The bookish website Lithub.com caught my attention this week with an initial list of Best Debut Novels of the Decade. Gracious. It really is time to start thinking about choices. Here are theirs:
The Tiger's Wife Tea Obreht
We the Animals Justin Torres
We Need New Names Noviolet Bulawayo
The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen
What Belongs to You Garth Greenwell
Here Comes the Sun Nicole Dennis-Benn
Lincoln in the Bardo George Saunders
Conversations with Friends Sally Rooney
There There Tommy Orange
Severance Ling Ma
Also-rans in their estimation:
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms N.K. Jemisin
Swamplandia Karen Russell
Leaving the Atocha Station Ben Lerner
City of Bohane Kevin Barry
Love Me Back Merritt Tierce
The Vegetarian Han Kang
Fever Dream Samanta Schweblin
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Ocean Vuong
Fleishman is in Trouble Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Honorable mentions include:
Eimear McBride, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing
Celeste Ng, Everything I Never Told You
Angela Flournoy, The Turner House
Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing
Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Water Dancer
My first impression is that there are a lot of books on that list I didn’t finish. I’d like to take care of that situation, mainly by not getting distracted by each new bright and shining object that comes down the pike.
And why is the Ocean Vuong not among the best of the best? What a luminous, beautiful book. Also, I loved more in the honorable mentioned I named. There’s good stuff there that should not be lost.
So, what about all the fiction of the past decade? What really stands out? Among my contenders:
Sing, Unburied, Sing Jesmyn Ward
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
A Visit from the Goon Squad Jennifer Egan
Euphoria Lily King
A Lucky Man Jamel Brinkley
The Portable Veblen Elizabeth McKenzie
Fourth of July Creek Smith Henderson
On Sal Mal Lane Ru Freeman
Arcadia Lauren Groff
Gods Without Men Hari Kunzru
Fobbit David Abrams
The Round House Louise Erdrich
Tell the Wolves I'm Home Carol Rifka Brunt
Skippy Dies Paul Murray
The Moor's Account Laila Lalami
The Other Americans Laila Lalami
Life After Life Kate Atkinson
A God in Ruins Kate Atkinson
The Mars Room Rachel Kushner
The Tenth of December George Saunders
LaRose Louise Erdrich
Friday Black Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
The Women and the Girls Pat Barker
Quite a few titles are not included because I have either not finished them or, while I may have thought they were all right, they didn’t make my top tier.
And you? What literary fiction has stayed with you for the past few years?