Lithub’s 100 Books That Defined the Decade

1.
The Goldfinch
The Goldfinch 3.96 avg rating β€” 1,010,417 ratings
2.
Freedom
Freedom 3.79 avg rating β€” 173,386 ratings
3.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks 4.13 avg rating β€” 786,986 ratings
4.
The Fault in Our Stars
The Fault in Our Stars 4.12 avg rating β€” 5,580,124 ratings
5.
All the Light We Cannot See
All the Light We Cannot See 4.31 avg rating β€” 1,904,356 ratings
6.
Bossypants
Bossypants
by: Tina Fey
3.96 avg rating β€” 1,041,913 ratings
7.
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate 4.16 avg rating β€” 27,259 ratings
8.
Milk and honey
Milk and honey
by: Rupi Kaur
3.96 avg rating β€” 776,738 ratings
9.
Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures 3.96 avg rating β€” 112,005 ratings
10.
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad 4.06 avg rating β€” 433,265 ratings
11.
Bad Feminist
Bad Feminist 3.92 avg rating β€” 117,711 ratings
12.
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine 4.30 avg rating β€” 168,085 ratings
13.
The Martian
The Martian
by: Andy Weir
4.42 avg rating β€” 1,238,593 ratings
14.
Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality
Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality 3.98 avg rating β€” 31,318 ratings
15.
The Tiger's Wife
The Tiger's Wife 3.42 avg rating β€” 101,748 ratings
16.
Bring Up the Bodies (Thomas Cromwell, #2)
Bring Up the Bodies (Thomas Cromwell, #2) 4.30 avg rating β€” 102,593 ratings
17.
The Pale King
The Pale King 3.97 avg rating β€” 19,430 ratings
18.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer 4.12 avg rating β€” 257,756 ratings
19.
The Neapolitan Novels
The Neapolitan Novels 4.56 avg rating β€” 6,845 ratings
20.
Just Kids
Just Kids 4.21 avg rating β€” 333,608 ratings
20.
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern 3.87 avg rating β€” 34,479 ratings
22.
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking 4.40 avg rating β€” 87,416 ratings
23.
Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians, #1)
Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians, #1) 3.91 avg rating β€” 536,328 ratings
24.
Reality Hunger: A Manifesto
Reality Hunger: A Manifesto 3.65 avg rating β€” 2,680 ratings
25.
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking 4.08 avg rating β€” 465,693 ratings
26.
In the Woods
In the Woods 3.78 avg rating β€” 429,562 ratings
27.
A Visit from the Goon Squad
A Visit from the Goon Squad 3.70 avg rating β€” 244,137 ratings
28.
Capital in the Twenty First Century
Capital in the Twenty First Century 4.06 avg rating β€” 33,857 ratings
28.
Dept. of Speculation
Dept. of Speculation 3.76 avg rating β€” 58,088 ratings
30.
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer 4.34 avg rating β€” 111,137 ratings
31.
The Passage of Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #4)
The Passage of Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #4) 4.40 avg rating β€” 19,288 ratings
32.
Orange Is the New Black
Orange Is the New Black 3.72 avg rating β€” 204,758 ratings
32.
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Thinking, Fast and Slow 4.17 avg rating β€” 564,474 ratings
34.
The Woman Upstairs
The Woman Upstairs 3.31 avg rating β€” 33,469 ratings
35.
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs 4.15 avg rating β€” 1,331,108 ratings
35.
How Should a Person Be?
How Should a Person Be? 3.33 avg rating β€” 16,642 ratings
37.
A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5)
A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5) 4.34 avg rating β€” 725,276 ratings
38.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness 4.52 avg rating β€” 115,034 ratings
39.
Fates and Furies
Fates and Furies 3.59 avg rating β€” 145,766 ratings
40.
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets
Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets 4.46 avg rating β€” 20,847 ratings
41.
Just Mercy
Just Mercy 4.63 avg rating β€” 254,468 ratings
42.
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History 4.15 avg rating β€” 77,271 ratings
43.
Go Set a Watchman
Go Set a Watchman 3.31 avg rating β€” 286,802 ratings
44.
10:04
10:04 3.77 avg rating β€” 15,276 ratings
45.
A Little Life
A Little Life 4.29 avg rating β€” 858,681 ratings
46.
We Should All Be Feminists
We Should All Be Feminists 4.40 avg rating β€” 320,704 ratings
47.
The Patrick Melrose Novels
The Patrick Melrose Novels 4.06 avg rating β€” 9,143 ratings
47.
Normal People
Normal People 3.81 avg rating β€” 1,755,602 ratings
49.
The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give, #1)
The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give, #1) 4.46 avg rating β€” 986,282 ratings
50.
Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) 4.11 avg rating β€” 3,593,059 ratings
51.
Min kamp 1 (Min kamp, #1)
Min kamp 1 (Min kamp, #1) 4.10 avg rating β€” 48,185 ratings
51.
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk 3.79 avg rating β€” 30,887 ratings
53.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind 4.34 avg rating β€” 1,201,547 ratings
54.
Pulphead
Pulphead really liked it 4.00 avg rating β€” 7,970 ratings
54.
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End 4.49 avg rating β€” 210,871 ratings
56.
Building Stories
Building Stories 4.33 avg rating β€” 7,322 ratings
57.
I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban 4.16 avg rating β€” 612,687 ratings
58.
The Argonauts
The Argonauts 4.02 avg rating β€” 54,641 ratings
59.
Train Dreams
Train Dreams 3.90 avg rating β€” 29,214 ratings
60.
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief 4.04 avg rating β€” 44,512 ratings
61.
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics 3.99 avg rating β€” 64,358 ratings
62.
Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1)
Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1) 3.67 avg rating β€” 2,808,730 ratings
62.
Zone One
Zone One 3.25 avg rating β€” 26,608 ratings
62.
Underland: A Deep Time Journey
Underland: A Deep Time Journey 4.23 avg rating β€” 20,150 ratings
65.
Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)
Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) 4.23 avg rating β€” 1,266,731 ratings
65.
Gone Girl
Gone Girl 4.14 avg rating β€” 3,358,202 ratings
65.
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail 4.07 avg rating β€” 850,415 ratings
65.
Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume I: 1940-1956
Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume I: 1940-1956 4.41 avg rating β€” 476 ratings
69.
The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance 4.20 avg rating β€” 16,552 ratings
69.
Men Explain Things to Me
Men Explain Things to Me 3.83 avg rating β€” 85,140 ratings
71.
There There
There There 3.98 avg rating β€” 214,270 ratings
72.
Tenth of December
Tenth of December 3.98 avg rating β€” 80,030 ratings
73.
The Mueller Report
The Mueller Report 4.04 avg rating β€” 3,094 ratings
74.
Citizen: An American Lyric
Citizen: An American Lyric 4.26 avg rating β€” 50,751 ratings
75.
Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming
Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming 4.40 avg rating β€” 4,279 ratings
76.
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead 3.95 avg rating β€” 266,944 ratings
77.
The Flamethrowers
The Flamethrowers 3.51 avg rating β€” 23,697 ratings
78.
H is for Hawk
H is for Hawk 3.74 avg rating β€” 78,916 ratings
79.
The Power
The Power 3.75 avg rating β€” 246,895 ratings
80.
Between the World and Me
Between the World and Me 4.40 avg rating β€” 357,355 ratings
80.
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House 3.44 avg rating β€” 76,850 ratings
82.
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South 3.87 avg rating β€” 8,046 ratings
83.
A Brief History of Seven Killings
A Brief History of Seven Killings 3.89 avg rating β€” 37,300 ratings
83.
Sing, Unburied, Sing
Sing, Unburied, Sing really liked it 4.00 avg rating β€” 145,350 ratings
85.
The Sympathizer (The Sympathizer, #1)
The Sympathizer (The Sympathizer, #1) 4.01 avg rating β€” 132,968 ratings
86.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing 3.88 avg rating β€” 386,259 ratings
87.
The Sellout
The Sellout 3.75 avg rating β€” 73,383 ratings
87.
The Testaments (The Handmaid's Tale, #2)
The Testaments (The Handmaid's Tale, #2) 4.20 avg rating β€” 400,387 ratings
89.
The Broken Earth Trilogy (The Broken Earth, #1-3)
The Broken Earth Trilogy (The Broken Earth, #1-3) 4.56 avg rating β€” 3,980 ratings
90.
Educated
Educated 4.47 avg rating β€” 1,772,605 ratings
91.
Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman
Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman 4.17 avg rating β€” 62,834 ratings
92.
The Girls
The Girls 3.51 avg rating β€” 237,168 ratings
93.
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth 3.76 avg rating β€” 16,288 ratings
94.
She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement
She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement 4.34 avg rating β€” 43,154 ratings
95.
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis 3.85 avg rating β€” 488,758 ratings
95.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation
My Year of Rest and Relaxation 3.61 avg rating β€” 524,514 ratings
97.
You Know You Want This: Cat Person and Other Stories
You Know You Want This: Cat Person and Other Stories 3.62 avg rating β€” 12,317 ratings
98.
The Overstory
The Overstory 4.12 avg rating β€” 185,914 ratings
99.
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America
by: Beth Macy
4.07 avg rating β€” 44,182 ratings
100.
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos 3.91 avg rating β€” 257,784 ratings