Best of the 2000s: The 15 Best Books

Today we look at our favorite books from the 2000s. Its been a tough few years for the publishing industry, but that hasn’t stopped some of our favorite writers from producing some amazing literature. Before we begin, a warning to readers that, while our choices appear in a numbered order, those numbers are even more arbitrary than usual. That said, don’t hold back in telling us how epically wrong we are in the comments section.

15. Lush Life – Richard Price
If Mystic River is the classic crime novel of the first part of the 21st century, Lush Life is a close second. Richard Price tells the story of a murder from the perspective of nearly everyone effective: cops, the family, a present co-worker, and the murderer. Perhaps the most stunning part of the entire novel is it’s naturalism. It doesn’t have a shocking revelation or constant twists and turns, but instead presents an view into the real world. When the case is close, you move to the next. A powerful work of fiction that could just as easily a true story, Lush Life is an oft-overlooked gem of the 2000s. (M)

14. Mystic River – Dennis Lehane
Dennis Lehane became a master of gritty murder mysteries with Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River, a story about three childhood friends, the roles they inhabit as adults, and the murder of ones daughter. The book separates itself from other murder mysteries with its intricacies and strong characters. Before the novel has a chance to reach it’s climax, it’s unclear as to who is good and bad, keeping the pages turning faster than you can handle. Mystic River is the classic crime novel of the first part of the century. (M)

13. World War Z – Max Brooks Without Max Brooks, zombies may have just been another mid-level meme, fighting with ninjas and vampires for space in the public consciousness. But World War Z moved the zombie apocalypse out of Romero’s intimate locations and tiny groups of survivors and onto a global, geopolitical scale. Brooks’ extensive research and clever structure gives the book a verisimilitude that helps it transcend simple horror and makes it an impactful look at human society (just like Romero’s best films do). (J)

12. Moneyball – Michael Lewis
Few books about sports have ever been as influential as Moneyball. By re-examining the stats that are so highly valued, Michael Lewis made Billy Beane’s once-outlandish concept a strategy adopted by many teams throughout the league. Six years on, teams still put a lot of stock in superstars, but teams like the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays proved Beane’s sabermetric can work. The book really broke the mold on sports books, and nothing yet has been anywhere near as influential. (M)

11. Assassination Vacation – Sarah Vowell
With her second full length, single-topic nonfiction book, Sarah Vowell embraced her nerdy passion for American history and historical tourism, resulting in a compelling book that’s part history and part memoir. Removed from her wispy, public radio delivery, Vowell’s prose flows true as ever and her gifts with metaphor make her quirky stories pop off the page. Self-reflective, fascinating, and unapologetic in its embrace of hokey Americana at a time when real patriotism was hard to come by, Assassination Vacation may not have been an Important book, but it made the 2000s a whole lot more palatable. (J)

10. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime – Mark Haddon
Haddon’s book sounds like too gimmicky by half when you hear its concept, but its his empathetic ability to capture the voice of his autistic main character that makes Curious Incident succeed. A triumph of perspective, at times you forget that you’re reading fiction and become engrossed by how Haddon’s main character sees and experiences the world. (J)

9. The Plot Against America – Philip Roth
Philip Roth had a long and established career even before The Plot Against America, an alternate history story of 1940s America with Charles Lindbergh as president, but the book stands out as his best book of late. As he explores the coming of age of a fictional version of himself, Roth also manages to explore the dark underside of American politics and ideology. It’s a fascinating read that manages to highlight just how easy it is to fall to the trappings of ideology. (M)

8. Consider the Lobster – David Foster Wallace
Rather than dwell on the tragic loss of this generation’s finest writer and what could have been, let’s focus instead on the dizzying legacy he left behind. Of his output this decade, nothing matches Consider the Lobster, an insightful collection of Wallace’s creative nonfiction. From the title essay’s unsentimental but still insightful look at the morality of boiling lobsters alive (written, amusingly enough, as an assignment for Gourmet to cover the Maine Lobster Festival) to a look at conservative talk radio to his sprawling review of A Dictionary of Modern Usage, Wallace’s gifts for treating any subject with intellectual rigor and a critical eye shine through, and his mastery of form and style is unmatched. (J)

7. Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer
Jonathan Safran Foer broke onto the literary scene with Everything is Illuminated a book that manages to be funny, poignant, and crushing throughout it’s course. Foer jumps around in time and place, meshing together three stories, that of his America obsessed tour guide, his ancestry, and himself. Unlike many novels about Jewish persecution and the Diaspora, this one doesn’t center on the evil, but rather how a way of life was shattered for people. An engrossing, impressive debut from a writer who figures to feature prominently in the the 2010s. (M)

6. The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell
You are allowed to be as smug as Malcolm Gladwell is when you’re that smart. In his breakthrough nonfiction look at the way ideas and products spread like viruses. Loaded with fascinating case studies and Gladwell’s hyper-intellectual prose, The Tipping Point is an interesting sociological examination of human nature, and one that has only become more relevant in the age of Twitter and Facebook. (J)

5. Atonement – Ian McEwan
So many novels deal with regret and making up for the past, but Ian McEwan’s Atonementis in a league of it’s own. The novel is the story of a girl who’s childhood misunderstanding stays with her the rest of her life. If the first three sections aren’t heart wrenching enough for you, the final fourth will tear you apart. As much as Kavalier and Clay settles the regret and disappointment of its characters in it’s final act, Atonement makes it’s central character pay for hers. McEwan’s brilliant prose makes the story even more compelling and made Atonement and easy choice for this list. (M)

4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince/Deathly Hollows – J.K. Rowling
One of the most interesting parts of the Harry Potter series is that many of the readers grew with Harry as it went on. Those that started reading at the age of 12 in 1998 when the first book hit stateside were 21 by the time the series wrapped in 2007. Those that read during those 10 years (11 if you were in the UK) were treated to two final books that contrasted greatly from the lighter themes of the books of their childhood. In both novels, Rowling dispenses with the boy wizard aspect of her novels and delves into the tale of a young man being faced with a task barely suited for a man. The books are easily the best fantasy books since Tolkien and will continue to enchant for years to come. (M)

3. The Road – Cormac McCarthy
Despite what Zombieland would have you believe, the apocalypse is actually probably going to suck. Cormac McCarthy is the perfect person to make that point with his incredibly bleak look at a father and son trying to survive in the face of the horrors that come with the destruction of society. McCarthy takes an unflinching look at the terrifying things humans are capable of doing to each other (not exactly new ground for Cormac, but still compelling stuff), while grounding it in the struggle of The Man and The Boy to retain their humanity. (J)

2. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius – Dave Eggers
Before James Frey, Dave Eggers was busy putting the “creative” in creative nonfiction. By filling his memoir with fourth-wall breaking asides and creative flourishes, Eggers’ book is simultaneously less than a truthful depiction of his life and something much, much more. Let’s not blame Dave for the flood of tedious and crappy memoirs that followed in his wake and instead celebrate an author with complete command of his craft. (J)

1. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay – Michael Chabon
Sitting at the crossroads of comic books and literature, of pulp and high art, Michael Chabon’s novel is a celebration of the struggles that go into making even the most disposable of cultural detritus. Chabon’s delirious blend of joyous, golden age superheroes with the tragedies of World War II and the immigrant experience to America could have crushed under the weight of trying to do too much. Instead, he crafted a clear-eyed and moving tribute to the American experience that resonates past its period setting. (J)

A staggering work of fiction, Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is easily one of the most engrossing novels you’ll ever read. Amidst the lushly described landscapes of New York in the 40s and 50s, Chabon sets up an intricate story that doesn’t follow a linear path, but instead branches off in every direction. When early 21st century literature is studied 50, 100 years from now, Kavalier and Clay will be front and center as the defining American novel of the time. (M)