2010s Books: Top Writers, Novels And Reading Trends

E-books, self-publishing, BookTube and the cookbook as a bestseller.

Below: books published in the 2010s, the writers who defined it, what was changing in publishing, and how people actually got hold of a book.

Every title and date is real. Useful for a reading list, a quiz round or a reminiscence session.

Books published in the 2010s

• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (2012).
• Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James (2011), which began as self-published fan fiction.
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (2015).
• Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (English, 2014).
• Normal People by Sally Rooney (2018), after Conversations with Friends (2017).
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (2017).
• Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (2017).
• Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur (2014), which sold poetry like pop music.

Writers who defined the decade

• Sally Rooney, whose short, plain sentences got copied everywhere.
• Hilary Mantel, finishing the Cromwell trilogy in 2020.
• Malorie Blackman and the mainstreaming of British YA.
• Yuval Noah Harari and the return of the big idea book.
• Bernardine Evaristo, who shared the 2019 Booker for Girl, Woman, Other.
• Marian Keyes, still selling and finally reviewed seriously.

Publishing and writing trends

• Self-publishing on Kindle makes genre authors rich without a publisher.
• Domestic noir: 'The Girl Who...' on a third of the covers in the shop.
• BookTube, Bookstagram and then BookTok move sales faster than reviews.
• Cookbooks and mindfulness titles out-sell most novels.
• Library closures accelerate: hundreds shut across the decade.

How people read

• Kindles on the commute, then people drifting back to paper.
• Audiobooks growing fast on the phone, listened to at 1.5x speed.
• Independent bookshops slowly recovering after a grim start to the decade.
• Reading challenges - fifty-two books a year, tracked online.

Years covered in the 2010s

• 2010 - A hung parliament, a volcano that stopped the planes and the first iPad. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2010
• 2011 - The royal wedding, the riots and Adele's 21. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2011
• 2012 - The Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics in one extraordinary summer. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2012
• 2013 - A royal baby, Andy Murray at Wimbledon and the horsemeat scandal. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2013
• 2014 - The Scottish referendum, the ice bucket challenge and streaming joining the chart. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2014
• 2015 - The Queen's record reign, Leicester's title run beginning and Adele's return. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2015
• 2016 - Leicester won the league, Britain voted to leave and a lot of people died. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2016
• 2017 - Grenfell, the Manchester Arena attack and a snap election that went wrong. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2017
• 2018 - A royal wedding, a heatwave and England reaching a World Cup semi-final. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2018
• 2019 - A cricket World Cup final nobody could believe and a December election. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2019
• That is every 2010s year we have written up so far: 2010 to 2019.

How to use this

• Reading list: pick one novel and one non-fiction title from the decade someone was born in.
• Quiz round: read a title and ask for the decade, or read a writer and ask for one book.
• Reminiscence: ask what they were made to read at school, and what they read in secret.
• Anyone born in 2010 turns 50 in 2060, 60 in 2070 and 70 in 2080.

Shop prints and posters

How to write it so it lands

• Publication year and the year someone read it are rarely the same - paperbacks arrived a year or two later.
• For a birthday, a first edition is expensive but a decent second-hand copy from their birth year is not.
• Libraries can order almost anything on this list for free.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 2010
• Look back to 2011
• Look back to 2012
• Look back to 2013
• Look back to 2014
• Look back to 2015
• Look back to 2016
• Look back to 2017
• Look back to 2018
• Look back to 2019
• 2010s books, films and TV
• 2010s food and recipes
• 2010s films and directors
• 2010s calendar: year by year
• 2010s trivia: fun facts
• The 2010s: the whole decade
• 2010s party playlist
• Phone party games
• How to run a quiz night
• Decade music round questions
• Guess the year quiz
• Decade literature: writers and books by era
• Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
• Decade films: best movies and directors by era
• Decade history: key events, politics and culture by era
• Decade art: artists, styles and trends by era
• Food by decade: dishes and food trends
• Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
• Decade calendar: every year from 1920
• Decade trivia: fun facts by era
• Decade trivia game: play for points
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Milestone birthday cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Wedding cards
• Wedding cards guide
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What are the best books from the 2010s?

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (2012). The full list above gives the novels and non-fiction worth reading from the decade, with publication years.

Which writers defined the 2010s?

Sally Rooney, whose short, plain sentences got copied everywhere. The writers section above names the rest.

What was changing in publishing in the 2010s?

Self-publishing on Kindle makes genre authors rich without a publisher. The trends section covers how books were made, priced and sold.

Do you sell books?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. This page is free to read and free to copy - try a library or a second-hand bookshop for the books.