The best books of the last decade

Our initial line-up of books for this section was right on the cusp of the three-page mark. We’ve done the honourable thing and narrowed it down for you, with a neat little spread of genres, from dystopian fiction about a lawless society to the first great Brexit novel, via a recalibration of the science world to a work of fiction with a poetic dramatic chorus…

The Heart Goes Last — Margaret Atwood (2015)

A dystopian novel from Margaret Atwood in the ‘best books of the decade’ list? Quelle surprise. But NO. It’s not anything to do with The Handmaids’s Tale. Shock horror. How this book seems to have snuck under the radar of seemingly everyone is baffling. The story is superb, and eternally relevant. Protagonists Charmaine and Stan live in their car, having fallen into bad fortune during a financial crisis. They sign up to the ‘Positron Project’, in which inhabitants share time between their new town (a luxury setup) and prison, swapping lives each month. The plot unravels into inevitable chaos, with a constant battle between freedom and social control. It’s gripping stuff.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind — Yuval Noah Harari (2015)

Few books on the subject of evolution have grabbed the public attention in the same way as Sapiens. It’s still rare, five years later, to get on the underground and not sit on the same tube carriage as someone reading it. Harari sweeps across the history of the human and its evolution with dexterity, clarity and simplicity. He somehow brings a modern sensibility to ancient history, sociology and biology, and makes it easy to understand. If there was a book to help you realise what an incredible story our existence — and consequent survival and domination — is, then this is it.

All That Man Is — David Szalay (2016)

David Szalay is the master of multi-view stories and intricately painted vignettes, and All That Man Is is definitely his finest example of his iconic writing style. Shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize, the novel is a heady summer romp, with glimpses into the lives of various men across Europe in the 21st century. There are few authors who can flesh out a character within a few lines to such an extent as Szalay, and no element of modern masculinity is left unexplored in this iconic novel.

Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong — Angela Saini (2017)

How many times have we heard that men and women are intrinsically different beings and should be treated as such? Angela Saini sets out to end such discussions, examining the research around the male and female brains, and comes up with an answer once and for all. In doing so, though, she also looks into how gender identity differs from biological sex, and the part society plays in influencing gender binaries.

Anyone wanting further reading might want to check out Caroline Criado Perez’s Invisible Women. She zooms in on how, despite endless arguments of gender difference, science has always favoured the male body in product design, medicine and treatment.

Seasonal Quartet — Ali Smith (2017–2020)

Technically, this is a series of four standalone novels, but here we are anyway. We make the rules, and we decide Ali Smith must stay. Interconnected in their exploration of the passing of time, each novel paints a picture of a political Britain — Autumn was considered to be the first great Brexit novel. But don’t worry, it’s more poetic than literal. Theresa May doesn’t pop up on page 10 demanding a magic money tree.

Ali Smith is one of Britain’s best storytellers. In years to come, we’ll look back on her with the same reverence as the great Romantics. Her Seasonal Quartet has almost been written in real time, so they’re a funny little relic of this weird world we live in.

She Said — Jodi Kantor and Meghan Twohey (2019)

These two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists not only cracked the case against Harvey Weinstein and inadvertently kickstarted the #MeToo movement, but also wrote one of the greatest books of the last year, and unquestionably, the last decade.

She Said reflects on the pair’s work bringing Weinstein to justice, and tells the story of what went on behind the scenes and the fascinating events which followed.

Lanny — Max Porter (2019)

What a gloriously surprising treat of a story this is. Max Porter’s Lanny is an almost folkloric tale of idiosyncratic characters living in the British countryside. It’s a kaleidoscope of sounds, perspectives and poeticism.

Max Porter and Ali Smith are almost the king and queen of writing British rural communities — they’ve both written searing state-of-the-nation studies, but without a hint of ego or pretension. Lanny is a symphony of quirk. It’s intensely individual and should only be read when accompanied by an earthy folk record and glass of warm English ale.