Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. This week’s prompt is 21st Century Books I Think Will Become Classics (Submitted by Lisa of Hopewell).
Hello Readers! I hope this week’s TTT finds you well. As I knew it would, March has flown by and is almost gone. Which is why I’m surprised I’ve read as many books as I have this month. We are enjoying the warmer weather here, hoping the cold is gone for good—and hoping Covid cases stay down. 🙂
I tried not to think too hard with this week’s prompt. I just let titles come to mind—and then verified they were from the 21st century. 😉 I chose books I thought were impactful and memorable. If you need a reminder, the 21st century is the current century. It began on January 1, 2001 and will end on December 31, 2100. It’s still very early in our century, but here are the books that I think should become classics… so far.
Let’s see what I chose! I’m listing them in order of publication.
(Link to Goodreads synopsis through book title.)
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini – (2003) I read this book pre-Goodreads so I didn’t write a review, but it’s a novel that has stuck with me.
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – (2006) From my review: “By the end I had a hard time reading through my tears. This one will haunt me for a long time.”
- The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater – (2011) From my review: “A sweet, simple story with a lot of heart. I quickly fell in love with the characters. I was sad to see it end.”
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller – (2011) From my review: “Intimate, soul-crushing, and painfully beautiful! An epic love story to rival Romeo and Juliet.”
- The Martian by Andy Weir – (2014) From my review: “This space novel has a lot of science and math, two things this girl typically detests, but the story is so good I was able to trust the author with the numbers and just enjoy the action.”
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel – (2014) From my review: “It’s impressively well-done, with many layers, characters, and alternating time periods, but surprisingly not confusing at all.”
- Beartown by Fredrik Backman – (2016) From my review: “What I loved about Backman’s writing was how he made the reader have sympathy for every character. He humanized them all, illustrating how anyone is capable of evil.”
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones – (2018) From my review: “An American Marriage read like a modern-day classic. I can see that this is a novel that will continue to influence readers for generations, if it gets the attention it deserves.”
- Educated by Tara Westover – (2018) From my review: “Tara Westover’s memoir is at times shocking, terrifying, and heartbreaking. But most importantly, it’s inspiring, reminding readers that knowledge gives us the courage to pursue our individuality and the power to respect each other’s paths.”
- There There by Tommy Orange – (2018) From my review: “Orange has done a phenomenal job weaving the varying characters’ stories together, and wow, do those characters jump off the page. This one is well-written and unforgettable.”
Do you think any of these will be considered classics? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
Nice list. I haven’t read any of these, but have heard of some of them.
Thank you! <3
Great list, Dedra! The only one I’ve read is SoA and I totally agree it’ll be a classic. I think it’s gonna be popular on today’s list 😃 I have almost all of the others on my TBR and I can’t wait to read them.
I bet you’re right! I still need to read Circe, but hopefully soon. Hope you get to the other ones on my list soon. 🙂
Great picks! I haven’t read Station Eleven yet, but from what I’ve heard of it it could easily become a classic.
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2022/03/29/throwback-ttt-books-by-my-favorite-authors-i-still-need-to-read/
Yes! While I think I read it at the wrong time, I could appreciate that it was written well and unlike anything else I’d read before.
I’m trying really hard to wait to read it until I’ll be able to properly enjoy it.
I think that’s smart!
Great list! I have Ove but almost put Beartown. I could see either, really!! I have There There on my TBR. Totally forgot about The Book Thief!!
I think everything Backman writes could be on this list! I still need to read Ove. There There was very well done, but hard to read at times.
Yes! totally agree about Backman. Yeah, I have it for a hard popsugar prompt but I might try something else. It’s not particularly calling to me.
I’m constantly changing the hard-to-read books I have penciled in on my popsugar prompts for easier ones. 🤦♀️ With There There, I read it very quickly, and that seemed to help. Less time to dwell on it. 😃
Omg. I don’t even know why I made a TBR when it comes out. I have changed SOOOO many of them. lol I guess, it’s the fun and potential of it! 😛
I do think Backman’s stories have some staying power, and his observations of human nature and connection is incredible.
Yes! I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by him so far, but I still need to read Ove and Anxious People. He really does know how to write characters.
Ove was so good. My heart!
I didn’t participate in this one, as I had no idea what to list. Now that I think about it, I would add Where the Crawdads Sing, The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett and A Man Called Ove. Great list, Dedra. I have read several of these and agree.
I still need to read Crawdads and Ove! This was definitely a prompt I could have overanalyzed. I had to force myself not to take it too seriously. Haha!
I think that is what I did and why I went blank.
It was a hard prompt to take lightly. 😉