MY Best Books of The 21st Century
Arguably much better than The New York Times list.
Recently, The New York Times polled hundreds of contemporary writers and asked them what their favorite books published in the 21st century were. Each writer was allowed to submit their top ten picks, some of which have been released by The New York Times and are available to peruse online. From these picks the editors compiled a list of the top 100 titles that were mentioned across the board and posted it officially three days ago (behind a paywall, of course—go on incognito mode to view it sans subscription!).
This list has been the source of a lot of discourse online, which I won’t try to capture here. Some of the discourse I agree with, and some I don’t. It’s like any clickbait-driven list on the internet—you can’t please everybody!
What this list did do was get me thinking about MY best books of the 21st century. So a couple of days ago I went through my Goodreads, sorted by my personal star ratings, and compiled my own list. I was surprised to discover which books were published just after 2000, and also surprised to discover that one of my favorites (“White Oleander”) was published in July of 1999, missing the cut by less than six months.
I’ve definitely mentioned some of these books on here before—a handful of them were included in my favorite books of 2023 substack—and I actually share a few of my picks with the New York Times list (go figure). I’d like to make it very clear that this is a personal list, composed entirely from books I’ve read, and shouldn’t be used to speak for every book published in the last 24 years. While The New York Times chose to include nonfiction in their list, I’ve chosen to only look at adult fiction. Without further ado, here are my top ten books of the 21st century (in publication order).
House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
published March 2000
I first learned of this book on Tumblr, as I did most things back in high school. Before devouring “House Of Leaves” in a two-day marathon sprint, I’d never read experimental fiction before. Reading a book which required you to rotate the book in order to read certain pages, or to use a separate piece of paper to decipher a code near the end, was revolutionary and wildly exciting to me. Plus, on top of all the funkiness in the form, it’s just a good haunted house story. I have strong memories of laying on the twin bed I had from grade school through college, flipping through the pages as fast as I could read them, annotating with a blue Bic pen, speeding through because I just had to know how the whole thing ended.
11/22/63 by Stephen King
published November 2011
I carted my thick mass market paperback of this book on the plane to and from Seattle for the very first time. This was the book I was reading during my first writing retreat with ari b. cofer, and one that kept me absolutely riveted on the long, depressing flight back to Albany after it was all over. King’s writing, as always, is sharp in this one. It’s part historical fiction, part science fiction, and part love story. It proves that he isn’t “just” a writer of nightmares and dreamscapes but, rather, a good writer that is recording stories as they come to him. If you’re curious about King but don’t like horror, this is the one to start with.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
published September 2013
I read this book at the end of 2019, a few months after I moved to Albany with my partner. Friends had recommended this book to me for years, and this was my first experience with Tartt (who I’ve now read everything of). This was one of the most immersive books I’ve ever read. The language is dense and haunting, beautiful and sticky. The mystery and tension grip you and don’t let go for the whole 700+ page monstrosity of it. I stayed up late into the night drinking in the words of this one, tears in my eyes as the story unfolded and unfolded and unfolded some more. When I read this, it had been a long time since a book impacted me so deeply. Even remembering it now, I feel a nostalgia to go back and experience it for the first time all over again.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
published September 2014
There’s something magical about this book—so magical that I can ignore the ending which lacks something essential to tie it all together. I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything as hopeful as “Station Eleven” before. Despite being left with a post-pandemic world, bleak and depressed, this novel managed to convince me that even at the end of the world there is something beautiful about humanity. It is worth playing a song to a small audience, writing a book only one person will read, making something meaningful in the wake of destruction. I will tell anyone that yes, this book is imperfect. But the feeling it gives you in the aftermath will more than make up for it.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
published June 2016
The immense understanding of craft that was needed in order to craft this novel is truly impressive. I read this book last year and felt so blown away by how seamlessly Gyasi was able to weave the two storylines together in such a beautiful, tragic, satisfying way. I grew to love these characters in just a chapter’s length of time, which is the only time we’re given to know them as we move through a family split in two, generation by generation. If I were to teach a college fiction course, this would be required reading for its historical relevance and, again, the craft required to tell it.
There There by Tommy Orange
published June 2018
My partner has been teaching this book for years, and I’m not sure why it took me so long to pick it up. But, earlier this year, this was one of my book club picks. “There There” is a beautifully written Faulknerian story about Indigenous folks traveling to Oakland for a Powwow. I was transfixed by this narrative. Each character had their own distinct voice, and was memorable in their own right. The metaphors about the enduring power of storytelling were moving, and I’ve never read a fiction novel that had a historical introduction before (after reading it, I’m wondering why more of them don’t). This is one of the rare books that I would recommend to absolutely anyone.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
published June 2019
When this book came out, I was working at Barnes & Noble. Already a fan of Vuong’s poetry, I bought this book on its release date and held onto it for a few months, finally cracking its spine at the end of August in 2019. I brought this book to Keuka Lake, where I was visiting family and enjoying the water. I read this in the morning, to the sound of water lapping against stone and sunlight filtering through the leaves of the willow tree. It was the perfect setting for what’s likely the most poetic book I’ve ever read. The language will break your heart, then sew it back together again.
Bunny by Mona Awad
published June 2019
It may seem a little impetuous of me to put this book on here, when I finished it less than two months ago. But I’ve never read a better metaphor for writing, and the tireless act of creation, than the one made by Mona Awad through these characters and their actions. Not to mention that the first chapter is, in my opinion, technically perfect, setting up the book so well I had to stop reading and tell somebody about it. To put it into more concrete terms, I read the first 50 pages of this and then started writing fiction prose for the first time since college. It’s strange, and horrific, and fascinating, and beautiful. And don’t let the misguided Goodreads reviews fool you—it’s NOT about men.
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
published March 2020
I read this just over a year ago, at the recommendation of my friend, Kayla, and as a gift from my partner, Paul. Last summer I was in the thick of organizing the collection that has now become “Burning The Ghost Light,” feeling a bit lost with my project and frustrated that I couldn’t have the uninterrupted free time that had allowed me to finish “The Surrender Theory.” In that sense, “Writers & Lovers” found me at the exact time I needed it. Since this was recommended to me, every person I’ve recommended it to at the bookstore has liked it regardless of whether they’re a writer. The prose is, simply put, beautiful, and the story hopeful in a realistic sort of way.
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
published January 2021
This is another book club pick, which I chose last January and devoured over the course of a few days. I’d never read a book before that was so queer, so embedded in the transgender community. This book was explicit and raw, beckoning me into a storyline of motherhood, loss, and belonging, that was unlike anything I’d ever been exposed to before. Though this book wasn’t perfect, and there were plenty of plot points that were debated during book club, I think it deserves a place on this list for being so radically true, in this time where the rights of trans people are under attack by state and federal governments. Plus, the title is really, really clever.
WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND?
Recently, somebody asked me what I’d recommend in terms of a cozy mystery. My answer was the Shady Hollow series by Juneau Black. These are murder mysteries that take place in the forest, and all of the characters are woodland creatures. It doesn't get much cozier than that!!
If you’d like me to recommend a book for you in a future edition of Dancing With The Marginalia, please leave a comment or reply to this newsletter & let me know!
If you had to choose, what would be some of YOUR favorite adult fiction books of the 21st century? Let me know in the comments!
I recently did an interview with Sphinxpoesy on my next project, writing retreats, and, of course, “The Surrender Theory.” You can read that here.
I’m still sending out once-a-month postcard poems over on Patreon! It’s not too late to join for the month of July.
Don’t forget your daily click for Palestine.
This next recommendation is for folks in the Albany, New York, area (& especially those with curly hair). A few weeks ago I got the best haircut of my life from Halie, and that isn’t an exaggeration. Never before have I seen a stylist that was able to craft a look for me that falls so naturally, so right. Halie explained everything they were doing and gave me advice tailored specifically to my hairstyle and quality. This cut is so good, that only about half of the people in my day to day life have noticed that I got over six inches chopped—it just fits! I cannot recommend Halie enough. Go visit them!!
That’s all for this week. Thank you for your patience with this terribly belated newsletter—the next edition will be coming sooner than you think.
Until then,
Caitlin
ohh i cannot wait to read the ones on your list that i haven’t yet read!