PEOPLE Picks the Best Books of the 2010s

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

PEOPLE Magazine, 15 Books

In celebration of our 50th year, we're looking back at some of our favorite reads over the decades.

The 2010s presented a vast selection of award-winning, beloved books throughout the decade. From novels that helped to change the way we think to groundbreaking nonfiction books to help us better understand ourselves and the world around us, there was no shortage of incredible literature during this time, many of which could be considered new modern classics.

PEOPLE staffers have come together to select some of our favorite books of the decade, in celebration of the magazine’s 50th anniversary. Read on to see some of our picks.

This list was originally published in 2024 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
4677 The Tiger's Wife Téa Obreht 2011 Serbian English
2800 Fates and Furies Lauren Groff 2015 American English
2410 There There Tommy Orange 2018 American English
5108 Swamplandia! Karen Russell 2011 American English
1816 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot 2010 American English
6806 Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid 2017 American English
14901 The Woman In Cabin 10 Ruth Ware 2016 British English
1969 The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010 American English
908 The Warmth Of Other Suns Isabel Wilkerson 2010 American English
2318 Being Mortal Atul Gawande 2014 American English
6528 Hold Still Sally Mann 2015 American English
14901 White Trash Nancy Isenberg 2016 American English
1019 Lincoln in the Bardo George Saunders 2017 American English
6518 Born A Crime Trevor Noah 2016 South African English
2109 Just Kids Patti Smith 2010 American English