ILX BOOKS OF THE 00s: THE RESULTS! (or: Ismael compiles his reading list, 2010-2019)

great job dude this was lots of fun, thanks!!

great job ilx for not voting for everything is illuminated that book sux thx bye!

Quite surprised at #1. I thought the book would show up in the top 20 but not at the first place. Currently reading it halfway through and lagging a bit because it seems to have reached a difficult part but I intend to get through it. It's just so good.

My ballot below. I think I am the definitively mainstream ILX reader because, if I have it right, 19 of 20 placed! (Imperial Life in the Emerald City didn't make it iirc)

1. True History of the Kelly Gang

2. The Corrections

3. Cloud Atlas

4. Homeland

5. Runaway (Munro)

6. 2666

7. Youth (Coetzee)

8. The Road

9 . The Plot Against America

10. Atonement

11. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

12. Imperial Life in the Emerald City

13. On Beauty

14. No One Belongs Here More Than You

15. Veronica

16. Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

17. Notable American Women

18. The Amber Spyglass

19. The Tipping Point

20. Pastoralia

I've only read 9 of the books on this list. My ballot in full:

1. Bob Dylan - Chronicles (2004)
2. Phillip Roth - The Plot Against America (2004)

Looking at my ballot I've realised I criminally and inexplicably forot to put John Banville, "The Sea", in there.

Thanks again Ismael. My ballot felt arbitrary at the time, and now looks kind of baffling to me. Nevertheless:

1. Norman Rush - Mortals (2003)
2. Paul Morley - Nothing (2000)
3. Bob Dylan - Chronicles (2004)
4. David Thomson - The Whole Equation (2006)
5. Catherine O’Flynn - What Was Lost (2007)
6. Jonathan Franzen - The Corrections (2001)
7. Paul Morley - Words And Music (2003)
8. David Peace - The Damned United (2006)
9. Steve Erickson - Zeroville (2007)
10. Paul Farley - The Ice Age (2002)
11. David Cavanagh - The Creation Records Story: My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize (2001)
12. Simon Reynolds - Rip It Up And Start Again (2005)
13. Mark Halliday - Jab (2002)
14. Alex Ross - The Rest Is Noise: Listening To The 20th Century (2008)
15. Dean Young - Skid (2002)
16. Alice Oswald - Dart (2002)
17. George Saunders - Pastoralia (2000)
18. Nicholson Baker - A Box Of Matches (2003)
19. Don Paterson - Landing Light (2003)
20. Martin Amis - Experience (2000)

For those too lazy to c&p their own reading lists, here's the countdown in full:

101. Nixonland - Rick Perlstein (2008) (22 points, two votes)
100. Suite Française - Irène Némirovsky (1942, translated 2004) (22 points, two votes)
99. A Storm of Swords - George Martin (2000) (22 points, two votes)
98. Veronica - Mary Gaitskill (2005) (22 points, three votes)
97. How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered The World - Francis Wheen (2000) (23 points, three votes)
96. On Green Dolphin Street - Sebastian Faulks (2004) (24 points, two votes)
95. No Country For Old Men - Cormac McCarthy (2005) (25 points, three votes)
94. Experience - Martin Amis (2000) (25 points, three votes)
93. Look To Windward - Iain M. Banks (2000) (26 points, two votes)
92. Nostalgia - Mircea Cărtărescu (translated 2005) (26 points, two votes)
91. Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell (2009) (26 points, two votes)

90. Stasiland - Anna Funder (2004) (27 points, two votes)
89. Bel Canto - Ann Patchett (2001) (27 points, two votes)
88. Stiff: The Curious Lives Of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach (2003) (28 points, three votes)
87. The Elementary Particles also known as Atomised - Michel Houellebecq (2000) (28 points, four votes)
86. Sinai Diving Guide - Alberto Siliotti (2005) (28 points, two votes, one first-placed vote)
85. The Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein (2007) (29 points, three votes)
84. Freakonomics - Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner (2005) (29 points, five votes)
83. Death With Interruptions - Jose Saramago (2008) (30 points, two votes)
82. Fun Home - Alison Bechdel (2006) (30 points, three votes)
81. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned: Stories - Wells Tower (2009) (30 points, three votes)

80. Black Swan Green - David Mitchell (2006) (31 points, two votes)
79. Rabbit Remembered - John Updike (2001) (31 points, two votes)
78. Engleby - Sebastian Faulks (2007) (31 points, two votes)
77. An Episode In The Life Of A Landscape Painter - Cesar Aira (2006) (31 points, three votes)
76. Memories of Ice - Steven Erikson (2005) (31 points, two votes)
75. The Whole Equation - David Thomson (2005) (31 points, two votes)
74. What's Left? - Nick Cohen (2007) (31 points, three votes)
73. The Creation Records Story: My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize - David Cavanagh (2001) (32 points, four votes)
72. Nothing - Paul Morley (2000) (33 points, two votes)
71. The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell (2000) (33 points, four votes)

70. Blink - Malcolm Gladwell (2005) (33 points, four votes)
69. Europeana: A Brief History of the Twentieth Century - Patrik Ouředník (2005) (34 points, two votes)
68. Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage - Alice Munro (2001) (34 points, five votes)
67. Stalin: Court of the Red Tsar - Simon Sebag Montefiore (2003) (35 points, two votes)
66. Words and Music - Paul Morley (2003) (35 points, three votes)
65. Against The Day - Thomas Pynchon (2006) (35 points, four votes)
64. Tree of Smoke - Denis Johnson (2007) (37 points, two votes)
63. Death And The Penguin - Andrey Kurkov (2001) (37 points, two votes)
62. London: The Biography - Peter Ackroyd (2001) (37 points, three votes)
61. The Year Of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion (2005) (38 points, four votes)

60. White Teeth - Zadie Smith (2000) (40 points, two votes)
59. Twilight - Stephanie Meyer (2005) (41 points, two votes)
58. Youth - JM Coetzee (2002) (41 points, two votes)
57. Saturday - Ian McEwan (2005) (41 points, three votes)
56. No One Belongs Here More Than You - Miranda July (2007) (41 points, four votes)
55. Perdido Street Station - China Miéville (2000) (42 points, three votes)
55= Everything Is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer (2002)
54. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling (2000) (45 points, four votes)
53. Netherland - Joseph O'Neill (2007) (45 points, four votes)
52. Gilead - Marilynne Robinson (2004) (45 points, two votes, one first-placed vote)
51. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris (2000) (46 points, five votes)

50. The Perry Bible Fellowship: The Trial Of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories - Nicholas Gurewitch (2008) (46 points, six votes)
49. 45 - Bill Drummond (2000) (47 points, three votes)
48. House Of Leaves - Mark Z Danielewski (2000) (49 points, five votes)
47. The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon (2007) (49 points, two votes, one first-placed vote)
46. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins (2006) (50 points, four votes, one first-placed vote)
45. The Complete Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi (2007) (51 points, six votes)
44. Remainder - Tom McCarthy (2007) (52 points, two votes, one first-placed vote)
43. Our Band Could Be Your Life - Michael Azzerad (2001) (53 points, four votes)
42. Fooled By Randomness - Nasim Taleb (2001) (53 points, three votes, one first-placed vote)
41. On Beauty - Zadie Smith (2005) (54 points, five votes)

40. The Damned United - David Peace (2006) (55 points, four votes)
39. Notable American Women - Ben Marcus (2002) (55 points, three votes, one first-placed vote)
38. Rip It Up And Start Again - Simon Reynolds (2005) (60 points, six votes)
37. Anathem - Neal Stephenson (2008) (60 points, two votes, one first-placed vote)
36. Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre (2003) (60 points, three votes, one first-placed vote)
35. The Rest Is Noise - Alex Ross (2008) (61 points, six votes)
34. The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao - Junot Díaz (2007) (63 points, four votes)
33. The Russian Debutante's Handbook - Gary Shteyngart (2003) (64 points, three votes, one first-placed vote)
32. Austerlitz - WG Sebald (2001) (65 points, five votes)
31. Runaway - Alice Munro (2005) (65 points, four votes, one first-placed vote)

30. The Line Of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst (2004) (70 points, four votes)
29. Complete Stories - JG Ballard (2001) (70 points, five votes)
28. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides (2004) (70 points, six votes)
27. Pictures At A Revolution - Mark Harris (2008) (70 points, two votes, one first-placed vote)
26. Homeland - Sam Lipsyte (2004) (70 points, four votes, one first-placed vote)
25. Safe Area Goražde - Joe Sacco (2000) (72 points, three votes, one first-placed vote)
24. The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time - Mark Haddon (2003) (74 points, five votes, one first-placed vote)
23. A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers (2000) (76 points, seven votes)
22. Pattern Recognition - William Gibson (2003) (77 points, four votes)
21. Pastoralia - George Saunders (2000) (79 points, nine votes)

20. Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail Or Succeed - Jared Diamond (2004) (79 points, three votes, one first-placed vote)
19. Consider The Lobster - David Foster Wallace (2005) (80 points, eight votes)
18. Q - Luther Blissett (2003) (80 points, three votes, one first-placed vote)
17. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro (2005) (86 points, five votes, one first-placed vote)
16. Oblivion - David Foster Wallace (2005) (87 points, five votes, one first-placed vote)
15. The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman (2000) (88 points, nine votes)
14. By Night In Chile - Roberto Bolaño (2000) (91 points, four votes, one first-placed vote)
13. Fortress Of Solitude - Jonathan Lethem (2003) (91 points, six votes, one first-placed vote)
12. Atonement - Ian McEwan (2001) (93 points, five points, one first-placed vote)
11. The Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolaño (2007) (104 points, six votes)

10. Chronicles - Bob Dylan (2004) (115 points, seven votes, one first-placed vote)
9. The True History Of The Kelly Gang - Peter Carey (2001) (115 points, four votes, two first-placed votes)
8. 2666 - Roberto Bolaño (2008) (120 points, eight votes, one first-placed vote)
7. The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon (2000) (121 points, seven votes, one first-placed vote)
6. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (2004) (122 points, six votes, one first-placed vote)
5. Kafka On The Shore - Haruki Murakami (2004) (128 points, seven votes, one first-placed vote)
4. The Road - Cormac McCarthy (2006) (142 points, eleven votes)
3. The Plot Against America - Philip Roth (2004) (147 points, twelve votes)
2. The Human Stain - Philip Roth (2000) (152 points, seven votes, one first-placed vote)
1. The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen (2001) (205 points, eleven votes, two first-placed votes)

Coming soon - the shirt off my back.

Thanks Ismael, this was amazing, much better than I was expecting, and as a consequence has provided some useful lessons: 1) I was aware of and had read more than I had thought from the past decade 2) shd still engage more with contemporary writing for all sorts of reasons, not least there's some good stuff out there! Really enjoyed everyone's contributions.

'Fraid Roth doesn't do a lot for more, and will risk accusations of juvenile philistinism by saying I find him boring. Shd possibly read the Kelly Gang, but disliked Jack Maggs so much that I swore I'd not read another Carey. Will definitely be checking out the William Gibson and getting the Ballard. Have already checked out Europeana (it's good as far as it goes, its circular method and laconic delivery producing a sort of impressionistic aesthetic of the 20th Century). And it's reminded me to read Black Swan Green as soon as possible.

I've read one other Carey, The Tax Collector, which was rubbish, The Kelly Gang is nothing like it.

I didn't know The Corrections was so well liked. I'll have to read it soon. (I got a copy last year. The Human Stain is in the mail, too.)

Thanks Ismael, this was amazing

Seconded. I missed most of the run-down, but a great way to reconnect with what's going on, as I had a lost decade in some ways, with life getting in the way of reading much. I too was ware of and had read more than I had thought from the past decade, though. Will definitely try some Bolano, although having just started a 900-page Neal Stephenson novel, it won't be for some time. Will check out Steven Erikson too (*nerd*).

http://www.longpauses.com/blog/01_18_06.jpg

That reminds me xp: when I saw this picture I was chuckling to myself at a story I read where the author was urged to come along to see his book being filmed, and was heavily tipped off by the director that a certain day was the one when he wanted to turn up - i.e. the 'closed set Nicole Kidman nude scenes day'. I wondered if that explained her cheeky look and his slightly caught-unawares expression

I got the film wrong though - it was actually Eyes Wide Shut, and Stanley Kubrick leching off to Frederic Raphael (who was too much of a gent to take him up on it, he says).

Oh, I missed the denouement! Thanks for all yr hard work, Ismael. Really looking forward to reading some more of these. It's been a very interesting thread all round.

Went into Oxford's Blackwell's bookshop yesterday and they had a table with their books of the decade on. You can see it (alphabetical order, no ranking) on their website too.
http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/editorial/browse/botdecade.jsp?oldSearch=&oid=-167552&page=7&page1=7&search=&Next.x=19&Next.y=3

I've had fun comparing + contrasting with the ILX one. (Whoever nominated that Marcus du Sautoy book on theirs is crazy though, I hope that's not even in the best 100 pop-maths books this decade)

I started the Diarmaid MacCulloch book on the Reformation that's on their list. Seems v good, but so big - treating it as something to chop and fillet whenever I need info ('quick what happened in SWeden?????')

here is my list. it is unordered except for oblivion being my #1 pick.

David St. John And Cole Swensen, Eds. - American Hybrid: A Norton
Anthology Of New Poetry (2009)
Alison Bechdel - Fun Home (2006)
Bryan Lee O’Malley - Scott Pilgrim (2004-2009)
Tsugumi Ohba And Takeshi Obata - Death Note (2005-2007)
Emmanuel Carrére, I Am Alive And You Are Dead - A Journey Into The
Mind Of Philip K. Dick (2005)
David Foster Wallace - Consider The Lobster (2008)
Linda Williams, Ed. - Porn Studies (2004)
Lorrie Moore - The Collected Stories (2008)
George Saunders - The Brief And Frightening Reign Of Phil/In
Persuasion Nation (2006)
David Foster Wallace - Oblivion (2004)
Roberto Bolaño
 - 2666 (2008)
Roberto Bolaño - Savage Detectives (2007)
Mark Danielewski - House Of Leaves (2000)
Dave Eggers - A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius (2000)
Jonathan Lethem - Fortress Of Solitude (2003)
Ben Marcus - Notable American Women (2002)
George Martin - Storm Of Swords (2000)
Joseph O’Neill – Netherland (2008)
Thomas Pynchon - Against The Day (2006)
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (2000)

also, fu to everyone who voted for jonathan franzen

Ismael, thanks for doing this.

My ballot:

1 Nicholson Baker And Margaret Brentano - The World On Sunday: Graphic Art In Joseph Pulitzer’s Newspaper (1898-1911) (2005)
2 Mark Harris - Pictures At A Revolution (2008)
3 David Peace - The Damned United (2006)
4 Bill Drummond - 45 (2000)
5 William Shaw - Westsiders (2000)
6 Nicholas Gurewitch - The Perry Bible Fellowship: Trial Of Colonel Sweeto And Other Stories (2008)
7 Peter Biskind - Down And Dirty Pictures (2004)
8=David Kynaston - Austerity Britain, 1945-1951 (2007)
8=David Kynaston - Family Britain, 1951-1957 (Tales Of A New Jerusalem) (2009)
10 David Cavanagh - The Creation Records Story: My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize (2001)
11 Simon Reynolds - Rip It Up And Start Again (2005)
12 Ben Thompson - Ways Of Hearing: A User’s Guide To The Pop Psyche, >From Elvis To Eminem (2001)
13 Rick Perlstein – Nixonland (2008)
14 Alex Ross - The Rest Is Noise: Listening To The 20th Century (2008)
15 Jonathan Wilson - Inverting the Pyramid (2008)

Stuff I've got which polled, but haven't got round to reading yet:
How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World, Outliers, Freakonomics, Nothing, Words and Music, White Teeth, London:the biography, Chronicles

Stuff which I'll check out now:
Europeana, Netherland, Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and the Robert Bolano and Philip Roth.

Stuff which I would've voted for it if it was nommed:
David Thomson - Have You Seen, New Biographical Dictionary of Film. Heston Blumenthal - The Fat Duck Cookbook. Thomas cairns Livingstone - Tommy's War. Vic Reeves - Me:Moir. Frank Kogan - Real Punks Don't Wear Black. Patrick cGilligan - Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light.

Oh and seriously I'm going to check out some Harry Stephen Keeler, the descriptions of his work are quite extraordinary.

George Saunders - The Brief And Frightening Reign Of Phil/In Persuasion Nation (2006)

i've been thinking of picking up the latter -- the short story with babar in the future was terrific. do you have a preference between the two books?

Phil is my least favorite of his books

In Persuasion Nation is fantastic

what i would have voted for, had i voted (glad to see many of them made it anyway):

20. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
19. 2666 by Roberto Bolano
18. 20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa
17. Haunted Weather by David Toop
16. Lush-life by Richard Price
15. Everything is Cinema by Richard Brody
14. Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon
13. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
12. Promethea by Alan Moore, J.H. Williams, and Mick Gray
11. Pictures at a Revolution by Mark Harris
10. Master of Reality by John Darnielle
09. Kill All Your Darlings by Luc Sante
08. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
07. Ninja by Brian Chippendale
06. Europe Central by William T. Vollmann
05. The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross
04. Pastoralia by George Saunders
03. Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware
02. Oblivion by David Foster Wallace
01. Veronica by Mary Gaitskill

9. Steve Erickson - Zeroville (2007)

Love this book... guess I should check out Memories of Ice. Or is that the other Steve Erickson?

- kogan's, darnielle's, vollmann's books all things i would have voted for/nominated if i had thought about it maybe a bit harder, oh well

- memories of ice is the fantasy steve erickson. zeroville is the film-crit/pomo steve erickson. they don't actually spell it the same way.

- "the short story with babar in the future was terrific. do you have a preference between the two books" — i voted for them that way because in the UK they're one book, which is my favourite of his books, as one book. individually i'd go for civilwarland in bad decline first, i think, though actually i'm not sure about that, i don't like the last story, or think it has, like, problems, i'd say either that or persuasion nation, anyhow

the fantasy is erikson the britmo is erickson

Really enjoyed the countdown while watching from far, far away...though its a shame I am not that inspired to actively go out and pick anything much apart from By Night in Chile (way more to do with my interests in reading matter REALLY). And I HATE Alex Ross (more to do with how he talks about the music I like and what I've heard about him 2nd hand).

Didn't know The Book of Disquiet qualified? Good stuff. Wish I had voted just to vote for that, might have made the top 100.

1/ dbc pierre - vernon god little
2/ andrei kurkov - death and the penguin
3/ joseph o'neill - netherland
4/ michael azzerad - our band could be your life
5/ haruki murakami - kafka on the shore
6/ naomi klein - the shock doctrine
7/ kazuo ishiguro - never let me go
8/ miranda july - no one belongs here more than you
9/ simon reynolds - rip it up and start again
10/francis wheen - how mumbo jumbo conquered the world
11/charles burns - black hole
12/david cavanagh - my magpie eyes are hungry for the prize:the creation records story
13/douglas coupland - hey nostradamus!
14/david sedaris - me talk pretty one day
15/martin meredith - the state of africa
16/paul kimmage - half time
17/patrick mccabe - call me the breeze
18/chuck palahniuk - fugitives and refugees
19/paul morley - nothing
20/steven levitt - freakonomics

Just finished Updike's "Terrorist" - absolutely fantastic book of the noughties as well!

I want to thank this thread for getting me to read The Fortress of Solitude (amazing!) and Cloud Atlas (amazing!).

Thank you.

i forgot cloud atlas was in here. i revived the thread about it the other day. i didn't have much to say about it, though.

Since this thread I have read By Night in Chile. Really enjoyed it a bunch, I love my South American dictator type literature I do! (although its not strictly dictator stuff)

I can't believe I didn't participate :(

I want to thank this thread for getting me to read The Fortress of Solitude (amazing!) and Cloud Atlas (amazing!).

Thank you.

Ha, that's weird, those are the very same books I read as a result of this thread! (finishing up cloud atlas this weekend)

if Alfred and i had voted then "Gilead" may well have gone top ten!

well, top 20 maybe.

s'ok i read it anyway, thanks to this thread and a couple of other recommendations. it's now in my all-time top 5.

I have it sitting on my bookshelf after seeing it in a charity shop - maybe this thread is what made my eye take it.

One thing I forgot to do was to gather up and post all the unused recommendations, whether for books that didn't make the cut - or, in a few cases, for ones that weren't even nominated but folks couldn't help gushing. I'll put them up over the weekend, seeing as we're revived anyway.

http://weminedeeper.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/einstein-on-bikes.jpg

Walter Isaacson - Einstein: His Life And Universe (2007)
JL - "Very well written"

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_y4P0WXe-JjM/SxRMvIxVvGI/AAAAAAAABOk/eARZG7-RrGU/s640/marcel_proust.jpg

Jean-Yves Tadie - Marcel Proust (2000)
JL - "Edmund White blurbed that this is the best biography of Proust, and he wrote one himself"

http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n24/n122123.jpg

Tibor Fischer - Under The Frog (2001)
JL - "Despite the author's name and the setting of the book, this is really an English comic novel. Plus it was published in 1993. If you want to read about Hungary, rather than an Englishman making jokes about the country of his ancestors, go with Krasznahorkai"

http://friendlyatheist.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/goodbook.jpg

David Plotz, Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous And Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word Of The Bible (2009)
RedRaymaker - "Beautifully written book by Plotz. He depicts the often horrific and mixed moral messages of the old testament whilst transmitting the fascinating history and culture of his Jewish ancestors. Witty and insightful"

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KSEEH8VCL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU02_.jpg

Yoram Dinstein - War, Aggression And Self-Defence (2003)
RedRaymaker - "A fascinating and very well written account of international law on the use of force. Interesting an useful examples of how the law has been applied in past conflicts"

http://www.cgminc.org/bookclub/reviews/images/CallMeByYourName.jpg

andre aciman - call me by your name (2007)
lamp - "i suppose because everyone hungers for representations of themselves, or because we all ache for lost love, or because i'd like to vacation in the italian riveria. but mostly because this is one of the most thoughtful and honest books about love, desire and loss i've ever read"

http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n25/n129399.jpg

Arthur Phillips - The Egyptologist (2004)
Johnny Crunch - "unreliable narrator technique reminded me of Pale Fire (ok fuck i go to amazon to remind myself of plot details and the captioned NYer review makes exactly that comparison, perhaps its p. obvious) and just the gradual way it unfolds was v. enjoyable/entertaining imo; plus i just like the 'found documents' technique see also 'House of Leaves'"

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MmkwP4kC8Kw/RzEdTje4LzI/AAAAAAAAABQ/M8Hcf_qDub8/s320/9780674026766.jpg

Charles Taylor - A Secular Age (2007)
o.nate - "Any writer who can get me to finish 870+ pages of heavy musings about religion, society, and philosophy must be doing something right. This book felt like an event, and it wasn't just the sheer heft of it. The bibliography itself could furnish the material for a few years of further reading. Taylor's primary virtues, besides his erudition and encyclopedic knowledge, are his gentle, open-minded style of argument and relentless precision, such that even those who don't agree with his conclusions will find plenty to stimulate them in how we arrived there"

http://www.thefictiondesk.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/fieldwork.jpg

Mischa Berlinski - Fieldwork: A Novel (2008)
o.nate - "An impressive debut novel that unfolds like a mystery and effortlessly jumps between generations and countries while telling the story of a remote Thai highland tribe and the missionary family that is trying to convert them"

http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper932/stills/4064055ec33fc-47-1.jpg

Walter Yetnikoff And David Ritz - Howling At The Moon (2004)
mizzell - "Walter Yetnikoff lived fast and hard, and I read this book fast and hard. The most fun I had reading a book this decade"

http://www.faber.co.uk/site-media/onix-images/thumbs/1871_jpg_280x450_q85.jpg

Nadeem Aslam - Maps For Lost Lovers (2004)
ledge - "This was a very tender, detailed, and heartbreaking look into life, loves, and tensions of an Indian community in the north of England. Not something would normally have chosen to read, I got it is a gift and it really expanded my horizons at the time."

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K4-M/SQ9YMDl7joI/AAAAAAAAjzM/5hDPqDIGNAw/s800/354ye5hgfnhgfvn.jpg

Alasdair Reynolds - Revelation Space (2000)
ledge - "A somewhat darker and tighter focussed Iain M Banks, Reynolds pushes my hard scifi techno space opera buttons to perfection"

http://buttercuppunch.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/thisisnotmandme1.jpg

Word Freak (Stefan Fastis, 2001)
clemenza - "A book that quite literally changed my life--I became an online Scrabble addict after reading it, an addiction that probably has been responsible for one car accident and one dead computer. I am, as they say, recovering"

http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/images/Pauline%20Kael.jpg

Afterglow: A Last Conversation with Pauline Kael (Francis Davis, 2002)
clemenza - "I read a dismissal of this book from Greil Marcus somewhere--couldn't quite figure out what objections were"

http://www.mentalfloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/goldwater-water.jpg

Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus (Rick Perlstein, 2001)
clemenza - "I read this against the backdrop of last year's election cycle; plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"

http://www.davecullen.com/img/columbine-cover.jpg

Columbine (Dave Cullen, 2009)
clemenza - "Gus Van Sant's Elephant goes deeper in its elliptical way, but Cullen is very meticulous about knocking down a variety of misconceptions"

http://www.mooreteachingtips.com/wp-content/uploads/prime-numbers.jpg

The Music of the Primes: Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics (Marcus Du Sautoy, 2003)
clemenza - "I loved Simon Singh's Fermat's Enigma, too, which just missed the cut-off date. One's feelings about math may factor into how exciting you find prime numbers"

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Party of the Century: The Fabulous Story of Truman Capote and His Black and White Ball (Deborah Davis, 2006)
clemenza - "One of those crucial moments in understanding celebrity culture today. Most fascinating for me: the complete absence, in 1966, of pop stars from the guest list, especially Dylan, Jagger, and the Beatles. That clear line of demarcation would vanish in about five years"

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A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President (Jeffrey Toobin, 2000)
clemenza - "Toobin's O.J. book would probably top my list from the previous decade"

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A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports (Brad Snyder, 2006)
clemenza - "Flood's story is heroic and sad: heroic for him, sad for Yastrzemski, Mays, Rose, and all the megastars circa 1970 who were MIA during his court proceedings"

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What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America (Thomas Frank, 2004)
clemenza: "There's something a little self-satisfied in the tone, but compelling logic nonetheless."

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Michelle Goldberg (it's non-fiction) - The Means Of Reproduction
schulmp - "Journalistic dispatches from outside of the Western World on matters relating to reproductive rights; uneven birth rates in China, female genital mutilation in Egypt, etc.  Really mind-expanding, succinctly and sensitively written.  Enlightening in showing how multivalent the issues are"

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Philip Roth - Everyman
schulmp - "Maybe just my favourite expression of Roth doing all the things he does well in a very concise way.  Meditations on lying, psychological writing, a window into trades and practices"

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David Mazzucchelli - Asterios Polyp (graphic novel)
schulmp - "meisterwerk from the guy who adapted auster's city of glass.  next-level graphic novel following meandering architect's metaphysical ponderances.  the most narratively-functional illustrations i ever saw.  one of zadie smith's ten-best-of-the-00s, i think, too"

Charles Taylor's A Secular Age is the best book written in the 2000s that I've read. If you can make it through it, you'll have a pretty good grasp of what's gone on in philosophy since 1600---and you'll have thought about how we in the West incorporate sex & violence into our moral lives. The basic question of the book is, "what does it mean to live in a secular age", meaning an age in which religious belief is a choice rather than a given. Taylor's a theist, and in particular a Catholic, so that informs his discussion---but this is a philosophical rather than a theological text, so there's very little discussion of scripture & quite a lot of discussion of literature. Taylor is one of the preeminent political philosophers alive today so the political dimensions of the text are remarkable as well. It's hard work reading this book, but not in the way that reading some hazy thinking French philosopher is---this is sharp & clear, but deep.

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John Gray - Straw Dogs (2002)
woof - "I get into a fight, politely, every time I stick up for this. I still don't care that it's shiftily argued - it's a blast! All those plain sentences piling up, saying ridiculously bleak things (followed by still gloomier punchlines) are a pleasure to read. The sketchiness of the arguments is also ok by me: I get a bit bored reading thoroughly worked out, constantly qualified hedging sentences (even if they're technically yknow right)"

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Thomas Pynchon - Inherent Vice (2009)
woof - "Pynchon in the 00s: two novels, which was a treat. Neither as good as Gravity's Rainbow or Mason & Dixon, but for me Pynchon >>>> all other living writers, so I'm not partic bothered. There's no-one else I get excited waiting for, buy on first day, will clear space to read. Actual opinions... I like this later Pynchon. I find the books hugely
sad: full of the possibilities of freedom & revolution, a belief in an alternative possible universe where state-corporate interests aren't sitting on everyone, and moments where the freedom is realised (I thought maybe Against The Day was so long because it's trying to call this universe into being, like it's some kind of cyclopedia creating an Anarchist Orbius Tertius), but then that's betrayed, it collapses or fades. The day takes over, the Sixties end.
I liked Inherent Vice more than Against The Day. It's shorter, neater and more fun to read. His style's looser than it used to be: in ATD that feels like slackness or flab in places; in IV there's a relaxed, or easygoing or yeah ok stoned air and the style suits that"

I really like these two recommendations of A Secular Age. It sounds fascinating and complicated, yet like it would be easy to read.

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Jonathan Safran Foer - Everything is Illuminated
Alex In Montreal - "Yes, half the book is a shtick, and Alex's voice eventually grates, but the twisting, interlocking and flexible fake history of Foer's family is like a delightful Jewish take on Marquez.  Of course, the film version totally ignored that portion in favour of the ESL-road-trip portion"

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Edward P Jones - The Known World (2003)
Moreno  - "Story of a black slave owner in a fictional county in Virginia is the best book about slavery I've ever read. Never manipulative or sentimental; good and bad folk no matter the race. The part where a slave sneaks away and masturbates in the woods gets at something about freedom that's stuck with me ever since"

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Laszlo Krasznahorkai - The Melancholy of Resistance (2000)
wmlynch - "Krasznahorkai's writing is dreamlike yet specific and terrifying, sort of like a Lynch film without the quirkiness (though not without humor). This is a book to get lost in, to feel trapped in, but also to want not to end; it is a labyrinth with a dead whale's eye at its center. This Hungarian's writing is reminiscent of Kafka and Schulz and Sebald and Bernhard even while remaining unmistakably his own"

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Roberto Calasso - Literature and the Gods (2001)
wmlynch - "Calasso's study of how myth is intertwined with and underpins modern literature is stunning for containing such brilliant ideas presented so brilliantly. Despite its weighty content, the book reads much like a novel (I believe he even considers most of his books to be novels) and leaves the impression of having confronted a great mind. This is part of a series in which he examines Indian myth (Ka), Greek myth (The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony), and the works of Kafka (K.), the latter two of which I also highly recommend"

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Joe Sacco - The Fixer
jabba hands - "looks even better [than Safe Area Gorazde] - beautiful cinematic artwork in that one, although the story's maybe not quite as compelling as the earlier books. all good though!"

... and that's them all I think. Belated thanks to those of you who stepped up.