The Best Novels You’ve Never Read

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

NY Mag, 60 Books

Talk to any critic and you’ll hear about a book you must read—often one you were begged to read by some reviewer when it came out, but which quickly slipped off your radar. Such is the plight of critics. Which is why we decided, with the help of the National Book Critics Circle, to ask professional critics (and some other writers) to pick the best under-the-radar book of the past ten years or so.

This list was originally published in 2007 and was added to this site about 3 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
10727 Dominion Calvin Baker 2006 American English
874 The Last Samurai Helen DeWitt 2000 American English
9343 Suzy Zeus Gets Organized Maggie Robbins 2000 American English
9024 Kalimantaan C. S. Godshalk 1998 American English
3623 Sepharad Antonio Muñoz Molina 2001 Spanish Spanish
1797 Texaco Patrick Chamoiseau 1992 Martinican French
4093 The Debt To Pleasure John Lanchester 1996 British English
2410 That They May Face the Rising Sun John McGahern 2002 Irish English
9024 Dark Back Of Time Javier Marias 1998 Spanish Spanish
9607 Meteor In The Madhouse Leon Forrest 2001 American English
7176 Out Of Sheer Rage Geoff Dyer 1997 British English
9343 Born Twice Giuseppe Pontiggia 2000 Italian Italian
9966 Winner Of The National Book Award Jincy Willett 2003 American English
9607 Achilles Elizabeth Cook 2001 British English
10406 Oh Pure And Radiant Heart Lydia Millet 2005 American English
9966 Varieties Of Exile Mavis Gallant 2003 Canadian English
2498 Mortals Norman Rush 2003 American English
1827 Experience Martin Amis 2000 British English
10912 Grief Andrew Holleran 2022 American English
8852 The Munch Mancini Mystery Series Barbara Seranella 1997 American English
10162 Transmission Hari Kunzru 2004 British English
4233 Mariette In Ecstasy Ron Hansen 1991 American English
7994 A Relative Stranger Charles Baxter 1990 American English
7845 The Accidental Ali Smith 2005 British English
9024 The Extra Man Jonathan Ames 1998 American English
10727 Seminary Boy John Cornwell 2006 British English
8844 Desertion Abdulrazak Gurnah 2005 Tanzanian English
3062 Home Land Sam Lipsyte 2004 American English
10912 Samedi The Deafness Jesse Ball 2007 American English
5699 Tapping The Source Kem Nunn 1984 American English
9343 Rails Under My Back Jeffery Renard Allen 2000 American English
5573 Stranger Things Happen Kelly Link 2001 American English
9185 What Salmon Know Elwood Reid 1999 American English
10162 The Darling Russell Banks 2004 American English
9024 The Fall Of A Sparrow Robert Hellenga 1998 American English
9343 The Tender Land Kathleen Finneran 2000 American English
8711 Journey To The Land Of Flies And Other Travels Aldo Buzzi 1996 Italian Italian
9024 Memories Of My Father Watching Tv Curtis White 1998 American English
10162 On The Way To My Father’s Funeral Jonathan Baumbach 2004 American English
10727 Rampart Street David Fulmer 2006 American English
9966 The Wife Meg Wolitzer 2003 American English
3590 Do Everything in the Dark Gary Indiana 2003 American English
4297 The Emperor's Babe Bernardine Evaristo 2001 British English
10406 Drama City George P. Pelecanos 2005 American English
4595 Last Night James Salter 2005 American English
10162 Banishing Verona Margot Livesey 2004 British English
10727 The Amalgamation Polka Stephen Wright 2006 American English
9343 Master Of The Crossroads Madison Smartt Bell 2000 American English
6939 Shipwrecks Akira Yoshimura 1982 Japanese Japanese
2928 Unless Carol Shields 2002 Canadian English
9966 Mailman J. Robert Lennon 2003 American English
10162 The Confession; Liberation Movements Olen Steinhauer 2004 American English
9966 Prairie Gothic J. M. Hayes 2003 American English
9966 San Remo Drive Leslie Epstein 2003 American English
10727 The Teahouse Fire Ellis Avery 2006 American English
9797 We Pierce Andrew Huebner 2002 American English
9328 The Road Home Rose Tremain 2007 British English
10406 Nice Big American Baby Judy Budnitz 2005 American English
10912 The Last Novel David Markson 2007 American English
8633 Vanishing Point David Markson 2004 American English