100 Best Reads of the Past 25 Years…?
By Kristen on Jun 24, 2008 in Book Club Favorites, Literary News
photo credit: terren in Virginia
Entertainment Weekly is dedicating their 1000th edition to lists, lists, lists… and you know how we love lists!
So, here is a sampling of their Top 100 Reads of the Past 25 Years (what they dub “The New Classics“).
I list the Top 10, then included only the ones I have read, with a few comments sprinkled here and there…
1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006) Amen!
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000) Seriously? Number 2?
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987) SHOULD Be Number 2
4. The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001) LOVED the movie…
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991) Ground-breaking graphic novel…
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996) Wonderful writer, but too high…
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997) Great movie… Really long novel…
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997) I’ll have to try Murakami again…
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997) Riveting read, WAY too high on the list…
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000) Fun memoir in need of serious editing… WAY too high, but belongs on list…
16. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986) Should be higher than Harry Potter!!!
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988) Ditto!! Tremendous example of magical realism…
20. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding (1998) WAY too high… Loved this, but does not belong on list
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000) Quite a wonderful writing manual… Too high…
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007) Should be higher…
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989) Great character development, but too high…
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990) Beautifully written, but too high…
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997) Perfect.
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001) Too high, but loved it.
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien (1990) Perfect.
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002) Seriously? Where is A Child Called It?
36. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996) Perfect — so funny and without a trace of self-pity…
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000) Should be higher…
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984) Perfect…
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988) Perfect…
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998) Could be higher?
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001) Could be higher
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992) Hmmm…. Loved it, but one of the best?
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000) Should be in top 10!!
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006) Hmmm… Doesn’t belong on same list as Angela’s Ashes…
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997) EDIT, EDIT, EDIT!
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993) Wonderful YA novel, but too high…
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003) Hmmm… belongs on list? Too high certainly…
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992) What?!? Seriously!
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997) Beautiful book… Should be higher?
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003) Hmmm… Belongs on list? Not sure…
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989) Belongs on list, but lower…
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989) Should be much higher!
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006) Seriously!?! I loved this, but one of the best!?
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000) Thought-provoking, but Freakonomics was better…
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002) Liked Amsterdam better, but McEwan definitely belongs on the list…
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004) I would put this higher — top 20…
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003) Well… o.k. for #96…
Curious about the whole list? Click here: Top 100 Best Reads of Past 25 Years
Then, come back and tell me what you think! Which titles do NOT belong and which SHOULD be on the list? (I would have added Disgrace,
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I was a little surprised about some of the books on this list. Maybe a few too many slanted towards the past three years or so? I loved your comments!
Julie P. | Jun 24, 2008 | Reply
Yeah…how did DeLillo’s “Underworld” slip in there? And I agree with Julie, what no classics? The list only goes back to 1983. Sad, sad to never see Mikhail Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita” on any modern list outside of those focused on classics…(sigh). Hmmm - let’s look back to April 28 when you posted the Globe and Mail “50 best books ever written”…there are 11 matches. I would have expected to see “Middlesex” on this list and was disappointed that “Life of Pi” did not make it onto either. Still - there are plenty here I have not read and so off I go a-shopping!!!
Cynthia | Jun 24, 2008 | Reply
Thank you, Julie! I agree with your observation about the titles being so recent… Maybe they just should have made a list of the past 10 years…?
Kristen | Jun 24, 2008 | Reply
Nice cross reference, Cynthia! And I completely agree regarding Middlesex — should be in the top 10, in my opinion… Haven’t read “Margarita” yet — now it’s on my list!
Thank you!!
Kristen | Jun 24, 2008 | Reply
how about Edward Jones’ The Known World?
bill | Aug 1, 2008 | Reply
It sure has gotten a lot of positive reviews! Good addition — Thank you!
Kristen | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply