How much do the books we read ultimately impact our lives? 95% of them probably don’t- they’re entertaining or informative in the moment, but don’t have much of an impact afterwards. Then there’s the one in every twenty that changes the way you look at the world. One average, that’s probably 1-3 reads a year. I imagine the way I would look at the passage of time would be different if not for novels by Ruth Ozeki and Matt Haig. Hans Rosling’s Factfulness has given me concrete support for my optimism towards the world. Todd Henry’s Die Empty has given me a mantra for how I want to live.
Picking my top 10 fiction and top 10 non-fiction reads from this decade was not an easy task, but it was fun to think back on all the incredible literary journeys I’ve been on in the past ten years.
FICTION
10. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
A Japanese-American writer discovers a washed up journal in British Colombia and discovers it belonged to a Japanese sixteen year old who lost it in a tsunami. The girl has written freely about her life and goes from suicidal thoughts to documenting the life of her very elderly grandmother. It’s a novel about connection across times and cultures despite distance and missing links in your own story, one with spiritual tones I enjoyed very much.
9. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Celeste Ng can really write. Just missing this list, though not by much, would be her earlier novel- Everything I Never Told You. This novel focuses on upscale small towns and Ohio suburbs and two families who keep secrets, despite getting extremely close together. It’s a novel that reminds me that everybody is facing hidden challenges at any given moment.
8. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Beautiful is the right word for this novel. Set against the romance of a generic Cinque Terre village, the story jumps back and forth between the fifties and Hollywood idealism and the present day. This is the right book to remind us that no matter how much time passes, the things that matter most come back around for us.
7. Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang
My favorite graphic novel of the decade. Boxers & Saints is actually a two part book series, but I’ve batched them together since they’re sort of only complete together. Boxers follows the story of a young boy fighting in Ancient China’s Boxer Rebellion against the foreign influence of missionaries. Saints focuses on a Chinese peasant girl who has found solace in the missionary communities. It’s a reminder that even in the fiercest conflicts, both sides have their stories.
6. The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht
This was an impressive debut novel that was written in the spirit of classic Russian and Balkan literature. Set in that part of the world, it contains themes of ritual, legend, and folklore, primarily around a young doctor who befriends a “deathless man” and a tiger who escapes from the local zoo and befriends a deaf girl. It’s a great story for awakening a sense of wonder at the world.
5. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
This book made me so proud for all the strong Asian females in my family’s history. The novel starts in Korea in the early 20th Century, and follows a family through the next several decades into the present. Parts of it follow members of the family to Japan and the U.S. as those countries play a role in the family’s history. It’s an impressive, expansive story about family legacy.
4. How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
Here’s the premise: An approximate 600 year old guy has to deal with the challenges of aging ten times slower than your typical person, like grieving losing everybody over and over and over again every few years. That, and the secret society that protects his identity and his secret aging process in exchange for one assasination job every eight years. For someone who often feels like time simply slips by way too fast- this was an amazingly relatable read.
3. Children of Blood and Bone by Toni Adeyemi
This is going to sound like a big compliment, and I mean for it to be a massive compliment– you’d have to go back to Harry Potter to find a fictional world I’ve enjoyed getting to know as much as the ancient magical Africa that’s centered in this novel. The characters, the setting, the rules, everything is so rich and I’m thankful that there will be even more books to come in this series.
2. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Following members of a family line from one generation to the next, from Ghana to America, Homegoing is all about getting back in touch with roots that were erased due to slavery and other ills. If other novels on this list are any indicator, I love sweeping, epic, expansive storylines, and this is a key example.
1. A Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar
I think the great tragedy of our past decade has been what has happened to Syria during that time. This novel provides a retelling of the story in a way that does justice to the tragedy, but also captures the brilliance and the heart of the Syrian people. It leaves you feeling something more than devastation- maybe even hope at the end, in spite of all the horrors throughout the novel and the real world incidents its based on.
NONFICTION
10. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
Seems like every well-respected name in comedy has traded spots on the best-seller list at some point this decade for their memoir. Of all of them, Trevor Noah’s was the one that really stood out to me. His book was basically stories from his early life, coupled with some thoughts on racism and apartheid. You wouldn’t have even known he was a comedian just by this book, his pre-comedy life offers enough material. The final chapter was amazing.
9. On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope by DeRay Mckesson
I’ve learned so much about activism and justice and standing up for what’s right from the writings and ideas of DeRay. I’m particularly happy that he chose the topic of hope on which to focus his first book. He’s been in the middle of so many situations in which it’s been really hard to be hopeful.
8. The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything by James Martin, SJ
This book was written as a simple introduction of Jesuit spiritual practices to laypersons, but it was one of the few books I brought with me to South Africa while I was there, so I read it over and over again. This was how I learned about centering prayer and contemplation and examens and the spiritual practices that were most helpful to me over the past eight years. I read this at just the right time- needing to take my faith beyond just believing the “right things” to the practice of finding God in all things.
7. Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas
This was only the second book ever by a Filipino or Filipino American that I’ve read- which makes me a little sad. Still, this was a beautifully written and very important read. Immigration continues to grow as a topic of importance, and I’ve found Jose’s voice and honest-to-life storytelling so important as a way to hold empathy throughout the discussion.
6. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling
Every day, you’ll be exposed to messages that portray the world as a devastating place where things keep getting worse. Maybe nobody is literally saying that to you, but pay attention to the succession of headlines, and they’ll certainly paint that picture. Hans Rosling uses real and important data to show that the world is actually getting better. Drastically. The present is the best time to be alive. This book not only is a beacon of sensible optimism, but also some of the best storytelling I’ve seen done with data, hands down.
5. Between the World and Me by Ta Nehisi Coates
If I were making a list of- not necessarily my favorite reads of the past decade, but the most culturally important, this just might make the top of the list. Coates writes about the pivotal, uncomfortable moment we’re in in our country’s history of racism and bigotry with so much heart– in a letter to his young son. Highly relatable.
4. Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Day by Todd Henry
My work ethic is driven by the awareness that I won’t live forever and that I don’t want my life to end with my best work still inside of me. If something can help other people, I want to be sure to do it, and that means acting with a sense of urgency. Todd Henry does a great job of putting these values into words.
3. Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Greg Boyle
Ten years ago, more of my reads consisted of things you would’ve found in the Religion section of a bookstore. I tend to read less from that section these days and instead look for the sacred in aspects of all the other sections, though there are still a few books here and there I find genuinely helpful. Greg Boyle’s book of stories from his years of working with people involved with gangs has so much heart and paints a true picture of what compassion looks like. I felt like my soul came to life while reading this.
2. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
This book blew my mind when I read it in the winter of 2011 and the story of Louie Zamperini continues to amaze me. This biography captures an incredbily lived life, starting with it’s subject’s running career, his survival of a month on a raft at sea, his imprisonment and torture in a Japanese prison camp, and the aftermath of his trauma and struggle to forgive his primary tormentor. This book ultimately is a reminder to me of what hope, resilience, and forgiveness look like.
1. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
It’s hard to believe this book only came out this decade; it already feels like a much longer-established classic. Stevenson’s book recounts his experiences as a lawyer, defending those on death row, seeking to exonerate the wrongfully imprisoned. His story highlights the flaws of our prison systems and systematic racism, but also the way we’re connected through our own brokenness. It’s a reminder of what justice really is and how each of us is more than our worst mistakes.