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Literary Hub

By Literary Hub

The Best Novels of the Decade

Friends, it’s true: the end of the decade approaches. It’s been a difficult, anxiety-provoking, morally compromised decade, but at least it’s been populated by some damn fine literature. We’ll take our silver linings where we can.

So, as is our hallowed duty as a literary and culture website—though with full awareness of the potentially fruitless and endlessly contestable nature of the task—in the coming weeks, we’ll be taking a look at the best and most important (these being not always the same) books of the decade that was. We will do this, of course, by means of a variety of lists. We began with the best debut novels, the best short story collections, the best poetry collections, the best memoirs, the best essay collections, the best (other) nonfiction, and the best translated novels of the decade. We have now reached the eighth and most difficult list in our series: the very best novels written and published in English between 2010 and 2019.

You may be shocked to learn that we had a hard time deciding on 10. So, being captains of our own destiny, we decided we were allowed to pick 20 . . . plus almost that many dissents. We did not allow reissues, otherwise you had better believe this list would include The Last SamuraiSpeedboat, and Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead, among a robust host of others. We also, for this list, discounted novels in translation, as they got their very own list last week, and including them would have necessitated a list twice as long. (My beloved Sweet Days of Discipline, certainly in the top ten novels I personally read this decade, is doubly ineligible, but luckily I also write these introductions.)

Now, for the last time: the following books were chosen after much debate (and several rounds of voting) by the Literary Hub staff. Tears were spilled, feelings were hurt, books were re-read. As ever, free to add any of your own favorites that we’ve missed in the comments below.

bookcover for A Visit from the Goon Squad

A Visit from the Goon Squad

Jennifer Egan 

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Paperback

$18.00

$16.74

bookcover for The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

David Mitchell 

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Paperback

$19.00

$17.67

bookcover for Train Dreams

Train Dreams

Denis Johnson 

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Paperback

$17.00

$15.81

bookcover for The Buddha in the Attic

The Buddha in the Attic

Julie Otsuka 

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Paperback

$16.00

$14.88

bookcover for The Tiger's Wife

The Tiger's Wife

Téa Obreht  

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Paperback

$18.00

$16.74

bookcover for Salvage the Bones

Salvage the Bones

Jesmyn Ward 

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Paperback

$17.99

$16.73

bookcover for The Flamethrowers

The Flamethrowers

Rachel Kushner 

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Paperback

$18.99

$17.66

bookcover for All My Puny Sorrows

All My Puny Sorrows

Miriam Toews 

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Paperback

$17.99

$16.73

bookcover for Dept. of Speculation

Dept. of Speculation

Jenny Offill 

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Paperback

$17.00

$15.81

bookcover for The Sympathizer

The Sympathizer

Associate Professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity Viet Thanh Nguyen 

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Paperback

$17.00

$15.81

bookcover for The Fifth Season

The Fifth Season

N K Jemisin 

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Paperback

$19.99

$18.59

bookcover for Outline

Outline

Rachel Cusk 

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Paperback

$18.00

$16.74

bookcover for Imagine Me Gone

Imagine Me Gone

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Paperback

$18.99

$17.66

bookcover for The Overstory

The Overstory

Richard Powers 

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Hardback

$29.99

$27.89

bookcover for Trust Exercise

Trust Exercise

Susan Choi 

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Hardback

$27.00

$25.11

bookcover for Milkman

Milkman

Anna Burns 

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Paperback

$17.00

$15.81

bookcover for C

C

Tom McCarthy 

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Paperback

$20.00

bookcover for The Sisters Brothers

The Sisters Brothers

Patrick deWitt 

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Paperback

$18.99

$17.66

bookcover for The Woman Upstairs

The Woman Upstairs

Claire Messud 

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Paperback

$17.00

bookcover for Duplex

Duplex

Kathryn Davis 

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Hardback

$24.00

$22.32

bookcover for Americanah

Americanah

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

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Paperback

$19.00

$17.67

bookcover for 10:04: A Novel

10:04: A Novel

Ben Lerner 

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Paperback

$18.00

$16.74

bookcover for Fates and Furies

Fates and Furies

Lauren Groff 

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Paperback

$18.00

$16.74

bookcover for Mr. Splitfoot

Mr. Splitfoot

Samantha Hunt 

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Paperback

$18.99

$17.66