Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Love That Were Written Over Ten Years Ago


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A circular assortment of books on shelves. Sometimes I’ve had to expand Top Ten Tuesday topics a little in order to come up with decent answers for them. Today I’m going to contract my options down to books written between the years of 2000 and 2012.

You see, this is one of those topics that I could start an entirely new blog about and instantly have years worth of material to choose from. I regularly read books that were written last week as well as ones that were written a few hundred years ago.

Memorable stories come in all shapes and sizes and can be found in any period of time in my experience.

So let’s look at some books that were written in this century that I enjoyed!

he Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold book cover. Image on cover shows a charm bracelet with only one charm on it. The charm is in the shape of a house.

1. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

 

w Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See book cover. Image on cover shows a young woman holding a closed fan in front of her lips as if to make a shushing motion.

2. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

 

omics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt book cover. Image on cover shows an apple that has one slice missing. The slice shows that the inside of the apple is actually an orange.

3. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt

 

and Crake (MaddAddam, #1) by Margaret Atwood book cover. Image on cover shows flowers and leaves superimposed over the head of a young woman who looks a little frightened.

4. Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam, #1) by Margaret Atwood

 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon book cover. Image on cover shows a black upside down dog against a red backdrop.

5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

 

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan book cover. Image on cover shows grapes, an egg, and a few old pieces of pottery sitting together.

6. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

 

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver book cover. Image on cover shows a photo of a woman from the top of her head. Her eyes and nose are in view but her mouth is not. She looks pensive.

7. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

 

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein book cover. Image on cover shows a golden retriever looking off into the distance calmly.

8. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

 

oraline by Neil Gaiman book cover. The title is in a flowery silver script against a black background. There are no images on the cover, only a blurb about how scary it is.

9. Coraline by Neil Gaiman

 

ver Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro book cover. Image on cover shows a close-up of the face of a woman who is looking up with a concerned expression on her face.

10. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

110 Comments

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110 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Love That Were Written Over Ten Years Ago

  1. I’ve read and enjoyed every one of these. We Need to Talk about Kevin…such a powerful story.

  2. Coraline and Never Let Me Get are a couple of my favorites!

  3. A wide range of topics. Feakenomics has caught my eye.

  4. Ooh, this is the second time I’ve seen Snowflower and the Secret Fan mentioned today! I might have to chuck it back on my TBR now 😂 Coraline is also one of the books I’ve been meaning to pick up for a while and still haven’t got around to (sadly). I can’t wait to read it though! Great list 🙂

  5. I remember what a splash The Lovely Bones made when it first released. I never did read it. I felt it would be too disturbing for me.

  6. Snow Flower was so good. She has some other’s I’ve enjoyed too.

  7. It is really nice to look back at those older favorites and surprising how many there are and also how our reading journeys have changed throughout the years.

  8. I’ve read most of these! Oryx and Crake is one of my all-time-favorite books.

  9. I can reread The Art of Racing in the Rain over and over again. Loved that book. The curious Incident of the dog in the nighttime is also a favorite. I still haven’t read We need to talk about Kevin and I actually have a copy on my shelf! Really need to get to it. Oh and Never let me Go. Genre bending stuff with that book. But I did love it!

    Thanks for visiting us earlier!

    • You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy We Need to Talk About Kevin and Never Let Me Go. They were both fantastic.

      Have you seen the film version of The Art of Racing in the Rain? It’s quite well done.

  10. A very eclectic mix. I have not read any of these.

  11. So many great ones! I haven’t read the non-fiction ones here, but of your fiction, I loved Never let Me Go, The Curious Case…, Coraline, The Lovely Bones, Snow Flower — fabulous choices!!

  12. Steph@paigesofnovels

    Great post! I enjoyed The Lovely Bones as well. Here is my post-https://paigesofnovels.wordpress.com/2022/08/16/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-love-that-were-published-more-than-10-years-ago/.

  13. Great list of amazing books. I read a few of them and now I want to read Oryx and Crake and Never Let Me Go.
    Here is my TTT: https://herseriallife.com/top-10-books-written-over-ten-years-ago/
    Have a great week 😀

  14. I’ve read 7 of the books on your list, Lydia! I think that might be a Top Ten Tuesday record for me. And they’re all good ones.

  15. I love the movie of Coraline but I still haven’t read the book yet 🙂

  16. Narrowing it down to a more specific set of years was a great idea! I still need to read a Lisa See book, and Snow Flower is one of the ones I’ve got on my TBR. I read Coraline last fall though, and really liked it! I can see why it made your list.

    My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2022/08/16/top-ten-tuesday-old-bookish-friends/

  17. Ugh!! How could I forget the Lovely Bones??😩💜

  18. What a wonderful list. I haven’t read any of these, but I recognize most of them!

  19. It’s so amazing how old some books are. I read four from your list and could have sworn they were only a couple of years old, well, some of them, LOL.

    Thanks for visiting my TTT this week.

  20. I’m familiar with all of these titles, but haven’t read any of them yet. The Art of Racing in the Rain is on my (ridiculously long) to-read list, though.

    I thought I would look at favorite books that are older than I am for my list today.

  21. Michael Pollan is great! I have The Omnivore’s Dilemma, but I have not yet read it. Perhaps it’s time! 🙂

  22. Good picks! I remember being so fascinated by Freakonomics when I read it back then.

    My Top Ten Tuesday list!

  23. I have read and enjoyed four of these. I have to say The Art of Racing in the Rain is one of my favourite animal stories. Great list Lydia. My TBR has grown so much this week.

  24. It’s hard to believe that some of these books are at least 10 years old, isn’t it? Then, I look at some of the ones on your list and think, “that wasn’t written in the 1990s?” LOL.

  25. I’ve read Oryx and Crake, but the rest of these are new to me. I’ll have to check them out! Thank you for sharing them.

  26. I considered adding The Art of Racing in the Rain, too. I loved that book. I reread The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and enjoyed it just as much or more the second time around.

  27. Good list and Art of Racing in the Rain almost made my list….but I just had too many. Glad to see Oryx & Crake as the Atwood entry – I enjoyed that a lot. Didn’t care for Incident of the Dog, but everything can’t be a hit, right? Thanks for the visit.
    Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys

    • You’re welcome. And no worries. Not everyone will like the same books.

      But there were so many books to pick from this week. I hear you about having to leave off some great ones.

  28. Great list! I have read 4 of these, my favorite is the last one!

  29. I read and enjoyed a few of these in high school and college.

  30. Great list! I’ve read a few of them, and enjoyed them.

  31. The Pollan book I can see reading as I’ve been drawn to his books before. and yes- I sometimes think the same thing, there are so many books (and underappreciated OLDER books) that I could start a blog devoted to those and never run out of material ha! 🙂

  32. I haven’t read any of these but definitely recognise a few!

  33. I like that timeframe you put on it. I want to read Coraline. I don’t know of the others.

    Have a great week!

    Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
    My post:
    https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2022/08/16/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-love-that-were-written-over-10-years-ago/

  34. I agree that it’s so easy to list books for this prompt without limiting them to a certain time frame. This century worked well!

  35. Awesome picks, I’ve read a few of these! Still need to read Never Let Me Go.

  36. I liked #1 and #3 as well. I wasn’t a big fan of Curious Incident, but it might have been because I wasn’t in the mood for it. Nice list!

  37. I’ve read and enjoyed a few of these, but the biggest surprise to me was The Art of Racing in the Rain. I am not a dog person and would have never picked it up if it weren’t a pick for my book club. It is a wonderful and touching story.

  38. Great list, I loved The Art of Racing in the Rain as well!

  39. I remember reading The Art of Racing in the Rain!! I remember it being a big surprise! 🙂

  40. I felt the same way about this week’s topic, so I chose a specific genre within the last ten years. I haven’t read any of these books, but they sound wonderful. Thanks for sharing and for visiting my blog.

  41. Love your List!

    I was completely enthralled with the entire MaddAddam Series and completely understand the lure to start a whole other blog about older favorite books.

  42. The Art of Racing in the Rain is such a great book. I loved that one and also The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

  43. A good list full of books that I’ve been wanting to read, but still haven’t gotten around to yet 😆 The Lovely Bones is sitting on my TV stand right now, as I’ve seen the movie and really wanted to read the book for a while now!

  44. I haven’t read any of these but I have heard great things about Never Let Me Go, I really want to get to it. I watched the movie based on The Lovely Bones and it was hard to watch, I can’t imagine how much harder reading the story would be.

  45. Nice list! I’ve read four of these books. I think my favorite of the bunch was SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN. I remember really liking that one. THE LOVELY BONES was also a really compelling read. NEVER LET ME GO is one I’ve been meaning to read for forever! One of these days…

    Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

  46. I read The Lovely Bones and I hated the ending.

    I kind of wanted to read Coraline but I fear it might be creepier than I would like.

    Thanks for dropping by my blog. Have a lovely day.

  47. If you enjoyed Freakonomics, you might enjoy The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

  48. Great list! Oryx and Crake very nearly made my list too.

  49. Good work. We Need to Talk About Kevin still haunts me? I read Columbine when it came out, too. Perfect fiction–nonfiction pairing.

  50. I’ve only read The Lovely Bones and Coraline!

  51. Jo

    I’ve read a couple of these, Curious Incident which I wasn’t a big fan of, and Coraline, which I only read a couple of years ago and it was my first Neil Gaiman book, and I quite enjoyed it.

  52. So many of these I’ve heard of but never read. I forgot about Curious Incidents, I loved watching the play as well

  53. Thanks for sharing some of your favorite books from this century! I don’t think I’ve read any of these.

    Thank you for stopping by my blog last week!

    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!

  54. The Cover of The Lovely Bones seems to be as beautiful as the story itself seems to be sad. I feel like I should make sure to have lots of tea and my favourite blanket when I read it.

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