I have always loved a good list - especially when it comes to books that claim to define a generation or capture the spirit of a place. I remember when I was younger, I always looked at the Dymocks Top 100 lists. Now I have decided to keep track of my reading of two significant literary lists from the 21st century: The New York Times’ list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century (so far), and Readings' list of the 30 Best Australian Books of the 21st Century (so far).
I’m curious to see how many I’ve read (in bold), which ones I own (marked with an asterix) and which ones might be in my future. I have linked to my reviews where they exist on this blog.
I don't necessarily have a view about whether the lists are 'correct'. I want to use them as a way to reflect on my reading and maybe discover something new.
You can jump to the two lists below:
Readings' Best Australian Books of the 21st Century
The New York Times' 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
Readings' Best Australian Books of the 21st Century
Readings, one of Australia’s most respected independent booksellers, released its list of the 30 Best Australian Books of the 21st Century in 2024 in response to the New York Times' list - to celebrate its deep connection with Australian literature and lack of representation of Australian literature. The list showcases a diverse range of voices, from debut authors to established literary heavyweights, and includes fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid works that speak to Australia’s evolving identity. It’s a celebration of local storytelling and a reminder of the strength and breadth of our literary culture.
I am starting with the Australian selections because they are closer to my heart, and I feel more strongly about prioritising these books when choosing my next read. There are so many on this list that I have already read and absolutely loved. If I could give some shout outs, they would be for The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (one of my favourite books of all time) and for Hannah Kent for having become of my new favourite authors.
1. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (one of my very favourite books of all time)
3. Burial Rights by Hannah Kent (one of my very favourite authors of all time)
4. Breath by Tim Winton
5. Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
6. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan*
7. The Secret River by Kate Grenville
8. Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
9, The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island by Chloe Hooper
10. Dropbear by Evelyn Araluen
12. The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
13. Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Salton*
14. Stasiland by Anna Funder
15. How to End a Story: Diaries 1995 - 1998 by Helen Garner
16. Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko
17. The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose
18. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
19. The White Girl by Tony Birch
20. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
21. Joe Cinque's Consolation by Helen Garner
22. The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay
23. Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
24. The Yield by Tara June Winch
25. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
26. Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down
27. The Dry by Jane Harper
28. Foal's Bread by Gillian Mears
29. The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
30. How the Light Gets In by MJ Hyland
The New York Times' 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
The New York Times published its list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century in July 2024 - unveiling its list of the 100 best books in the first 25 years of this era. The compilation was based on a survey of 503 literary figures, including novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics, and other book enthusiasts. It sparked discussion and controversy. The list leaned heavily on American and English-language titles (61 of the authors were American - not highly diverse for a list of 100 - and only 13 were translated novels), leaving some readers questioning the global inclusiveness of the selection. There was also debate around genre representation and the prominence of certain authors over others.
I've not read nearly as many of these as I have the Australian selections and there are quite a few that I would really like to read some time soon, especially My Brilliant Friend which has been recommended to me over and over again.
1. My Brilliant Friend (#1) by Elena Ferrante*
2. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
3. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel*
4. The Known World by Edward P Jones
5. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen*
6. 2666 by Roberto Bolano
7. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
8. Austerlitz by WG Sebald
9. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro*
10. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
11. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
12. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
13. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
14. Outline by Rachel Cusk
15. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
16. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon*
17. The Sellout by Paul Beatty
18. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders*
19. Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
20. Erasure by Percival Everett
21. Evicted by Matthew Desmond
22. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
23. Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro
24. The Overstory by Richard Powers
25. Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
26. Atonement by Ian McEwan
27. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie*
28. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
29. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
30. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
31. White Teeth by Zadie Smith*
32. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
33. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
34. Citizen by Claudia Rankine
35. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
36. Between the World and Me by Te-Nehisi Coates
37. The Years by Annie Ernaux
38. The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano*
39. A Visit From the Good Squad by Jennifer Egan*
40. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
41. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegam
42. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
43. Postwar by Tony Judt
44. The Fifth Season NK Jemisin
45. The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
46. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
47. A Mercy by Toni Morrison
48. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
49. The Vegetarian by Han Kang
50. Trust by Hernan Diaz
51. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
52. Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
53. Runaway by Alie Munro
54. Tenth of December by George Saunders
55. The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
56. The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
57. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
58. Stay True by Hua Hsu
59. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
60. Heavy by Kiese Laymon
61. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
62. 10:04 by Ben Lerner
63. Veronica by Mary Gaitskill
64. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
65. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
66. We the Animals by Justin Torres
67. Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon
68. The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
69. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
70. All Aunt Hagar's Children by Edward P Morgan
71. The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen
72. Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich
73. The Passage of Power by Robert Caro
74. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
75. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
76. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
77. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
78. Septology by Jon Fosse
79. A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
80. The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante
81. Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivcan
82. Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
83. When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut
84. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
85. Pastoralia by George Saunders
86. Frederick Douglass by David W Blight
87. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
88. The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis by Lydia Davis
89. The Return by Hisham Matar
90. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
91. The Human Stain by Philip Roth
92. The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
93. Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
94. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
95. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
96. Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman
97. Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
98. Bel Canto by Ann Pratchett
99. How to Be Both by Ali Smith
100. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
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