A Literary Feast

Alerted by my sister last Sunday afternoon, I caught the announcement on ABC Radio National of the top ten books of the 21st century as voted by readers around Australia. The countdown of the top hundred books had been underway since Saturday morning. Many listeners followed the broadcast for the whole weekend. You may be one of them.

Since Sunday, I have been listening to recordings of the countdown which are available on the ABC Radio website and the ABC Listen app. The marathon has been broken into 10-book blocks of approximately one and a half hours each, perfect for listening to while driving or knitting or painting the fence, all activities reported by listeners on the weekend.

The broadcast is a feast for dedicated readers. While any book’s inclusion in the list and its rank in the top 100 is notable, I found the commentary that accompanied the announcement of each book far more interesting.

The presenters of the program were unfailingly knowledgeable and enthusiastic. They generally provided a synopsis of the book, its publication date, and the impact of the book at the time. We also hear from some of the readers who voted for this book as their number one. Their comments were so varied and so well expressed. Finally, the authors were contacted and told the news of their book’s success.

I was touched by the genuine gratitude authors expressed for readers who voted for their book. Most sounded overwhelmed by this demonstration of appreciation and continued engagement with their book, sometimes twenty years or more since publication. Some ranked authors talked about books currently in the pipeline as did other invited authors whose books were close to publication.

If you have not already listened to this extended discussion of readers’ top 100 books of the 21st century, do listen. It is a wonderful way to revisit books you have enjoyed in the past and to learn about books you would like to read in the future.

Here are the books which were voted in the top ten by 280,000 readers who responded to the ABC call for nominations for the best books of the 21st century:

  1. Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton (2018)
  2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2005)
  3. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (2016)
  4. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014)
  5. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (2022)
  6. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (2013)
  7. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (2020)
  8. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022)
  9. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (2015)
  10. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2009)