The Millions blog recently decided to find out which books are the very best so far of this millenium. They created two lists — one with reader favorites and one with the favorites of “experts.” I double-starred (**) the titles I read (and loved) and single-starred (*) the titles I tried to read, but didn’t finish. Please feel free to recommend any of the other titles I haven’t read yet by leaving a comment!
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Panel
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Readers
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1
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*The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen |
1
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**The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz |
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2
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*The Known World by Edward P. Jones |
2
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>2666 by Roberto Bolaño |
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3
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Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell |
3
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>**Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides |
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4
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2666 by Roberto Bolaño |
4
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Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell |
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5
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Pastoralia by George Saunders |
5
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**The Road by Cormac McCarthy |
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6
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**The Road by Cormac McCarthy |
6
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**Atonement by Ian McEwan |
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7
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Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald |
7
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**The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon |
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8
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>**Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson |
8
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>*The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen |
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9
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> Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro |
9
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>**Gilead by Marilynne Robinson |
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10
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>**Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro |
10
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White Teeth by Zadie Smith |
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11
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**The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz |
11
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> Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami |
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12
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Twilight of the Superheroes by Deborah Eisenberg |
12
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**The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini |
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13
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Mortals by Norman Rush |
13
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**Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro |
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14
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**Atonement by Ian McEwan |
14
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Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald |
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15
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Varieties of Disturbance by Lydia Davis |
15
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Empire Falls by Richard Russo |
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16
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**Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides |
16
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Runaway by Alice Munro |
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17
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The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem |
17
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The Master by Colm Tóibín |
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18
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Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link |
18
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Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie |
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19
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American Genius, A Comedy by Lynne Tillman |
19
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**Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri |
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20
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**Gilead by Marilynne Robinson |
20
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Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke |
So, what do you think? How many have you read already? Which ones are you hoping to read soon? Also, here is a link to the Millions ”honorable mentions.”
The only one I’ve read besides the ones you have starred is Half of a Yellow Sun, and it was excellent. Thanks for this list!
Thank you for the recommendation, Sarah! I will request Sun from the library — I hadn’t even heard of it yet!?!
That might be a good follow-up question… which of the titles have you NOT heard of?
I would have to list eleven titles! You can bet I’ll be requesting them from the library at some point…