Are These The Best Novels of the Decade?

Literary Hub, one of the most interesting sites I visit regularly, has issued its list of the Twenty Best Novels of this Decade.

JENNIFER EGAN, A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD (2010)

DAVID MITCHELL, THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET (2010)

DENIS JOHNSON, TRAIN DREAMS (2011)

JULIE OTSUKA, THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC (2011)

TÉA OBREHT, THE TIGER’S WIFE (2011)

JESMYN WARD, SALVAGE THE BONES (2012)

RACHEL KUSHNER, THE FLAMETHROWERS (2013)

MIRIAM TOEWS, ALL MY PUNY SORROWS (2014)

JENNY OFFILL, DEPT. OF SPECULATION (2014)

PAUL BEATTY, THE SELLOUT (2015)

VIET THANH NGUYEN, THE SYMPATHIZER (2015)

HANYA YANAGIHARA, A LITTLE LIFE (2015)

N. K. JEMISIN, THE FIFTH SEASON (2015)

RACHEL CUSK, OUTLINE (2015)

COLSON WHITEHEAD, THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD (2016)

ADAM HASLETT, IMAGINE ME GONE (2016)

RICHARD POWERS, THE OVERSTORY (2018)

HERNAN DÍAZ, IN THE DISTANCE (2018)

SUSAN CHOI, TRUST EXERCISE (2019)

ANNA BURNS, MILKMAN (2019)

I have to admit that I have not read a single one of them, nor, indeed, any of the eighteen “near misses” that are also listed.  Given the amount that I read, I am rather surprised that that is true. But then again, I rarely buy new books due to costs, relying instead on our excellent library system.

This is a fascinating reading list and I will now turn to the VPL and see how many of these I can get read in the next 12 months.

Image: Egg Playing With Cat

Turnbull/Saklikar Reading: November 23

Former Vancouverite Chris Turnbull returns to town for a reading with Renee Saklikar at the People’s Co-op Bookstore on Saturday, November 23.

Chris Turnbull is the author of Continua (Ottawa: Chaudiere Books 2015; Picton: Invisible Publishing 2019) and [ untitled ] in o w n (Vancouver: CUE Books 2014), one of a trio of poetry books alongside work by Heather Hermant and angela rawlings. His chapbook publications include Shingles (Vancouver: Thuja 1999); continua 1-22 (Ottawa: above/ground 2010); and The Great Canadian (Buffalo: Low Frequency Press 2015), which combines images from Turnbull’s site-specific rout/e project and text from Rawling’s forthcoming echolology. Undertones, a collaborative chapbook with text/artist Bruno Neiva, is emerging with Low Frequency Press in 2019.

Renee Saklikar is the author of Listening to the Bees (2018) and children of air india (2013).  She recently completed her term as poet laureate for the city of Surrey.

The launch is a free event at 1391 Commercial Drive, and gets underway at 7:30 pm.