Top Ten Tuesday | 21st-Century Books I Think Will Become Classics

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books that coincide with that week’s theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week’s theme is all about 21st-century books that are likely to become classics.

Now, I don’t claim to look into the future, but I think these books I have listed have been universally liked, and there is a solid literary/unique/shock value element in the book that will make it stand the test of time. I have picked some literary fiction, some crime, and one romance. I believe well-done genre fiction can be classics just as much as traditional literary fiction.

1. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga – I read this book ten (maybe more) years ago, and still, this was one of the first books that popped into my head when I read the TTT prompt today. I love this book for how it just ripped apart the facade of prosperity that India was showing to the world.
2. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides – Middlesex frequently comes up in my top ten lists. It was one of the first books I read with an intersex protagonist. While it’s about an intersex person, it also explores race, immigration, growing up in America. It’s a classic coming-of-age novel.
3. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – This is an odd choice to include, but bear with me. Gone Girl spawned a whole genre of domestic, he said, she said genre of thrillers. It doesn’t work that well as a thriller, but it launched so many discussions and arguments – especially on feminism. Also, have to add, Amy was one hell of a character!
4. Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart – usually, I’m not too fond of books that focus on small children. But Shuggie Bain is an exception. It’s a moving, empathetic, yet realistic portrayal of addiction and its impact on families.
5. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger – I just loved all the backward and forward motion of this book; the love story was so touching. It’s one of my all-time favorite romances.
6. Milkman by Anna Burns – This is the first and only book I have read by Anna Burns. But I was blown away by her confident writing style, fell in love with the unnamed protagonist, and it is also probably the only stream of consciousness book that I like. Just for these things, it comes top of my list.
7. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy – This is another workaround I am doing. I wanted to add The God of Small Things, her brilliant first book. But it was published in 1997 and doesn’t make the cut. In its place, I include her second fictional work. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness didn’t make great waves when it came out, but it moved me to tears and is one of the most humanist and inclusive books I have read. It may not become a 21st-century classic, but it should be one, IMO.
8. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – I initially wanted to add The Secret History, my favorite Tartt novel. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the cut as it was published in 1992. Still, The Goldfinch is an excellent meditation on grief and growing up.
9. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton – Do you remember reading those long 19th century classics – books by Robert Louis Stevenson or Herman Melville? Well, The Luminaries brings those books to mind. This book is to be read slowly; it demands a fair bit of concentration to keep all those characters and plots straight in your head. But the effort is well worth it. My mind started spinning, thinking of the intricate mystery and tender romance at the heart of this book.
10. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson – This is another book that pretty much made an industry out of translated Nordic crime fiction. This was one of the first books to get famous, mainly because of the protagonist Lizbeth Salander who has become something of a feminist icon. This is also a well-written crime novel. While the later books are a bit of a hit or miss, I think this first book was an absolute classic!

What do you think of my list? What books do you think would be 21st-century classics?