100. Denis Johnson: Tree of Smoke 99. Ali Smith: How to Be Both 98. Ann Patchett: Bel Canto 97. Jesmyn Ward: Men We Reaped 96. Saidiya Hartman: Wayward Lives Beautiful Experiments 95. Hilary Mantel: Bring Up the Bodies 94. Zadie Smith: On Beauty 93. Emily St. John Mandel: Station Eleven 92. Elena Ferrante: The Days of Abandonment 91. Philip Roth: The Human Stain 90. Viet Thanh Nguyen: The Sympathizer 89. Hisham Matar: The Return 88. Lydia Davis: The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis 87. Torrey Peters: Detransition, Baby 86. David W. Blight: Frederick Douglass 85. George Saunders: Pastoralia 84. Siddhartha Mukherjee: The Emperor of All Maladies 83. Benjamin Labatut: When We Cease to Understand the World 82. Fernanda Melchor: Hurricane Season 81. John Jeremiah Sullivan: Pulphead 80. Elena Ferrante: The Story of the Lost Child 79. Lucia Berlin: A Manual for Cleaning Women 78. Jon Fosse: Septology 77. Tayari Jones: An American Marriage 76. Gabrielle Zevin: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow 75. Mohsin Hamid: Exit West 74. Elizabeth Strout: Olive Kitteridge 73. Robert A. Caro: The Passage of Power 72. Svetlana Alexievitch: Secondhand Time 71. Tove Ditlevsen: The Copenhagen Trilogy 70. Edward P. Jones: All Aunt Hagar’s Children 69. Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow 68. Sigrid Nunez: The Friend 67. Andrew Solomon: Far from the Tree 66. Justin Torres: We the Animals 65. Philip Roth: The Plot Against America 64. Rebecca Makkai: The Great Believers 63. Mary Gaitskill: Veronica 62. Ben Lerner: 10:04 61. Barbara Kingsolver: Demon Copperhead 60. Kiese Laymon: Heavy 59. Jeffrey Eugenides: Middlesex 58. Hua Hsu: Stay True 57. Barbara Ehrenreich: Nickel and Dimed 56. Rachel Kushner: The Flame Throwers 55. Lawrence Wright: The Looming Tower 54. George Saunders: Tenth of December 53. Alice Munro: Runaway 52. Denis Johnson: Train Dreams 51. Kate Atkinson: Life After Life 50. Hernan Diaz: Trust 49. Han Kang: The Vegetarian 48. Marjane Satrapi: Perseopolis 47. Toni Morrison: A Mercy 46. Donna Tartt: The Goldfinch 45. Maggie Nelson: The Argonauts 44. N. K. Jemisin: The Fifth Season 43. Tony Judt: Postwar 42. Marlon James: A Brief History of Seven Killings 41. Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These 40. Helen Macdonald: H Is for Hawk 39. Jennifer Egan: A Visit from the Goon Squad 38. Roberto Bolano: The Savage Detectives 37. Annie Ernaux: The Years 36. Ta-Nehisi Coates: Between the World and Me 35. Alison Bechdel: Fun Home 34. Claudia Rankine: Citizen 33. Jesmyn Ward: Salvage the Bones 32. Alan Hollinghurst: The Line of Beauty 31. Zadie Smith: White Teeth 30. Jesmyn Ward: Sing, Unburied, Sing 29. Helen DeWitt: The Last Samurai 28. David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas 27. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Americanah 26. Ian McEwan: Atonement 25. Adrian Nicole LeBlanc: Random Family 24. Richard Powers: The Overstory 23. Alice Munro: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage 22. Katherine Boo: Behind the Beautiful Forevers 21. Matthew Desmond: Evicted 20. Percival Everett: Erasure 19. Patrick Radden Keefe: Say Nothing 18. George Saunders: Lincoln in the Bardo 17. Paul Beatty: The Sellout 16. Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay 15. Min Jin Lee: Pachinko 14. Rachael Cusk: Outline 13. Cormac McCarthy: The Road 12. Joan Didion: The Year of Magical Thinking 11. Junot Diaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao 10. Marilynne Robinson: Gilead 9. Kazuo Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go 8. W. G. Sebald: Austerlitz 7. Colson Whitehead: The Underground Railroad 6. Roberto Bolano: 2666 5. Jonathan Franzen: The Corrections 4. Edward P. Jones: The Known World 3. Hilary Mantel: Wolf Hall 2. Isabel Wilkerson: The Warmth of Other Suns 1. Elena Ferrante: My Brilliant Friend
I've read 52 and own 13 more. I will try to get to those this year or next. I may not read all the rest, but there are another dozen or so I want to read. I love this list. Milkman would have made my list.
Lists like this are catnip for me: not only curiosity about which books made the list but how many have I read? (62.) Gets me thinking what my top 10 would be. Impossible task? Perhaps 3 from the 100 would be on it: Fun Home, Persepolis and How to Be Both.
I read 52. Would have loved to have seen Lauren Groff’s Matrix. The Good Lord Bird by James McBride, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, and mostly The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
Kieran’s take on this was hilarious! I have only read 24 but that would have been higher if Milkman, Ducks, the Trees and Feast of the Goat (Vargas Llosa) had been deservedly included!
Read 18 but two were dnfs. American Marriage & Hurricane Season. A book that deals with similar themes from Heavy is HEFT by Liz Moore. I just finished her new book The God of the Woods on audio.
Ooh, thank you! I hadn’t heard of Heft! Oh gosh, if it hadn’t been for my stubbornness, and it being an audiobook, I would have DNFd American Marriage 😂
I really enjoyed going through the list and the interactive element. I've read 10. I ordered a couple of books as well - Stay True - Hua Hsu and Manual for Cleaning Woman. I have a brand new 5 week old baby though so a few short stories are all that are being managed at the moment 😂❤
I've read 35, which I'm quite surprised by, because usually my reading taste and this kind of lists don't go along very well. I also already own maybe ten books from that list that I want to read and some I want to get from the library.
I tallied books I’ve read and books I want to read from both the original list and the readers list they released a few days later. The results were remarkably similar. For the original list, I had 5 read and 17 that I wanted to read vs. 9 read and 19 I wanted to read from the readers list. Took me a while for the lightbulb to go off as to why these lists left me so cold. I’m an American, but I much prefer British, Irish, and other international authors to American authors. My lists of favorite books from the last five years or so confirm this. At least I know why I found these lists so incredibly uninspiring. 😁
Lots missing. Lithub has a list of 70+ alternate books that could have been on it. 😄. But I'm not mad about what actually made the list. Except the #1. The snob in me thinks there should actually be a penalty for popularity. 🙄
Ooh, I’m excited to see that list- thanks! And yes, there’s always something to be discussed there about whether a list should honour books that had a big readership and impact, or it only be on other qualities.
100. Denis Johnson: Tree of Smoke
99. Ali Smith: How to Be Both
98. Ann Patchett: Bel Canto
97. Jesmyn Ward: Men We Reaped
96. Saidiya Hartman: Wayward Lives Beautiful Experiments
95. Hilary Mantel: Bring Up the Bodies
94. Zadie Smith: On Beauty
93. Emily St. John Mandel: Station Eleven
92. Elena Ferrante: The Days of Abandonment
91. Philip Roth: The Human Stain
90. Viet Thanh Nguyen: The Sympathizer
89. Hisham Matar: The Return
88. Lydia Davis: The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis
87. Torrey Peters: Detransition, Baby
86. David W. Blight: Frederick Douglass
85. George Saunders: Pastoralia
84. Siddhartha Mukherjee: The Emperor of All Maladies
83. Benjamin Labatut: When We Cease to Understand the World
82. Fernanda Melchor: Hurricane Season
81. John Jeremiah Sullivan: Pulphead
80. Elena Ferrante: The Story of the Lost Child
79. Lucia Berlin: A Manual for Cleaning Women
78. Jon Fosse: Septology
77. Tayari Jones: An American Marriage
76. Gabrielle Zevin: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
75. Mohsin Hamid: Exit West
74. Elizabeth Strout: Olive Kitteridge
73. Robert A. Caro: The Passage of Power
72. Svetlana Alexievitch: Secondhand Time
71. Tove Ditlevsen: The Copenhagen Trilogy
70. Edward P. Jones: All Aunt Hagar’s Children
69. Michelle Alexander: The New Jim Crow
68. Sigrid Nunez: The Friend
67. Andrew Solomon: Far from the Tree
66. Justin Torres: We the Animals
65. Philip Roth: The Plot Against America
64. Rebecca Makkai: The Great Believers
63. Mary Gaitskill: Veronica
62. Ben Lerner: 10:04
61. Barbara Kingsolver: Demon Copperhead
60. Kiese Laymon: Heavy
59. Jeffrey Eugenides: Middlesex
58. Hua Hsu: Stay True
57. Barbara Ehrenreich: Nickel and Dimed
56. Rachel Kushner: The Flame Throwers
55. Lawrence Wright: The Looming Tower
54. George Saunders: Tenth of December
53. Alice Munro: Runaway
52. Denis Johnson: Train Dreams
51. Kate Atkinson: Life After Life
50. Hernan Diaz: Trust
49. Han Kang: The Vegetarian
48. Marjane Satrapi: Perseopolis
47. Toni Morrison: A Mercy
46. Donna Tartt: The Goldfinch
45. Maggie Nelson: The Argonauts
44. N. K. Jemisin: The Fifth Season
43. Tony Judt: Postwar
42. Marlon James: A Brief History of Seven Killings
41. Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These
40. Helen Macdonald: H Is for Hawk
39. Jennifer Egan: A Visit from the Goon Squad
38. Roberto Bolano: The Savage Detectives
37. Annie Ernaux: The Years
36. Ta-Nehisi Coates: Between the World and Me
35. Alison Bechdel: Fun Home
34. Claudia Rankine: Citizen
33. Jesmyn Ward: Salvage the Bones
32. Alan Hollinghurst: The Line of Beauty
31. Zadie Smith: White Teeth
30. Jesmyn Ward: Sing, Unburied, Sing
29. Helen DeWitt: The Last Samurai
28. David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas
27. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Americanah
26. Ian McEwan: Atonement
25. Adrian Nicole LeBlanc: Random Family
24. Richard Powers: The Overstory
23. Alice Munro: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage
22. Katherine Boo: Behind the Beautiful Forevers
21. Matthew Desmond: Evicted
20. Percival Everett: Erasure
19. Patrick Radden Keefe: Say Nothing
18. George Saunders: Lincoln in the Bardo
17. Paul Beatty: The Sellout
16. Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
15. Min Jin Lee: Pachinko
14. Rachael Cusk: Outline
13. Cormac McCarthy: The Road
12. Joan Didion: The Year of Magical Thinking
11. Junot Diaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
10. Marilynne Robinson: Gilead
9. Kazuo Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go
8. W. G. Sebald: Austerlitz
7. Colson Whitehead: The Underground Railroad
6. Roberto Bolano: 2666
5. Jonathan Franzen: The Corrections
4. Edward P. Jones: The Known World
3. Hilary Mantel: Wolf Hall
2. Isabel Wilkerson: The Warmth of Other Suns
1. Elena Ferrante: My Brilliant Friend
Thank you! Much appreciated!
I've read 52 and own 13 more. I will try to get to those this year or next. I may not read all the rest, but there are another dozen or so I want to read. I love this list. Milkman would have made my list.
What an amazing amount! And totally agree on Milkman- such a singular achievement.
Go on. Turn the list into a reading project! You’re really good at such projects. And we would all really enjoy reading along with you!😊
Aha, thank you! Only 51 Booker shortlistees to go, and then I’ll have a go! 😂
The one I was suprised wax missing was the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Oh yes! Odd to not see a book that big make a dent on the list.
James McBride, Louise Erdrich, and The Love Songs of W.E.B. du Bois were the biggest omissions for me.
Oh yes! Great choices- I need to read more Erdrich (and Love Songs has been sat looking at me for ages)
Lists like this are catnip for me: not only curiosity about which books made the list but how many have I read? (62.) Gets me thinking what my top 10 would be. Impossible task? Perhaps 3 from the 100 would be on it: Fun Home, Persepolis and How to Be Both.
Oh gosh, yes, it’s such an impossible task! But delighted to see Persepolis on there- what an incredible book!
I read 52.
Would have loved to have seen Lauren Groff’s Matrix. The Good Lord Bird by James McBride, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, and mostly The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
I echo the Swimmers
Ooh, I keep looking at that one- thanks for the nudge!
And 52 is tons! Well done!
Just posted my live reaction to the 2 lists, I was pretty surprised by some!
Ooh, I’m looking forward to watching!
Kieran’s take on this was hilarious! I have only read 24 but that would have been higher if Milkman, Ducks, the Trees and Feast of the Goat (Vargas Llosa) had been deservedly included!
Aha, oh bless him! And yes! Agree on all of those (although I’ve not read any Llosa yet!)
@@BobTheBookerer just this once I’m ahead of you - I have read 26 books by Vargas Llosa 😳!!
@@ianp9086 oh my goodness, that’s incredible!
Read 18 but two were dnfs. American Marriage & Hurricane Season.
A book that deals with similar themes from Heavy is HEFT by Liz Moore. I just finished her new book The God of the Woods on audio.
Ooh, thank you! I hadn’t heard of Heft!
Oh gosh, if it hadn’t been for my stubbornness, and it being an audiobook, I would have DNFd American Marriage 😂
I really enjoyed going through the list and the interactive element. I've read 10. I ordered a couple of books as well - Stay True - Hua Hsu and Manual for Cleaning Woman. I have a brand new 5 week old baby though so a few short stories are all that are being managed at the moment 😂❤
Oh bless you, and all the very best with your little one! But yes, I can imagine that doesn’t lend itself to uninterrupted reading!
I've read 35, which I'm quite surprised by, because usually my reading taste and this kind of lists don't go along very well. I also already own maybe ten books from that list that I want to read and some I want to get from the library.
Oh nice, that’s a good amount! And yes, I think it works as a nice reminder of books you’ve been eyeing up for a while!
I have to check how many of the 35 I actually loved. Quantity is no criteria for quality. 😂
@@ameliareads589 There were a couple on the list I’d read but not enjoyed (The American Marriage being one!)
I tallied books I’ve read and books I want to read from both the original list and the readers list they released a few days later. The results were remarkably similar. For the original list, I had 5 read and 17 that I wanted to read vs. 9 read and 19 I wanted to read from the readers list. Took me a while for the lightbulb to go off as to why these lists left me so cold. I’m an American, but I much prefer British, Irish, and other international authors to American authors. My lists of favorite books from the last five years or so confirm this. At least I know why I found these lists so incredibly uninspiring. 😁
Ahh, totally fair! I am such a fan of Irish writing, so it was confusing for me why so many of my favourites weren’t on there!
Lots missing. Lithub has a list of 70+ alternate books that could have been on it. 😄. But I'm not mad about what actually made the list. Except the #1. The snob in me thinks there should actually be a penalty for popularity. 🙄
Ooh, I’m excited to see that list- thanks!
And yes, there’s always something to be discussed there about whether a list should honour books that had a big readership and impact, or it only be on other qualities.
I've read 8 of them. 6 DNFs 🤭. Unrelated: are hickeys still a thing in 2024?
Oh wow, a great hit rate! 😂
Aha, I guess they are!