Best fiction books of 2010

The best books of the year, at least for this reader, stretch from Peoria, Ill., to Addis Ababa and back, with stops in Hungary, South Africa, and the deep South. Their heroes range from lovers on the run, to a 91-year-old shut-in to a man telling his child a bedtime story. Here's my list of the 12 best, beginning with a book so incredible it validates all the comparisons that have been made between its illywacking Australian author and Charles Dickens, to whom he has been compared again and again. — John Freeman is the editor of Granta magazine, and author of 'The Tyranny of E-mail.'

E-mail this article

Invalid E-mail address
Invalid E-mail address

Sending your article

Your article has been sent.

The best books of the year, at least for this reader, stretch from Peoria, Ill., to Addis Ababa and back, with stops in Hungary, South Africa, and the deep South. Their heroes range from lovers on the run, to a 91-year-old shut-in to a man telling his child a bedtime story.

Here's my list of the 12 best, beginning with a book so incredible it validates all the comparisons that have been made between its illywacking Australian author and Charles Dickens, to whom he has been compared again and again.

—John Freeman is the editor of Granta magazine, and author of "The Tyranny of E-mail."