At the start of the year, many of you will likely have had a list of books to get through this year, perhaps including a fantasy or a recent Hunger Games installment, but how many have you read since 2020, and which of those stood out the most for you? Here is a list of the top books of the decade so far, as ranked by Goodreads.
10. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
This creative love story by Gabrielle Zevin explores the decades-long friendship between Sam Masur and Sadie Green, both now video game designers who first met as children and later reunite in college. When they decide to collaborate on a video game, they are met with massive success, but with that comes huge tests. The novel has themes of identity, love, loss, and the power of human connection.
9. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry follows an excellent chemist, Elizabeth Zott, as she navigates a male-dominated 1960s America while juggling her career with motherhood. After she is fired from her lab, her career 180s and she unexpectedly becomes a beloved cooking show host where she uses her scientific knowledge to challenge societal expectations and empower women. The story explores themes of feminism, resilience, and the power of found families.
8. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke focuses on a man named Piranesi who lives in a vast, labyrinthine House filled with statues and tides, where he is for the most part alone, except for his visitor Other, who visits twice a week. Piranesi spends his time documenting his world in journals, focusing on its strange beauty and the rhythms of the tides and clouds. But as Piranesi explores, he discovers evidence of another presence in the House, leading him to question his own reality and identity.
7. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0) by Suzanne Collins
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins is a prequel to the original The Hunger Games trilogy, set 64 years prior to the events of the first novel. The dystopian young adult action-adventure is based on eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow as he prepares for his one shot at glory in becoming a mentor in the Games. The story explores the origins of Snow’s ambition and ruthlessness.
6. Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) by Rebecca Yarros
Rebecca Yarros’ first instalment of adult romance fantasy, The Empryean trilogy, follows the journey of Violet Sorrengail, after she is forced by her mother, General Sorrengail, to join the Basgiath War College and become a dragon rider in the kingdom of Navarre. The Empyrean series has taken over the decade to date, with Yarros books becoming hugely popular and set to be turned into a series by Amazon Prime.
5. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Jennette McCurdy’s memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died shares her experiences as a child actor on Nickelodeon’s iCarly and Sam & Cat, alongside her tumultuous relationship with her controlling and abusive mother, Debra. The book explores themes of eating disorders, addiction, and McCurdy’s journey of self-discovery and recovery in the time after her mother’s death.
4. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library follows a woman who is struggling with unhappiness and discontentment. When she finds herself in a magical library between life and death, she is forced to explore all of the “what could have beens” in her lifetime. The book details on the harsh realities of life and realising that you have to choose the path you want to go down.
3. The House in the Cerulean Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #1) by T.J. Klune
T.J. Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea tells the story of Linus Baker, a case worker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. When he is tasked with investigating an orphanage on a remote island, he encounters six magical, yet dangerous children alongside Arthur Parnassus, their caretaker. Linus then begins to question his own beliefs about what is truly good and evil. The novel explores themes of prejudice and acceptance.
2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
In Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary, a school teacher turned astronaut, Ryland Grace, wakes up from a coma with amnesia and is tasked with saving humanity. He realises he is alone on a spaceship millions of miles from Earth and must piece together his mission and his past to combat a dimming sun that is threatening Earth with a new ice age.
1. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
In The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab writes of a young woman named Addie who makes a desperate deal for immortality, but is then faced with a curse that means she will be forgotten by everyone she meets. The story spans Addie’s 300-year journey across centuries and continents, but when her solitary existence is disrupted, she is forced to confront the possibility of breaking the curse and leaving a lasting mark on the world.