We spend plenty of time here on The Millions telling all of you what we’ve been reading, but we are also quite interested in hearing about what you’ve been reading. By looking at our Amazon stats, we can see what books Millions readers have been buying, and we decided it would be fun to use those stats to find out what books have been most popular with our readers in recent months. Below you’ll find our
Millions Top Ten list for September.
This Month
Last Month
Title
On List
1.
1.
The Sympathizer
6 months
2.
2.
Mr. Splitfoot
6 months
3.
9.
The Sellout
2 months
4.
7.
Ninety-Nine Stories of God
3 months
5.
4.
Zero K
5 months
6.
6.
Barkskins
4 months
7.
-
The Underground Railroad
1 month
8.
8.
Innocents and Others
3 months
9.
-
Here I Am
1 month
10.
-
Pond
1 month
The Sellout rocketed up our Top Ten this month, jumping from ninth position all the way up to third. In a few weeks, when longtime frontrunners
The Sympathizer and
Mr. Splitfoot retire to our Hall of Fame, look for
Paul Beatty's satirical novel to lead the pack.
Speaking of the Hall of Fame, both
Girl through Glass and
The Lost Time Accidents graduated this month, opening space for two new entrants on our list:
Colson Whitehead's universally acclaimed
The Underground Railroad, and
Jonathan Safran Foer's somewhat less acclaimed
Here I Am.
By now, Whitehead's novel needs no introduction. The #1 bestseller has drawn praise from both
Obama and
Oprah, and in
his review for our site,
Greg Walkin noted how "Whitehead’s brilliance is on constant display" throughout:
After five previous novels, each very different, this is the only thing we can count on. It’s hard to imagine a new novel farther from Whitehead’s last, the zombie thriller
Zone One.
The Underground Railroad shares some features with his debut work,
The Intuitionist, and his second novel,
John Henry Days; both novels confront issues of race and American history through less-than-straightforward methods — a Whitehead signature.
Yet by contrast, Safran Foer's
Here I Am has drawn a wider spectrum of reviews, ranging from the simply mixed and relatively positive all the way over to
Alexander Nazaryan's Los Angeles Times piece, the thrust of which can be pretty well understood just from its title: "
With joyless prose about joyless people, Jonathan Safran Foer's 'Here I Am' is kitsch at best."
Meanwhile, one title --
The Nest -- dropped from our monthly list, opening a spot for
Claire-Louise Bennett's Pond. In
his review of the work for our site,
Ian Maleney wrote that it "rests with no little charm somewhere between collection and novel without ever settling on one or the other," and noted how "much of the book examines the strange process of alienation anyone might experience as they find themselves with time and space to interrogate their own behavior, private or otherwise." That sounds appropriate for the start of Autumn, if I say so myself.
This month's near misses included:
Heroes of the Frontier, Signs Preceding the End of the World,
The Girls, and
The Queen of the Night.
See Also: Last month's list.
I've been engaging with Netherland, and Zadie Smith's NYRB article on same here:
http://nigelbeale.com/2009/01/part-1-netherlandwood-smith-and-the-truly-great/
and here:
http://nigelbeale.com/2009/01/netherland-lyrical-realism-and-the-flip-flops-of-zadie-smith-part-ll/
I'm 400 pp. into 2666.
Last month I read Oscar Wao and Tree of Smoke.
Kirk, Tx.
I finished 2666 last week. I loved it.
I just started reading 2666 yesterday and so far I can't put it down. This is the second book of Bolano's I've read (the first being Amulet). I probably should have read The Savage Detectives first, but I just couldn't wait.
I've read Infinite Jest and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, but the rest I have not.
I'm reading 2666. On the first book right now and can't put it down. So far so good. I've read most of DFW except Infinite Jest. Prefer his essays, but that's just my taste.
read Netherland (loved it, seriously considering adding it to my syllabus next semester)
read The Savage Detectives (loved the first half, alright in the middle, really liked the end) – liked it so much that I . . .
bought 2666 and it is on "The Stack"
Infinite Jest shows up on "The Stack" sometimes, but usually comes out before I get to it (though sometimes I start it before deciding I don't have time right now).
bought The Dud Avocado on recommendations here
am reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. about half way and would probably enjoy it more if I knew more Spanish (but I can get by). I think it might come off as heavy-handed in its "geek culture" references (for lack of a better term), but at least I haven't found more than one that I don't get immediately. if I didn't have the Spanish AND I had never spent much time with comics and hanging out in comic book shops I think I would be very lost.
I read Oscar Wao last year, and I loved it. I am not a comic book reader and have never read Lord or the Rings, but I still loved the book. As soon as I finished it, I ran out and bought Diaz's book of short stories Drown and enjoyed it very much too. I think Oscar Wao is a classic in the making.
I'm about 200 pages into 2666, and the book led me on a side trip, as they always do, to the book by journalist Teresa Rodriguez, "The Daughters of Juarez" A true story of serial murder south of the border."
I'm reading 2666 now, savouring it slowly. It is my first venture into Bolano, it has been very interesting this far. The Savage Detectives is buried somewhere beneath the mountain of coursework.
I have had Savage Detectives and haven't gotten around to reading it but judging from all the comments here maybe I need to pick it up next. Infinite Jest is the only thing on this list I've read and the more I let it marinate the highter it moves up on my list of favorite books…
Just finished Netherland Great read. Tried infinite Jest but just could not get into it.
Read Bolano's 2666, DFW's Supposedly Fun Thing, and O'Neill's Netherland. Netherland was a bit of a disappointment after all the hype, while 2666 was simply amazing even with the hype. It's been a few months since I read 2666, and I still find anything I've read since lackluster and uninteresting. I remember enjoying a number of the essays in this collection by DFW, but I read it so long time ago that my memory can't be trusted. I, too, prefer his essays to his fiction.