Best of the Millennium

The Millions, with the help of a "distinguished panel of writers, editors, and critics," ranked the twenty best books of the new millennium (so far). Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections tops the list. All in all, it's a good list, but what's really interesting is the comparison between the panel's list and the list compiled by readers of the Millions. Junot Diaz's The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao tops the readers' list but doesn't appear anywhere on the panel's list. Roberto Bolano's 2666 does well on both lists, as do David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

Some of the titles that made the lists are surprising. In particular, I was surprised by the strong showing on both lists of Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. I enjoyed Middlesex, but I'm not sure I'd put it on my personal "best of the millennium" list.