whether the books you read tend to be mirrors or windows. The books I love to read serve me as portals through which I step in other worlds. That's why I read them and love them so much. I think literary books are more on the mirror side and I'm not interested solely in that. I would rather go with portals and if I find some mirrors in those strange worlds all the better.
Looking down part can be annoying but I think majority of it comes from ignorance. There are great fantasy writers for example who are literary in their books like Mervyn Peake, Jack Vance, Susanna Clarke, Gene Wolfe, and so many more.
But even the ones that aren't can be so much fun. Every once in a while I just need something bursting with fun. Like Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne for example. Nothing litterary about them, but boy do I have a great time with them

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

BBC has just released a list of the best books of the century so far, compiled from votes by a sampling of critics. In order, they are:

1. Junot Díaz – The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007)
2. Edward P Jones – The Known World (2003)
3. Hilary Mantel – Wolf Hall (2009)
4. Marilynne Robinson – Gilead (2004)
5. Jonathan Franzen – The Corrections (2001)
6. Michael Chabon – The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000)
7. Jennifer Egan – A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010)
8. Ben Fountain – Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2012)
9. Ian McEwan – Atonement (2001)
10. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Half of a Yellow Sun (2006)
11. Zadie Smith – White Teeth (2000)
12. Jeffrey Eugenides – Middlesex (2002)
13. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Americanah (2013)
14. W. G. Sebald – Austerlitz (2001)
15. Elena Ferrante – My Brilliant Friend (2011)
16. Alan Hollinghurst – The Line of Beauty (2004)
17. Cormac McCarthy – The Road (2006)
18. Zadie Smith – NW (2012)
19. Roberto Bolaño – 2666 (2004)
20. Shirley Hazzard – The Great Fire (2003)

I would not have 6 & 7 on the list. I didn't find either of them to be outstanding.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I would not have 6 & 7 on the list. I didn't find either of them to be outstanding.

Well since you don't work in BBC and you didn't make the list everything is order then?

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That list (overall) is worthless. It leaves out some really good books that are better than what's on the list. Two examples are The Martian by Andy Weir and Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Both books are better than most on the list.

I'd agree with The Martian. I'd also add to the list All the Light We Cannot See By Doerr.