Best Books of the Decade

I admit I hadn't realized until late in the year that we were closing out a decade. I have no idea why it didn't occur to me. Perhaps because I can't quite believe we're about to welcome in 2020. No matter the reason, it hit me when I saw a few bloggers talking about how they were planning on choosing their favourite books of the decade since it also coincided with a lot of them blogging for ten years. I started Books Etc. in 2010 so I'm not quite at the decade mark but I thought it would be so fun to go through the archives and see which books have stuck with me. Some years were harder to figure out than others. Logistically difficult was the fact that I didn't start tracking books on Goodreads until 2013. I looked at old posts and guesstimated for those early years. You'll also see that it was practically impossible for me to choose one book for each year. What about you? What are some of your favourite books from the last ten years?

This was probably the hardest year to track down. I only started blogging in November of 2010 so I didn't have the records to go through like with the following years. I read The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton at some point that year as I remember hand selling the hell out of it (meaning, I recommended it to anyone who asked - and some who didn't) when I worked at Coles during the Christmas season. 

This was the year I finally read Catherine McKenzie's Arranged after discovering it in my city's library. I also came across Heather Wardell and quickly fell in love with her novels. I also read - and absolutely loved - A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - it was the first book I bought for my kobo. 

This was the year I finally caved and read The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay - in quick succession. The first movie was about to come out and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about since I had sold so many copies of the books while working at Coles. Spoiler: I was hooked. On the indie side of things, I really loved Breaking the Rules by Cat Lavoie. 

Here we have the first year I started tracking on Goodreads. Which also means there were many more options of books to choose from. I interned at Random House of Canada this year which meant I was exposed to even more books than I otherwise would have been. Two favourites were Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (the Canadian cover remains one of my all time favourites to this day) and Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (who I met one day in the offices!). This was also the year Meredith Schorr published Blogger Girl which felt a little bit like a love letter to chick lit bloggers so, of course, I adored it (and, fun fact, one of my quotes is on the front cover).

2014 was the year I finally started reading K.A. Tucker and I haven't looked back since. Burying Water was published this year and was the start of an amazing four book series. Another series that began that year introduced the world to Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky from Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before.

After a couple of less-than-absolutely-amazing books, Sarah Dessen published Saint Anything this year and it reminded me why I fell in love with her books when I was a teenager. I had been reading Laura Chapman's books for a little while but this year I read First & Goal which was the first in a series that I totally love. Finally, one of my top favourites from the decade and one I will still recommend all the time: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. I think it's time for a reread since the sequel is being published in 2020.

Apparently this wasn't a stellar year for reading for me. One that really stood out (and one I'll still tell people to read) was Poles Apart by Terry Fallis. It's funny and feminist and so well done. On the YA side of things, I had a lot of fun reading The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson. She's now one of the very few YA authors I'll read and with this book she gave me the name I plan on bestowing upon my future dog: Bertie Woofster. 

Oof, now HERE is a reading year. 2017 had me reading some incredibly popular books like The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I fell hard for the hero in Karina Halle's Maverick and had all the sportsing feels with Stacy May Fowles' Baseball Life Advice.

Another really, really good reading year. I finally read Beartown by Fredrik Backman for book club and, holy man, I can't believe I waited that long and thought I wouldn't like it. I immediately read the sequel. I was thrilled with the twist Uzma Jalaluddin put on Pride and Prejudice with her debut novel, Ayesha at Last. My favourite historical fiction of the year was Come From Away by Genevieve Graham. Finally, I have to repeat an author - K.A. Tucker's The Simple Wild was amazing.

You'll get a full recap soon of all of my favourites from this past year but to tide you over I'll tell you about the books I've been flailing about all year. The Last Resort by Marissa Stapley has been my go-to recommendation for everyone this year followed by a late 2019 release, Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey. Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline surprised me and I think everyone should read it.