As Father Time closed the book on 2009, many of my fellow bloggers were posting “Best of the Decade” lists, covering everything from film to literature. These lists sparked a lot of lively debate as well as good-natured, and not-so-good-natured derision regarding whether or not 2010 was actually the start of a new decade or the last full year in the first decade of the 2000’s.

Although I hate missing an opportunity to talk about good books, there were too many other things I had in my posting schedule at the close of 2009 and start of 2010 to participate and so I gave up on the idea. Thanks to the courage of Joe Sherry, who recently jumped into the fray with his “19 Books of the Decade” post, I decided to resurrect the idea as a Friday Favorites post and list my own personal Top 20 reads of the 2000’s.

The criteria I used for this is that the book had to be published in the year 2000 up through the present and, of course, I had to have read it! Hardly the scientific method! In looking over what I had read for the last 10 years I looked for books that have stayed with me in some form or other since I first read them. These are books that I rated highly, raved about (when I did a review, which I have done for almost all of them), and books that I would happily reread safe in the knowledge that I would continue to find them an immensely pleasurable experience.

This is not THE best of the decade, this is MY top twenty of the decade. Chances are there are incredible, amazing books published in the last ten years that I have yet to discover, books that you passionately believe I should read, and read NOW, and I hope you’ll take the time in the comments to not only praise/deride my choices but to speak about your choices as well.

For every book that I’ve reviewed I have linked said review to the book title. Feel free to click over there if you want to find out why these books have made a lasting impression and why you might just want to give them a try yourself.

Continue reading Friday Favorites: Top 20 in the 2000’s →