Best of the Decade... So Far

This first decade of the millennium is barely half over, and we have already seen a dot-com bust (and quiet recovery), a disputed presidential election, an unforgettable terrorist attack on U.S. soil, American-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rapid rise of China into an economic powerhouse, and one of the worst natural disasters in American history. What's that they say about living in interesting times?

Some of our favorite books of the decade so far have helped us understand those times, but many others have opened up worlds beyond the headlines: a boy stuck on a raft with a large Bengal tiger, a long-underrated founding father, a pigeon who insists on driving the bus, and, yes, a school for wizards you may have heard of named Hogwarts. In the lists to the left, you'll find our editors' picks and our bestselling customer favorites in dozens of categories: our choices and yours for the best books published since 2000.

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      A little Canadian book that came out of nowhere to win the Booker Prize in 2002 has come out on top again, nosing out fellow award winners like The Corrections and Middlesex in our editors' picks for the best fiction of the decade so far. Other fiction list-toppers include a murder mystery set amid the social unrest and soul music of late-'60s Washington, D.C., and a swoony, bittersweet graphic novel of teen love and Christian youth camps. See our editors' top 10 picks in these fiction categories: Literature & Fiction | Debut Fiction
      Mystery & Thrillers | Science Fiction & Fantasy
      Comics & Graphic Novels
      What books of the decade so far have been the most popular among our customers? Well, no one will be shocked to hear that numbers one, two, and three on our top 50 list are taken by books six, five, and four of a certain series for children that a young divorced mother started writing in cafes while living on public assistance. And other familiar names follow, though some of what your fellow customers have been reading the last five years may surprise you: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
      Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
      Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
      The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
      The South Beach Diet by Arthur Agatston
      America (The Book) by Jon Stewart and the writers of the Daily Show

      ›See the Top 50 Customer Favorites