20 years of top 10 lists should have netted me 200 books - though actually the number was 201 since in 2010 I cheated and put 11 books on my list (two by one author). So narrowing it down to 20 books really is the creme de la creme - especially when you consider that the 201 books were themselves narrowed down from the almost 1,500 books (!!!) I read over those 20 years. (Thanks to my obsessive record keeping in my paper book journal and Goodreads I actually can keep track.) What I did first was to try to figure out my favorite/most memorable books from each of those years. Some years had a bunch of books, a few years had none. Just to make the list a little easier to narrow down, and a little more inclusive for those who look at it, I also decided to limit each author to just one appearance on the list. And finally, I decided that to merit a place on the list, it had to be a book I really remembered - not just a book I remembered loving. That did create a little recency bias but hey, I'm only human. And needless to say, they all had to be books I would still recommend today!
So, without further ado, my list! As always, I'm going to present it in alphabetical order. First I'll just present a list without adornment, and then if you keep reading I'll tell you a little bit about each book, along with which year of my list it first appeared on.
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
The One That Got Away by Bethany Chase
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Room by Emma Donohue
The Likeness by Tana French
The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
Castle of Water by Dane Huckelbridge
A Widow For One Year by John Irving
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
What You Don't Know About Charlie Outlaw by Leah Stewart
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (2013) - I have a few friends who I know didn't like this book, but to me it's one of the most brilliant books I've ever read. The book begins with main character Ursula being born, and immediately dying - then starts over, with just a tiny difference where the baby lives instead of dies. Goes on in this fashion, following Ursula's life/lives, each with what would have happened if a different path was followed - and with Ursula over time seeming to have some awareness that something bad could have happened. Part Groundhog Day, part not unlike Choose Your Own Adventure, whether it's supposed to be reincarnation or just a notion of all the different paths one life can follow, it was just amazing and emotionally profound.
The One That Got Away by Bethany Chase (2015) - A grownup chick lit novel with heart and depth. Not just about relationships but family, friendships, career. I do not have much in common with the main character, so what really struck me about this book was how I felt I was literally experiencing personally everything that happened to her, and needless to say, it was one of those books that I cried when I finished it!
The Passage by Justin Cronin - (2011) - If you didn't know this book was going to be on my top 20 list, this may be your first time reading this blog, ha ha ha. This is the first book of an absolutely incredible trilogy which feature on my list of best series, and if I hadn't limited myself to one book per author, I might very well have put all 3 books on this list. It's partly a thriller, part science fiction, part horror, part post-apocalyptic, but altogether absolutely amazing and possibly my favorite book of all time. Yes, it's a long book, and the genres might sound a little out there if you don't usually dabble in them, but it's also character driven literary fiction at the same time, and so worth it. If you haven't already read it, what are you waiting for?
Room by Emma Donohue (2011) - If you've seen the movie then you may know more about the premise of this book, but just in case you haven't I'm not going to spoil it, because the less you know about it before reading it, the better. This novel is told from the perspective of a 5 year old, who has lived his entire life confined to an 11x11 room with his mother. Sometimes harrowing and frightening, other times funny and inspiring.
The Likeness by Tana French (2010) - Tana French is one of those authors for whom I had to create the one book only rule - the mystery series this book is part of is also one of my favorite series and I talk about her so much I made a tag for her on the blog pretty early on. Indeed, she's the author who made me put 11 books instead of 10 on my 2006 top 10 list! This particular book is the second book of her Dublin Murder Squad Series, which is a very literary mystery series set in Ireland. In this book, when a young woman who looks exactly like Detective Cassie Maddox, and is using one of Maddox's prior aliases, turns up murdered, Cassie goes undercover posing as the woman to try to figure out who killed her.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2012) Yeah, I know everyone already read this book, but also I think everyone I know (other than my teenage daughter) loved it just as much as I did. As you probably know from the movie if not the book, it's about a teenage girl with terminal cancer whose life changes when she joins a cancer support group. Have a box of tissues handy while reading.
Castle of Water by Dane Huckelbridge (2017) - One of the more obscure books on this list but I recommend it so highly! Wonderful novel about two strangers who survive a small plane crash and have to try to survive as castaways on a tiny island in the South Pacific. So beautifully written and so unique. This has really stayed with me in the 2.5 years since I read it, and I think it will continue to stay with me for a long time.
A Widow For One Year by John Irving (1999) - You want to know what's remarkable about this book? I read it 20 years ago, and I still remember the last line of the book. And it still makes me tear up a little thinking about it. That's why this book landed on one of my inaugural posts on the blog, 5 Books That Have Stayed With You. In the first section, the protagonist of the book is just a little kid (this part of the book was made into a movie with Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger, "The Door in the Floor,"), the second two parts take place when the protagonist is a woman in her 30s. Twenty years on I can't say I remember all the details of the plot, but the feel of the book has never left me.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (2015) - Oh how I loved this book! It starts on the night that a horrible flu pandemic quickly starts wiping out the majority of the world's population. The remainder of the book goes back and forth in time, from years before to 20 years later, touching on characters that were either there in the first scene, or otherwise were connected to the character in the first scene. A literary adult realistic dystopian novel, but also just about humanity, and so brilliantly written.
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (2010) - Another author might have appeared multiple times on this list if I hadn't made a one book per author limit, Kate Morton is the absolute master of dual time period historical fiction with a gothic tinge. It actually is hard to pick a favorite of her books, but I'm going to go with The Forgotten Garden. This family saga jumps through time, revolving around the mystery of how, in 1913, a 4 year old girl arrived in Australia on a boat by herself - ultimately solved by her granddaughter in the present day.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (2004) - Another book best read with a box of tissues, at least if you're sentimental like me. It's a love story that goes back and forth in time but not in the typical way - one of the two main characters, Henry, has some kind of fictional disorder where he periodically jumps around in time, usually to some time involving Clare, who he first meets when he is in his 30s and she is a little girl but he later falls in love with when she is older and he is younger. I know that sounds confusing but it's a beautiful and emotional book.
Wonder by R.J. Palacio (2013) - Yes, this is a middle grade book, but it's also one of the best books I've ever read, and I don't think I've ever met anyone who didn't like it. A really powerful and moving novel about a young boy with facial deformities, who has been home-schooled his whole life and goes to school for the first time in 5th grade. Vivid characters, a really compelling story, and really makes you think. I recommend it to readers of all ages - kids, young adults, adults without kids, parents, grandparents. Everyone can get something out of this book.
The Pact by Jodi Picoult (1999) - Given that I read this book more than 20 years ago, the plot is rather less vivid to me than some of the other books on this list - but I still very much remember the premise of the book - a teenage girl is found dead and her boyfriend claims that they had made a suicide pact which he hadn't gone through with - but the authorities suspect something different. I've continued to recommend this book many times over the years.
Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2017) - This book introduced me to Taylor Jenkins Reid who has gone on to become one of my favorite authors. This is a Sliding Doors-esque book about a somewhat aimless 29 year old woman who moves back to Los Angeles, and depending on one decision she makes her first night back, we see in alternating chapters two very different versions of her life after that. All the characters down to the most minor came vividly to life, and I adored that the most important relationship in both stories was the friendship between the main character and her best friend. The ending(s) were so great that I cried my way through the last two chapters of the book.
The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley (2015) - The book that introduced me to the author Lucinda Riley, and still my favorite book by her. Almost any book which goes back and forth between the past and present and is partly set in an English manor house is guaranteed to please me; this one adds in early 20th century India, a present day plot about an American actress filming a movie at said manor house, great characters, and a great plot.
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (2011) - I know the premise of this book - a novel narrated by a dog who turns out to be wiser in many ways than the humans around him - sounds a little hokey, but it was just so darn good! And I'm not even a dog person. I still remember exactly where I was when I read this book, and that I cried buckets of tears.
What You Don't Know About Charlie Outlaw by Leah Stewart (2018) - Due to the timing of when I read this book and when I started this blog, this was the very first 5 star review I posted on the blog. It's about an actor named Charlie and an actress named Josie who have just broken up - his career is on an upward trajectory while hers is on a downward trajectory. In the wake of their breakup, Charlie travels to a remote island to escape from the media, which turns out to be more dangerous than he anticipated. Back in LA, Josie is busy getting ready for the 20 year reunion for the tv show she starred in. The writing and the character development was seriously amazing, and it was a wonderful page turner.
The Martian by Andy Weir (2014) - If you're not familiar with the book, you may be familiar with the movie with Matt Damon, which was an excellent adaptation. But I think the book is even better. A realistic feeling science fiction novel about an astronaut in the not so distant future, accidentally left for dead on Mars by the rest of his crew. Like Castaway meets Apollo 13, on Mars. Incredibly suspenseful and exciting. Even people I know who never read science fiction liked this one.
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (2014) - This novel is about about the unhappy proprietor of a bookstore on a small island off the coast of Cape Cod, whose wife has died and bookstore is failing, and whose life ends up changing after an unexpected series of events. It is charming, quirky, and will break your heart with both happiness and sadness.
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (2009) - This is a novel about a young girl living in Nazi Germany during World War II, and in an interesting twist, the book is narrated by "Death." I've read a lot of World War II historical fiction and this one just might be the best one.
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