my top ten books of the 21st century

@nytimes if you even care!!

A new trend is sweeping the nation. And by nation I mean book nerds on the internet. It all started when the fancy pants people at the New York Times Book Review announced they would be sharing a list of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century.

Twenty new titles on the list will be announced each day this week until they get to the tippity top best book of the 21st Century, which I have to imagine they will announce in a big, tearful ceremony, Miss Congeniality style.

Jonathan Franzen, probably.

This whole concept is a lot of fun and, obviously, so silly. Hundreds of thousands of books are published every year. The idea that anyone can say with authority which hundred are the best is laughable.

My friend

Laura Sackton

called it a capitalist trap and she is correct. One thing about me, though, is I love a capitalist trap. See: pumpkin spice lattes.

What’s cool about the New York Times list is that it is based on the results of ballots submitted by hundreds of “literary luminaries” listing their top ten books published since January 1, 2000.

I have to assume my official ballot from the New York Times went to my spam folder, so like many of my bookstagram siblings, I was forced to create my own.

Major shout out to all the bookstagram creators who saw the list and said cool, cool nytimes nice list but you’re wrong and just made their own. This is why I love readers. Gratitude to the creators who started this trend and those who made the template free and easy to use so even dumb dumbs like me can participate.

It’s 2024 and we’re all Literary Luminaries now, bitch!

If you unzip me, I’m really just each of these books end to end in a dusty, beloved stack.

A quick word on each of my choices, which are presented in no particular order because I would rather have a conversation with a man about Infinite Jest than pit these books against each other.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout // Nobody writes people like Elizabeth Strout. In her books every person is extraordinary, fascinating, and worthy of attention, and, yes, love.

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel // I remember exactly where I was every time I’ve read this book. The fact that I can read it anytime I want feels like a miracle.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong // A book that expanded my ideas of what a novel can be and do. It feels new and piercing every time I read it.

Felicity by Mary Oliver // Published after the death of her life partner, Molly Malone Cook, these are the love poems only Mary Oliver could write. Gay and playful and full of the grief that comes from loving well and hard and true.

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward // A story of girlhood and becoming like none other. Moments from this novel come to me unbidden and I believe it will haunt me for all my days.

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson // Another story of girlhood that haunts me - this one taught me the power of just enough words on the page. Jacqueline Woodson never does too much - the space left empty on the page, the few, just right words - I’m still feeling the impact of this novel.

Memorial by Bryan Washington // Bryan Washington turns “everyday” acts of queer love and care into sites of deep attention and learning worthy of capital L Literature. There is a tenderness to this book that I hope lives in me.

Heavy by Kiese Laymon // This is the memoir against which I measure all other memoirs. It looks you right in the eye and does not blink. I try not to throw this phrase around, but I think everyone should read this book.

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka // It is so weird and beautiful that we are all here mostly trying our best and no book captures that strange beauty like The Swimmers. Every word matters, every word pulls you under.

James by Percival Everett // Oh hello 2024 release that I believe will be read feverishly all night long for decades to come. This book represents why I love fiction. It is smart and deep, accessible and propulsive, and by the time you turn that last page you are not the person you were on page one. A masterpiece.

Take that NYTimes!!! Bet you wish you asked me now!!

me emailing my ballot to the New York Times

In all seriousness, this exercise and trend has been a deep joy. What fun to think back to all the books I’ve read in the last 24 years and remember their weight and impact.

If you’ve read this far, I want to tell you that I had the incredible privilege to read an early version of my friend Ocean Vuong’s new novel which comes out next June. It is a work of remarkable generosity, grace, and joy. I’ve never read anything like it. We are not ready.

As stunning and rich as our bookshelves are now, what lies ahead is even better.

I’m so glad I get to read it all with you.

If it sounds at all fun to you, please make a list of your own! You don’t need to fill out the template if you don’t want. You don’t even have to share it. Just tell me! I am nosy and I care! I want to know what books are the top ten in your heart.

I’d pick your heart over the New York Times any day.

I love you.

Love,

Rosamond