New York Times 10 Best Books Of 2010

The New York Times has picked the 10 best books of 2010. Last week the list of 100 notable books came out as well. So we have some questions for you:

Would you rather have an editorial staff pick the books?

Would you rather listen to friends and family?

Do these books make your top 10 list?

Is this list a bit too predictable or is it just right?

Vote in the slideshow, the poll and send us comments. We want to know.

Quick Poll

Who do you listen to for book recommendations?

My peeps

Critics and editors

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

1 of 10

Fiction

1 of 11

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

"Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen One of the most talked about books of the year, "Freedom" received a flood of praise upon its August release. Time Magazine featured the author on its cover in August, and in September Oprah Winfrey selected "Freedom" for her Book Club.

The Queen and the U.S.A.: The Future of the Special Relationship

Self-Diagnosis Book: 11 Nasty Ailments You Might Have (PHOTOS)

The 10 Most Common Phobias (PHOTOS)

Eating Badly: 7 Consequences Of Fast Food

Leadership Advice: 9 Things Obama Could Learn From Caesar

Processed Food: 9 Nasty Truths About The Meals You Eat (PHOTOS)

"Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen

One of the most talked about books of the year, "Freedom" received a flood of praise upon its August release. Time Magazine featured the author on its cover in August, and in September Oprah Winfrey selected "Freedom" for her Book Club.

comments(100)

Total comments: 100 | Post a Comment

1 of 11

Book

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Snooze My pick too

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Top 5 of the top 10

loading...

Top 5 of the top 10

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

Comments

[Kira1969]

05:38 PM on 12/15/2010

None of Us Were Like this Before -- Read a review of it from the HuffPost, and bought it the next day. Not something I would typically read. I'm so glad I did... Easily one of the best books of the year, and one of the most important.

[tsilverl]

08:41 PM on 12/04/2010

Freedom—beautifully written, relentlessly pointless.

[BDSaur]

06:59 PM on 12/04/2010

Some of these end-of-year lists are just so predictable. Freedom was excellent, yes, but what about those books that got rave reviews but are also controversial? Don't they make the lists, too? Black Hearts by Jim Frederick is one book every citizen of this country should read whatever their political persuasion. It's the best non-fiction book I've ever read. Whether you're for or against the US "invading" any country you cannot ignore what life is (or was) like for the soldiers on the ground and Black Hearts has it all. No wonder the NYT called it extraordinary yet somehow missed it off their list. Is war too controversial for "holiday gift guides" I wonder?

[Galia Hannah]

06:49 PM on 12/03/2010

None of the New York Times books looks at all interesting and the list is far removed from what's happening in the country. The New York Times book reviewers are getting worse and worse.

I'd recommend these two:
1. 1) Autobiogra­phy, by Mark Twain.Now Twain is one great American writer.
2. Diane Ravitch- Death and Life of the Great American School System- Ravitch's book is central to the debate boiling over the public schools nationwide. The book made Ravtich the hero of those fighting the Billionaire Boys Club such as Gates, Broad, Walton etc.

[Leviathan21]

02:50 PM on 12/03/2010

The three best books I read this year were:

Hitch-22 - Christopher Hitchens's memoirs. If you have any interest in international geo-politics or activism or literature or just plain witty story-telling, you will love it. Highly recommended.

Freedom - yes, yes, I know, I'm jumping on the bandwagon here. But, show me another novel that so brilliantly captures American life over the last decade. The novel is funny, touching, sad, and heartbreaking all at the same time. I didn't want it to end. 

The Pregnant Widow - Martin Amis's latest. It's a flawed novel in many ways. Amis's biggest weakness is that he still has trouble carrying a plot forward. But, buy, he does it with such style and panache" Gorgeous, silky sentences that curve and twist in unexpected ways; odd and brilliantly original metaphors; and such sensuous language! Who cares about the plot?

[3fingerbrown]

09:14 AM on 12/03/2010

I'll vouch for the Sondheim book--the best "collected lyrics" book ever.

Also have to put in a good word for "Colonel Roosevelt," the final volume of Edmund Morris's three-part life of TR.
What a wonderful prose stylist Morris is--he puts old duffers like Joe Ellis and David McCullough to same. Reading Morris feels as luxurious as sipping Napoleon brandy. The book is also timely: In an era when the Republican party is held captive its reactionary far-right wing, it might be an eye-opener for some to read about a time when not only was there a progressive wing of the GOP, but that self-proclaimed "progressive Republicans" actually held sway in the party. It was TR who founded that movement within the party; Eisenhower was the last president who was proud of being a "progressive Republican" in the TR tradition.

[Waveskiboy]

01:04 AM on 12/03/2010

Granary is a fraud! The Corrections was drivel, and Freedom is deplorable!

[Waveskiboy]

01:06 AM on 12/03/2010

See above...I meant Franzen, but the iPad auto corrected my spelling....

[dmezz1962]

11:43 PM on 12/02/2010

What no Obama books OMG

[Remendado]

03:32 AM on 12/03/2010

Are we just supposed to insert our own punctuation?

[The Iron Cage]

11:35 PM on 12/02/2010

"Critics praised Egan for her novel in the form of linked stories, one writing that if the author "is our reward for living through the self-conscious gimmicks and ironic claptrap of postmodernism, then it was all worthwhile."

I only made it part way through the review that was provided via a link in the above snippet before I got bored with it. Regardless, I'm wondering how anyone could call self-conscious literature a gimmick? The quote provided contradicts itself, as it says that self-conscious lit is part of postmodernism--a movement. By virtue of being characteristic of a movement, it's not a gimmick. I think that my logic is sound.

P.S. I'll argue any day of the week that self-conscious literature is mostly the product of modernism, not postmodernism. There are cases that go back even further, too. Huck Finn, for instance, is self-conscious. Just read the fake author's note and the first few paragraphs. This reviewer is either lazy or ignorant.

[lhsouthern1988]

10:58 PM on 12/02/2010

would franzen be there without oprah's help?

[ex-pat]

11:06 PM on 12/02/2010

Sorry.. he rejected Oprah and he is still there... I adore his writing and think he is great..but many people feel otherwise and that is their prerogative.

[GirlOutWest]

09:22 PM on 12/02/2010

"Room" sounds great and I would imagine it to be inspiring and perhaps funny since it comes from a child's pov. I saw the author of "The Emperor of Maladies" on Charlie Rose and it seemed very interesting as well especially if someone you love or know has cancer. I think "Cleopatra will be a hit too, sort of soap opera..ish.

[ex-pat]

11:06 PM on 12/02/2010

Nothing about the novel room was funny.... not one passage nor a sentence

[GirlOutWest]

08:54 AM on 12/03/2010

Haven't read it so of course I wouldn't know but sometimes when children are the protagonist it can have a tinge of humor. I see from the comment below it's like the Austrian case which was obviously horrible. Thanks for the comment.

[ruddy24]

12:50 AM on 12/03/2010

just finished room. would recommend it to anyone.. kinda reminds of the fritzl case in austria and i think the author acknowledged the idea of the book came from that case as well.

[611Juniper]

07:45 PM on 12/02/2010

Interesting that I find the word "recieved" in a post about literature (see the summary about #7 Cleopatra). Methinks someone needs to either take remedial spelling classes or turn on spell check.

[liberation4life]

07:21 PM on 12/02/2010

All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden Story of the Financial Crisis - is a must read, come now!

[veggiehead]

07:04 PM on 12/02/2010

I am having a hard time getting through Freedom. Incredible writing, but the story doesn't flow to me.

[DoesNotComputer]

06:33 PM on 12/02/2010

Note to self: Write a book with the word "Maladies" in the title, guarantee popularity.

[ikahana]

06:29 PM on 12/13/2010

A reference, perhaps, to Julia Kristeva's "New Maladies of the Soul"? Or are you referring to "Allergy: The History of a Modern Malady" by Mark Jackson, or "The Malady of Islam" by Abdelwahab Meddeb? All very popular books, among the three or four readers that are familiar with them.

Or maybe you mean because two books, one fiction and one non-fiction, by great authors each gained a certain about of popularity over the course of a decade, give or take a few years, that therefore all books with the word are popular.