The 57 Best Books of the Decade

“This oral history about the New York City rock scene in the early aughts will make you nostalgic for 2003, a brief-but-glorious time when The Strokes were topping the charts and streaming hadn't killed the music industry as we knew it.”—Anna Moeslein, Glamour senior editor

“Harry Potter fans will recognize J.K. Rowling's signature skill at world building in The Cuckoo's Calling, a crime fiction about a private investigator who is hired to look into the death of a famous supermodel. The characters in this detective series may be all muggles, but they're just as fascinating.”—Anna Moeslein, Glamour senior editor

“Listen, this book—a non-fiction from Laura Lynne Jackson, a psychic medium, about how she communicates with loved ones who have passed—is not for everyone. But if you, like me, are open to the idea of woo-woo things like spirit guides, this is a game-changer in the genre. With Signs, Jackson posits that anyone, not just a psychic medium like herself, can ask for signs from the other side...and provides a roadmap for how to do it.”—Anna Moeslein, Glamour senior editor

"One of the best books I read in 2019 was Elif Shafak's 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World. Without ruining too much: A Turkish prostitute is killed in Turkey and the men who murdered her left her body in a dumpster. She recalls her life in the last 10 minutes and 38 minutes while her brain is ‘still active’ in those last few moments. Each chapter is a new minute and each memory dissects the friends she made at different turns in her life. It's about love and loyalty, culture, disgrace, politics, human rights, the family you're born into, and ultimately, the friends who become your family. I enjoyed it so much, I've already recommended it to three people!"—Talia Abbas, Glamour commerce writer

“I've only ever watched Eat Pray Love once, when I was much younger, but I still had expectations for Elizabeth Gilbert's City of Girls. How could I not? Needless to say, I loved it. It's a coming-of-age story told decades later in a letter in a discreet, not excessive way, about a young girl who moves to Manhattan in the 1940s (with WWII in the backdrop) when living in New York was full of old world glamour, sex, and money—something we can now only experience vicariously through stories like these."—Talia Abbas, Glamour commerce writer

“To be completely honest, I was sold on this book because of the jungle book-like cover. But it delivered in spades. Imagine a young girl's story full art and adventure, wealth and whimsy, all loosely based on Peggy Guggenheim's life...and you have Costalegre. Maum's writing has vitality and heart about a story that's been told backwards and forwards—a mother and daughter relationship. Highly recommended (if only for the cover)."—Talia Abbas, Glamour commerce writer

“Natalie Diaz’s debut book of poetry, a stunning, lyrical tale of being Native in the aftermath of disturbing history. These poems are the songs that fly free in the destruction."—Joy Harjo, first Native American United States Poet Laureate

“This first novel of one of our finest Native writers is a stunning storytelling debut. His voice is authentic and daring, and illuminates what it means to be a city warrior when your territory is a broken country and a history lit with love."—Joy Harjo, first Native American United States Poet Laureate

“This is a big-hearted story of a family, each character a mythic force reckoning within the history of two countries, and a border. Nearly everyone manages flight despite impossible odds, even momentarily."—Joy Harjo, first Native American United States Poet Laureate

“A poet is charged with truth telling, and venturing into the terrain of the rugged human heart. This memoir is a tale of bravery of a people, and of a poet who is engaged unquestionably with human rights. It is one of the best memoirs of the decade."—Joy Harjo, first Native American United States Poet Laureate

“To be female in this country is to constantly reckon with image and what it means to occupy a female body, no matter age or culture. We can get stuck in mind-fields of shame, distortion and illusion when to be female should be a journey of empowerment. Gay’s deeply emotional investigation into her journey is raw and powerful."—Joy Harjo, first Native American United States Poet Laureate

“Poetry’s roots are in orality, in song. Jess intertwines blues, church hymns, and work songs with poetic forms to make this undeniable connection. Tyehimba Jess made a book of poetry unlike any other book of poetry. It’s earthy, and brilliant."—Joy Harjo, first Native American United States Poet Laureate

“This is a break-through debut book of poetry by a young Lakota poet. She has reinvented what a book of poetry can be. Whereas is an historical document, a personal conversation, and the continuation of a deep, mythological tale of survival. Stunning."—Joy Harjo, first Native American United States Poet Laureate

“One of the best novels I’ve read, maybe ever, Libaire’s writing is something to behold. Elise Perez grew up in a housing project in New Haven and meets millionaire Yale junior Jamey Hyde on a winter afternoon. The attraction is instant. The couple eventually moves to Manhattan to start a life together but barriers to their love keep arising. A masterful, gritty study on class, race, sexual chemistry, and modern love, this is a must, must read.”—Perrie Samotin, Glamour digital director

“Probably the best book of the decade in my opinion, it not only won the Pulitzer Prize, but also created a buzz among readers that I’d never heard before. Everyone loved this weird, clever novel that interlinks 13 stories that explore the passage of time with the music industry as its loose backdrop. We meet record execs, bored teenagers, prostitutes, housewives, and other characters that are written flawlessly and humorously. A fun surprise, but not a spoiler: one chapter is told entirely in PowerPoint that ends up being brilliant, not gimmicky.”—Perrie Samotin, Glamour digital director

“Set during the aftermath of the 2008 recession and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the novel embodies America as it moved into the 2010s. The story’s split into four parts, each following a different adult character returning to their hometown of New Canaan, Ohio, an archetypical Rust Belt wasteland. Each are back in town on the same night, each for different reasons. I won't spoil these reasons (or the genuinely shocking ending), but I will say each character is exceptionally written and each theme—including conservative politics, opioid addiction, small-town teens, and sexual assault—has a bleak, devastating relevance.”—Perrie Samotin, Glamour digital director

“No matter what you think about Jonathan Franzen—yeah, he can be a bit of a cad—it’s hard to deny the appeal of this sprawling 2010 novel. The story is mostly set during the first decade of the 21st century and, on the surface, is a look at Patty and Walter Burgland, a dime-a-dozen American family and how their happiness ebbs and flows over the decades. Characters and themes include Walter's best friend from college, Richard Katz, an aging bad boy who periodically turns up and upends the Bergland’s marriage, liberal and conservative politics, population control, sexual assault, fracking, the preservation of the cerulean warbler, subprime mortages, and more. It all makes sense.”—Perrie Samotin, Glamour digital director

“If you don’t read the New Yorker religiously, pick up television critic (and 2016 Pulitzer prize winner) Emily Nussbaum excellent collection of essays that effectively defends television as a medium worth revering. Topics include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Sopranos, Vanderpump Rules, Scandal, True Detective, and Sex and the City. Nussbaum also tackles the question of whether a viewer can separate art from the actions of problematic creators in a timely MeToo essay.”—Perrie Samotin, Glamour digital director

“Anyone who shops should read this book. At the outset, the author admits she was a typical consumer, shopping fast fashion and outlet malls, buying new clothes every week. She knew something had to give when she found herself faced with a packed closet of disposable, trendy pieces she never wore. From there, we're introduced to the way cheap fashion affects us, our society, our environment, and our economic well-being. Cline dives deep into the rise of budget clothing chains, the death of middle-market and independent retail­ers, and the roots of our obsession with deals. She also travels to factories in China and Bangladesh. It's an important piece of journalism and an engaging read—you won't be bored.”—Perrie Samotin, Glamour digital director

“The sexy older sibling to Martin’s 2000 novella Shopgirl, this 2010 novel is set in New York’s elite art world where we meet meet Lacey Yeager, an ambitious young gallerist groomed at Sotheby's. Charming, social climbing, and ethically ambiguous, Lacey is a classic anti-hero who will do anything to get ahead, and Martin does an impressive job at toggling between the artistic and the financial, while giving readers a glimpse into a rarified boom-and-bust world most of us will never be a part of.”—Perrie Samotin, Glamour digital director

“Nothing to See Here has been one of my favorite books of this year, if not the last couple years because even though the storyline is fantastical, it leaves you with the thought that all our kids need is unconditional love. It changed my thoughts on parenting and acceptance."—Jenna Bush Hager, co-author of Sisters First, co-host of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, and founder of Read with Jenna

“A Woman is No Man is one of those debut novels that you read and you know that this author will go on to create such beautiful work. It opened my eyes and it left me thinking about the characters for months to come."—Jenna Bush Hager, co-author of Sisters First, co-host of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, and founder of Read with Jenna

"I remember where I was when I read it. I was in Texas over the holidays and I read it to the soundtrack of my children playing, and typically with the cat on my lap. I remember thinking that I had never read anything quite so beautiful."—Jenna Bush Hager, co-author of Sisters First, co-host of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, and founder of Read with Jenna

“Heartland I read last Christmas. I read it right after I read Educated and it paired just like, I guess, wine and cheese. Heartland really opened up my eyes to the way that some Americans feel, which is left out and forgotten."—Jenna Bush Hager, co-author of Sisters First, co-host of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, and founder of Read with Jenna

“An American Marriage is a beautiful, beautiful love story. I grew up loving a love story, but this love story isn’t the typical one. It breaks your heart, and then it puts it back together."—Jenna Bush Hager, co-author of Sisters First, co-host of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, and founder of Read with Jenna

“The Goldfinch is epic in scope. Donna Tartt has been one of my favorite authors since I read The Secret History, which is one of my favorite books, but not of the last decade. And The Goldfinch didn’t disappoint. I think a lot of people would say that this is one of their favorite books of the last decade."—Jenna Bush Hager, co-author of Sisters First, co-host of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, and founder of Read with Jenna

“Little Fires Everywhere was one of those books that you read and immediately called the people you love and recommend they read it, too."—Jenna Bush Hager, co-author of Sisters First, co-host of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, and founder of Read with Jenna

“A Little Life is an epic novel that broke my heart into a thousand pieces, and I still get off the subway sometimes and think about some of these characters."—Jenna Bush Hager, co-author of Sisters First, co-host of TODAY with Hoda & Jenna, and founder of Read with Jenna

“I read Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones in college, and it was a book that showed me, an English major who’d been studying mostly dead authors, what contemporary literature could accomplish. I marveled over Ward’s ear for language and her attentiveness to the rich emotional lives of her characters, who are young and black and Southern and poor, the types of characters that fiction rarely imagines to have inner lives at all. Like the storm at the center of the novel, Salvage the Bones is a book that has hung over me all decade, returning when I think about what is possible with language."—Brit Bennett, author of The Mothers and the upcoming novel The Vanishing Half

“Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West was the perfect novel to read in a decade where we watched global politics shift over an obsession with human migration. Hamid follows two young lovers who escape the civil war of their unnamed country through a series of doors that can magically transport you to another unknown place. This novel explores the precarious lives of refugees searching for safety, as well as the fragility of love. Exit West is a magical novel that reimagines a global debate over migration by illustrating that human movement across borders is both natural and inevitable." —Brit Bennett, author of The Mothers and the upcoming novel The Vanishing Half

“An essential coming of age memoir set against the backdrop of the literary scene of the 1950s.”—Emma Roberts and Karah Press, co-founders of Belletrist

“Required reading for any woman in her 20s ... or 30s for that matter.”—Emma Roberts and Karah Press, co-founders of Belletrist

“A beautiful novel about motherhood and family set in Lagos, beginning with the political unrest of the 1980s and spanning all the way to the 2000s.”—Emma Roberts and Karah Press, co-founders of Belletrist

“What to do when your closest relative is also a serial killer? This thriller is brilliant and delicious.”—Emma Roberts and Karah Press, co-founders of Belletrist

“One of the most magnificent books we’ve ever read. Keep it at your bedside forever and ever.”—Emma Roberts and Karah Press, co-founders of Belletrist

“This book absolutely floored us when we first read it and it continues to be one of our most read Belletrist picks. It follows the journey of the three Gold siblings, throughout the second half of the 20th century, after each of them are told the date they will die. It's an amazing meditation on mortality and family, and it reads like a thriller.”—Emma Roberts and Karah Press, co-founders of Belletrist

“It’s hard to choose the best Samantha Hunt book because she’s just so good, all the time. But The Seas, recently re-released by Tin House, is a poetic novel about a young chambermaid who is convinced she is a mermaid. The novel also contains gorgeous descriptions of the natural world.”—Emma Roberts and Karah Press, co-founders of Belletrist

“Melissa Broder is one of the funniest people alive. Not even ‘haha’ funny. Funny in the way that at times it feels like she’s been living inside your head all along. This book of essays is a staple that we return to over and over.”—Emma Roberts and Karah Press, co-founders of Belletrist

“If you’re going to read one YA novel of the past ten years, make it The Poet X. Elizabeth Acevedo captures the pain, uncertainty, and vulnerability of being a teenager—and the courage it takes to become who you are.”—Emma Roberts and Karah Press, co-founders of Belletrist

"Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad emerged in the middle of a decade where Hollywood began to explore an uneasy fascination with slavery movies. Whitehead follows the journey of a formerly-enslaved woman who escapes the plantation through a series of literal trains rumbling beneath the earth’s surface. As she travels through a brutal and uncertain country, we realize that enslavement is not a condition contained within time and place. In Whitehead’s novel, there are no neat narratives, white saviors, or permanent relief from this particularly American violence."—Brit Bennett, author of The Mothers and the upcoming novel The Vanishing Half

“The love story between poet Patti Smith and artist Robert Mapplethorpe is intoxicating. The National Book Award winning memoir is set in the late ‘60s, before either of them have any fame, money, or set plans for the future. All the two know is that they love each other more than anyone else in the world, and that they’re twin flames, sharing an equal zeal to create great works in their chosen mediums. If you're someone who's nostalgic for the bohemian days of New York City, or just want to inhabit the mind of a true creative, it's a must-read.”—Samantha Leach, Glamour associate culture editor

“Like the title suggests, Emma Cline is a scholar in girlhood. The embarrassments, the cruelties, and secret desires that embody young girls in adolescence. The Girls is set in the 1960s and centers on Evie Boyd, a lonely teenager who becomes transfixed by the mesmerizing and carefree women in a Manson-like cult. Her journey into the group is thrilling, not just because it offers a fictional look into the Manson girls, but because Evie's feelings are so universal. The desire to be accepted, seen, and feel part of something greater than herself.”—Samantha Leach, Glamour associate culture editor

“Becoming's publication in 2018 was a welcome reprieve from our no good, very bad news cycle. In it, our forever FLOTUS details her life. From her childhood on the South Side of Chicago, to her years as an executive, and time as the the first African American First Lady of the United States. Becoming gave us what we all needed most: hope.”—Samantha Leach, Glamour associate culture editor

“Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's blockbuster love story begins when Ifemelu and Obinze depart military-ruled Nigeria for New York and London, respectively. While the book weaves in so many themes—like race, living as an undocumented citizen, and the promise of America—it's anchored in love. Deep, impassioned, and unbridled love.”—Samantha Leach, Glamour associate culture editor

“Never has female friendship been so perfectly portrayed in literature. The Neapolitan novels track the sixty-year friendship between bookish Elena and rebellious Lila, beginning with their childhood in Naples, Italy. And with each one of Elena’s disappointments, triumphs, and challenges I felt more seen and like I had a better sense of myself than ever before. Warning: some, myself included, found the first book of the four-part series a bit slow. But by the time you start the second, The Story of a New Name, they become un-put-down-able.”

“This book will make you ugly-cry. Take it from me. I read a few chapters while waiting for a friend to meet me for dinner, and I started crying so hard a waiter came over to tell me that he was sorry I’d been stood up. The Hate U Give is a timely, prescient look at what it’s like to be a young, black woman in the era of Black Lives Matter, and in a nation where police brutality has become far too common.”—Samantha Leach, Glamour associate culture editor

“Ever since Sally Rooney published her debut novel, Conversations With Friends, she’s been heralded as the first great millennial author. But Normal People is the novel that made me realize it wasn’t just hype. Rooney really is that good. The story of Marianne and Connell—two high school classmates who, while never putting a label on their relationship, can’t escape their feelings for one another—is tender, heartbreaking, and a joy to read.”—Samantha Leach, Glamour associate culture editor

“Rules of Civility makes you feel opulent just reading it. Told through the eyes of Katey Kontent—a young woman thrust into upper echelons of New York society after meeting the handsome banker Tinker Grey at a Greenwich Village jazz bar—you’ll feel transported into a world like The Great Gatsby. Everyone’s beautiful, soulless, and having so much damn fun.”—Samantha Leach, Glamour associate culture editor

“New Yorker staff writer Sheelah Kolhatkar spent years infiltrating hedge funder Steven A. Cohen’s inner circle. She spoke to former employees, enemies, and more all to examine Cohen’s relentless pursuit of the inside information that made him and his firm such a success. Despite being a nonfiction book on the financial industry, it reads like a thriller. And it’s what I imagine Logan Roy’s memoir would’ve been like on Succession if he didn’t keep blocking the writer from pursuing it.”—Samantha Leach, Glamour associate culture editor

“This National Book Award winning poetry collection is a look at the racial aggression black people in American face on a daily basis. At school, in the supermarket, on the street, and for some in the public arena—like Serena Williams on the tennis court or Zinedine Zidane on the soccer field. Claudia Rankine combines essays, images, and poetry to paint a full-scale portrait of the black experience today.”—Samantha Leach, Glamour associate culture editor

“The first woman appointed to the United States Cabinet and the leader responsible for Social Security, Frances Perkins is an historic figure in American history, as well as one of my personal heroes. Kirstin Downey’s wonderful book reminds all women to know their power, and to use it.”—Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

“It has been a joy to read and re-read The Soul of America, in which Meacham shares his hopeful vision of a nation often tested by turmoil and trouble, but guided always our ‘better angels.’ Through the everyday stories of the courage and patriotism of leaders and activists, including many extraordinary women, The Soul of America reminds us all of our responsibility to stand up, speak out and safeguard our Founding values of liberty, justice and fairness for all.”—Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

"The 'Hidden Figures' are true American heroes, who pioneered new frontiers for space exploration while shattering old barriers of race and gender. Their story, along with that of so many unsung women heroes, is an inspiration to us all – and last year, I was honored to invite Christine Darden, one of the Hidden Figures, and the families of those American heroes to the United States Capitol to mark Women’s History Month!—Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

“Doris Kearns Goodwin is a visionary historian, whose powerful prose and unsurpassed insight have helped illuminate the story of America. Her latest masterpiece showcases the stories of our most extraordinary American presidents, who guided our nation through times of great turbulence. This book is a critical and urgently-needed reminder of the importance of character, integrity and honesty in our leaders – and the peril of their absence.”—Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives