Top 5 Novels Written In The Last Decade..

[Novel]

Which novels would make your list? Naturally, we all maintain differing opinions, but I'm interested in seeing what others think..

 

As for me, I have yet to complete my list. It will be up soon, although I must admit -- I am slightly struggling with this..

[Kell]

So, between 1997 and now? Ooh, I'll have to have a good hard think about this! i'll get back to you on this one...

[samgrosser]

So, between 1997 and now? Ooh, I'll have to have a good hard think about this! i'll get back to you on this one...

 

Me too.

[Novel]

So, between 1997 and now?

 

 

Yes.

 

This is much more difficult than I originally thought..

[Freewheeling Andy]

David Mitchell - Ghostwritten

David Mitchell - Number 9 Dream

David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas

David Mitchell - Black Swan Green

 

and something else, probably either

 

John Lanchester - Fragrant Harbour (The Debt To Pleasure is better, but 1996)

Audrey Nieffeneger - Time Traveller's Wife

[~Andrea~]

So you rate David Mitchell then

 

I don't think i've read enough contemporary fiction to do this. Its one of my aims for next year - to keep my reading up to date.

[angerball]

The main ones that spring to mind are:

 

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Maggie O'Farrell

Out - Natsuo Kirino

Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk

The Beach - Alex Garland

 

I can't think of a fifth one, though I'm sure there is one. :eek2: I desperately want to put Microserfs by Douglas Coupland, but it missed the 10 year cut-off.

 

Actually, I just thought of one, which can be my number 5:

Life of Pi by Yann Martel.

[madcow]

The top 5 that spring to mind for me are

 

Michel Faber - The Crimson Petal & The White

Audrey Nieffeneger - The Time Traveller's Wife

Katherine Warwick - An Open Vein

Lesley Pearce - Trust Me

Claire Rayner - The Legacy & The Inheritance

 

There are loads more I could list but for me these ones have made lasting impressions.

[KW]

The top 5 that spring to mind for me are

 

Michel Faber - The Crimson Petal & The White

Audrey Nieffeneger - The Time Traveller's Wife

Katherine Warwick - An Open Vein

Lesley Pearce - Trust Me

Claire Rayner - The Legacy & The Inheritance

 

There are loads more I could list but for me these ones have made lasting impressions.

Thank you for including me on your list!!!!

 

-katherine warwick aka jm warwick

[Freewheeling Andy]

So you rate David Mitchell then

 

I don't think i've read enough contemporary fiction to do this. Its one of my aims for next year - to keep my reading up to date.

 

Hmm. Perhaps the 4 David Mitchells makes me look obsessive. If I have to chose 5 different authors, too:

 

David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas

Audrey Nieffeneger - Time Traveller's Wife

John Lanchester - Fragrant Harbour

Philip Roth - The Plot Against America

Michael Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay

 

Other mentions to JM Coetzee's Disgrace, and Super-Cannes by JG Ballard (Cocaine Nights, which is better, just falls outside the 10 year limit)

 

I don't think any of my favourite Murukami or Kadare is in the last decade, even though they're probably my favourite authors currently writing with a large back catalogue.

[Polka Dot Rock]

It's taken me ages to think about this! So here's what I think (at the moment):

 

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

The Crimson Petal and The White - Michel Faber

The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Nieffeneger

Unless - Carol Shields

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke

[madcow]

Thank you for including me on your list!!!!

 

-katherine warwick aka jm warwick

 

Well i did say when I read an Open Vein that it would stay with me for a long time!

[KW]

 

JM

[SteffieB]

I'm thinking! I'm thinking!

[NiceguyEddie]

This is very difficult for two reasons. One is just a taste issue and the other is practical.

 

Choosing five out hundreds I've read is tough, but being able to access the room where they are is impossible as it is currently full of boxes of audio books awaiting a new warehouse, so I can't see what I've read, much less when it was written.

 

Even so:

 

I'd have Cloud Atlas too, plus:

 

This Thing of Darkness - Harry Thompson,

Any Human Heart - William Boyd

A Widow for One Year - John Irving

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

[NiceguyEddie]

It's taken me ages to think about this! So here's what I think (at the moment):

 

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

The Crimson Petal and The White - Michel Faber

The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Nieffeneger

Unless - Carol Shields

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke

 

I couldn't finish Unless. I don't know what it is but I find some women writers utterly dull - I'd add Sarah Waters & Zadie Smith.

[dons his flame proof jacket]

[Polka Dot Rock]

I couldn't finish Unless. I don't know what it is but I find some women writers utterly dull - I'd add Sarah Waters & Zadie Smith.

 

I could easily say the same about male writers

[~Andrea~]

I couldn't finish Unless. I don't know what it is but I find some women writers utterly dull - I'd add Sarah Waters & Zadie Smith.

 

Surely you mean you find some writers utterly dull? Or do you find all male writers gripping and interesting?

 

I don't like Zadie Smith either btw

[NiceguyEddie]

Surely you mean you find some writers utterly dull? Or do you find all male writers gripping and interesting?

 

 

No, that's the thing. I should have been more specific and said I find a sizable proportion of literary female writers dull.

[~Andrea~]

Wow. I find a lot of literary fiction dull tbh.

[Freewheeling Andy]

I'm sympathetic to what Eddie is saying - I'm not sure I find women literary writers dull, but I seem rarely to pick up their books, and I wonder if it's not at least in part because the themes aren't the themes I want to be focussing on; whether there aren't more masculine and more feminine themes. Of course, there are still more men writing than women so that automatically skews the author-demographic that anyone is interested in, but there may be more to it than just a numbers game.

[NiceguyEddie]

I could easily say the same about male writers

 

I wouldn't be offended if you did. Interestingly, some of the best crime writers are female, P D James, Agatha Christie, Ruth Rendell, Patricia Highsmith and so on.

[Kell]

This is proving tougher than I thought! I'm busy narrowing it down at the moment. So far I have to choose from the likes of:

 

The Plucker: A Graphic Novel by Brom

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

Cold Granite / Dying Light / Broken Skin by Stuart MacBride

The Eagle's Prey / The Eagles Prophecy / The Eagle & the Wolves by Simon Scarrow

The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Where's My Cow? by Terry Pratchett

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

 

As you can see, I have my work cut out for me, as I'm already thinking of more books that simply blew me away or even just entertained me wildly (I'm aware that many of the books I've enjoyed most of all might not be seen as worthy contenders by others, but they've given me some of the most pleasurable hours reading ever!).

 

(I wanted to include The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman, but it was first published in 1996, so it just misses out!)

[Nici]

I can only think of three at the moment:-

 

Raven Hart - The Vampires Seduction

Raven Hart - The Vampires Secret

Nancy McKenzie - Queen of Camelot

 

I will come back with two more when I can think of them!

 

Unfortunately most of the books I read are older than this decade.

[Polka Dot Rock]

(I wanted to include The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman, but it was first published in 1996, so it just misses out!)

 

Lol, that happened to me too! It's most definitely in my top ten of all time, possibly top five :eek2:

 

And thanks for mentioning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: I only read it this year and am in awe of how good it is! I'm always a little sceptical of hyped-up books but I'm not surprised it has become so well loved.