Since there are quite a few people who are already beginning thinking of "books of the decade" (despite this first decade of the 21st century CE not ending until midnight on December 31, 2010), I thought I would create something a bit different and (hopefully) true to the spirit of this blog. Below are 50 books published in English or English translation from 2000-2009 that can be read and taken as a whole without the need to read a book prior to or following that book. There are a few books listed that share perhaps a common "universe," but each book could be read independently of the others and not depend upon those others for a complete story.

Not all of the books are novels. Nor are all of them speculative fiction, per se. There are likely some that I've read and enjoyed a lot that I left off, either because of my limiting this to standalones, or because I just plain didn't have them shelved when I checked through my dozen bookcases just now. Of course, the real point of such things is to generate thought, discussion, and hopefully curiosity about the rationale(s) employed by the list generator (me) and about the books listed.

Oh, and before I forget: this is not in a ranked order, but rather from a scribbled down notes as I did a purview of my shelves.

1. Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell

2. Jeffrey Ford, The Shadow Year

3. M. John Harrison, Light

4. Jeff VanderMeer, Shriek: An Afterword

5. Jeff VanderMeer, Finch

6. Brian Evenson, Last Days

7. Cherie Priest, Boneshaker

8. Margo Lanagan, Tender Morsels

9. Kelly Link, Magic for Beginners

10. Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Wizard of the Crow

11. Umberto Eco, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana

12. Roberto Bolaño, 2666

13. Jonathan Littell, The Kindly Ones

14. David Mazzucchelli, Asterios Polyp

15. Dan Simmons, The Terror

16. Elizabeth Moon, The Speed of Dark

17. China Miéville, The Scar

18. Chris Adrian, The Children's Hospital

19. Terrence Holt, In the Valley of the Kings

20. Elizabeth Hand, Generation Loss

21. Caitlín Kiernan, The Red Tree

22. Thomas Ligotti, My Work is Not Yet Done

23. Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves

24. Ignacio Padilla, Shadow Without a Name (Amphitryon in Spanish)

25. Geoff Ryman, Air

26. Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day

27. Salvador Plascencia, People of Paper

28. Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

29. M. (Mary) Rickert, Map of Dreams

30. Bret Easton Ellis, Lunar Park

31. Ian McDonald, Brasyl

32. Zoran Živkovi?, The Last Book

33. Milorad Pavi?, Second Body

34. Roberto Bolaño, The Savage Detectives

35. Jorge Volpi, Season of Ash (No será la tierra in Spanish)

36. David Toscana, The Last Reader (El último lector in Spanish)

37. Xavier Velasco, Diablo Guardián

38. José Saramago, Death with Interruptions

39. Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin

40. Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind (La sombra del viento in Spanish)

41. Paul Auster, Invisible

42. Michael Ajvaz, The Other City

43. J.M. McDermott, Last Dragon

44. Dave Eggers, What is the What

45. Thomas Glavinic, Night Work

46. Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

47. Elias Khoury, Yalo

48. Cormac McCarthy, The Road

49. Nalo Hopkinson, The New Moon's Daughter

50. Jesse Bullington, The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart