"The instruction we find in books is like fire. We fetch it from our neighbors, kindle it at home, communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all." -- Voltaire
The question tonight, dear readers, is who are the best "igniters" of the first decade of the new century? To whose voices will we be listening in the near and longer future? Whose ambitious first steps onto the literary stage are most likely to leave the reading audience panting for an encore? Ultimately, at whose fire should we be warming ourselves?
As readers and book lovers -- as I've said in earlier R&BLer diaries -- we have consequence. What we choose to read and communicate to others about what we read, can and does shape the direction of literature. By deciding which writers to pay attention to and which to ignore, we shape a literary future. So, shall we choose to read the most popular, or the best, or both? A matter to consider, no?
To help you decide, I'll reveal lists from the experts of best books of the decade and best books of 2010, and share with you all my personal list of the best "debut" novels I've read from the last 10 years.
The hope is to light flames of interest in discovering new writing talent for yourselves. And to democratize the life of the mind by making more books belong to more of us.
Paste Magazine offers a list "the best new literary voices of the past ten years, fresh new writers whose first novels packed walloping promise." Have you read any of them? What did you think -- great, good, meh? In ascending order:
10. Rivka Galchen: Atmospheric Disturbances [4th Estate Publishing] (2008)
9. Marisha Pessl: Special Topics in Calamity Physics [Viking Press] (2006)
8. Hillary Jordan: Mudbound [Algonquin Books] (2008)
7. Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner [Riverhead Books] (2003)
6. Joshua Ferris: And Then We Came to the End [Little, Brown] (2007)
5. Alice Sebold: The Lovely Bones [Little, Brown] (2002)
4. Arthur Philips: Prague [Random House] (2002)
3. Zadie Smith: White Teeth [Random House] (2000)
2. Junot Diaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao [Riverhead] (2007)
And at the top of the heap:
1. Jonathan Safran Foer: Everything Is Illuminated [Harper Perennial] (2002)
Ashamed to say, I've only heard of four in that list, only read two, and believe at least two were made into movies, which I've never watched.
Across the Pond
The Brits are at it, too. Making lists, I mean. The Guardian has identified its dozen best new literary fiction writer of the decade.
The panel's choices of best authors and their debut novels from both sides of the sea are:
1. Ned Beauman for Boxer Beetle (Sceptre)
2. Adam Haslett for Union Atlantic (Tuskar Rock)
3. After the Fire, A Still Small Voice by Evie Wyld (Vintage)
4. Helen Oyeyemi [no particular book]
5. David Abbott for The Upright Piano Player (MacLehose Press)
6. Rebecca Hunt for Mr Chartwell (Fig Tree)
7. Anna Richards for Little Gods (Picador)
8. A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth (Bliss)
9. Deborah Kay Davies for True Things About Me (Canongate)
10. In The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey (Vintage)
11. Stephen Kelman for Pigeon English (Bloomsbury)
12. The Breaking of Eggs by Jim Powell (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
And lagniappe selection:
13. In The Tin-Kin by Eleanor Thom (Gerald Duckworth)
Interlude
R&BLers e-Book Club Announcement: We'll finish our discussion of Water for Elephants THU at 2 PM ET. For a change of pace, our next read will be a work of non-fiction, yet it's a book that echoes a previous e-Book Club selection, Tinkers in that the hero is a clockmaker. The book is Longitude by Dava Sobel, the history of the solving of the thorniest problem of the eightennth century made possible by John Harrison who made the first chronometer sufficiently accurate to use in determining longitude at sea.
While we focus on being a book club for "e-ditions," all format readers are welcome. If you'd like to suggest a title for future e-Book Club reading, please remember our two rules: Must be less than $8.00 and must NOT be one of a series.
Kindle: $2.99
Amazon paperback from $5.00; hardcover used from $5.52
Powell's $3.95
Limelite's List
Now for my favorites. I'm going to cheat a little and list my favorite newly discovered writers of the past decade. Some are debut novels, but not all.
2011 Sonya Chung, Long for This World
2010 Peter Carey, Parrot & Olivier in America
2009 Tinkers, Paul Harding and Little Bee by Chris Cleave
2008 On Chesil Beach, Ian McEwan
2007 Mr. Pip, Lloyd Jones
2006 Natural Flights of the Human Mind, Clare Morrall and Brothers Da Chen
2005 Robert Hicks, The Widow of the South
2004 Marilynne Robinson, Gilead and A Very Long Engagement, Sebastien Japrisot
2003 Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife
2002 Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides; The Crimson Petal and the White, Michel Faber
2001 Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie
2000 Waiting, Ha Jin
There you have it. Who are your favorite new authors of the decade, or newly discovered-by-you-authors of ditto, or best books published in the last 10 years that you've read? Please let us know in the comments below, and please have your say on any of the books and authors you've seen listed in this diary.
Readers & Book Lovers Series Schedule
DAY |
TIME (EST/EDT) |
Series Name |
Editor(s) |
SUN |
6:00 PM |
Young Reader's Pavilion |
The Book Bear |
SUN |
9:30 PM |
SciFi/Fantasy Book Club |
quarkstomper |
MON |
8:00 PM |
My Favorite Books & Authors |
billssha |
MON |
11:00 AM |
Songs of Ice and Fire |
Floja Roja |
TUE |
8:00 PM |
Readers & Book Lovers Newsletter |
Limelite |
WED |
7:30 AM |
WAYR? |
plf515 |
WED |
8:00 PM |
Bookflurries: Bookchat |
cfk |
THU |
2:00 PM (bi-weekly) |
eReaders & Book Lovers Club |
Limelite |
THU |
8:00PM |
Write On! |
SensibleShoes |
THU |
10:00 PM |
The Illustrated Imagination:Graphic Novels |
Cabbage Rabbit |
FRI |
9:00 AM |
Books That Changed My Life |
etbnc, aravir |
SAT |
9:00 PM |
Books So Bad They're Good |
Ellid |
NOTE: Though not part of R&BLers Weekly Magazine Series, please look for "Indigo Kalliope: Poems From the Left" by various authors republished here every WED NOON by
aravir. Also look for "The Mad Logophile" by
Purple Priestess that appears intermittently, when the spirit moves her.
Other than that, nothing's happening.