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
10724 Dominion Calvin Baker 2006 American English
874 The Last Samurai Helen DeWitt 2000 American English
9340 Suzy Zeus Gets Organized Maggie Robbins 2000 American English
9021 Kalimantaan C. S. Godshalk 1998 American English
3623 Sepharad Antonio Muñoz Molina 2001 Spanish Spanish
1797 Texaco Patrick Chamoiseau 1992 Martinican French
4092 The Debt To Pleasure John Lanchester 1996 British English
2409 That They May Face the Rising Sun John McGahern 2002 Irish English
9021 Dark Back Of Time Javier Marias 1998 Spanish Spanish
9604 Meteor In The Madhouse Leon Forrest 2001 American English
7176 Out Of Sheer Rage Geoff Dyer 1997 British English
9340 Born Twice Giuseppe Pontiggia 2000 Italian Italian
9961 Winner Of The National Book Award Jincy Willett 2003 American English
9604 Achilles Elizabeth Cook 2001 British English
10402 Oh Pure And Radiant Heart Lydia Millet 2005 American English
9961 Varieties Of Exile Mavis Gallant 2003 Canadian English
2497 Mortals Norman Rush 2003 American English
1827 Experience Martin Amis 2000 British English
10909 Grief Andrew Holleran 2022 American English
8849 The Munch Mancini Mystery Series Barbara Seranella 1997 American English
10158 Transmission Hari Kunzru 2004 British English
4232 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
9021 The Extra Man Jonathan Ames 1998 American English
10724 Seminary Boy John Cornwell 2006 British English
8841 Desertion Abdulrazak Gurnah 2005 Tanzanian English
3063 Home Land Sam Lipsyte 2004 American English
10909 Samedi The Deafness Jesse Ball 2007 American English
5698 Tapping The Source Kem Nunn 1984 American English
9340 Rails Under My Back Jeffery Renard Allen 2000 American English
5572 Stranger Things Happen Kelly Link 2001 American English
9182 What Salmon Know Elwood Reid 1999 American English
10158 The Darling Russell Banks 2004 American English
9021 The Fall Of A Sparrow Robert Hellenga 1998 American English
9340 The Tender Land Kathleen Finneran 2000 American English
8709 Journey To The Land Of Flies And Other Travels Aldo Buzzi 1996 Italian Italian
9021 Memories Of My Father Watching Tv Curtis White 1998 American English
10158 On The Way To My Father’s Funeral Jonathan Baumbach 2004 American English
10724 Rampart Street David Fulmer 2006 American English
9961 The Wife Meg Wolitzer 2003 American English
3590 Do Everything in the Dark Gary Indiana 2003 American English
4296 The Emperor's Babe Bernardine Evaristo 2001 British English
10402 Drama City George P. Pelecanos 2005 American English
4594 Last Night James Salter 2005 American English
10158 Banishing Verona Margot Livesey 2004 British English
10724 The Amalgamation Polka Stephen Wright 2006 American English
9340 Master Of The Crossroads Madison Smartt Bell 2000 American English
6939 Shipwrecks Akira Yoshimura 1982 Japanese Japanese
2929 Unless Carol Shields 2002 Canadian English
9961 Mailman J. Robert Lennon 2003 American English
10158 The Confession; Liberation Movements Olen Steinhauer 2004 American English
9961 Prairie Gothic J. M. Hayes 2003 American English
9961 San Remo Drive Leslie Epstein 2003 American English
10724 The Teahouse Fire Ellis Avery 2006 American English
9793 We Pierce Andrew Huebner 2002 American English
9325 The Road Home Rose Tremain 2007 British English
10402 Nice Big American Baby Judy Budnitz 2005 American English
10909 The Last Novel David Markson 2007 American English
8631 Vanishing Point David Markson 2004 American English