Thanks to everyone who shared a glowing recommendation. If you're anything like us, you get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that your endorsement will help someone else discover (and fall in love with) that book that knocked your socks off.
Powell's customers, you've truly outdone yourselves. We asked for the best book you read last decade and were humbled by your overwhelming response. And, may we say, what good taste you have! (Ahem. Check out the number one pick from our employees.)
So, without further ado, the winners of the Golden Galoshes are:
The Road
by Cormac McCarthy Customer Comment from Todd Harrington
Cormac McCarthy's command of the language and powerful prose give us an emotionally raw examination of human nature and innocence, genuine and pure. This book will leave you changed forever.
List Price $15.00 Your price: $5.50
Used - Trade Paper
add to wish list
2
The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger Customer Comment from jean.ashley
...[S]omewhere along the way I became the sort of reader who reads for information only. I had thought that I was incapable of getting lost in a story until I read this book. I could not put it down. It was wonderful and everyone I've recommended it to has loved it.
List Price $14.95 Your price: $2.95
Used - Trade Paper
add to wish list
3
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin Customer Comment from cheryl_hill
This is one of the most inspiring books I've ever read. Greg Mortenson's tireless attempts to build schools for girls in Pakistan is a truly amazing story. If you don't think that one person can make a difference in the world, you need to read this book.
List Price $16.00 Your price: $3.75
Used - Trade Paper
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4
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #07)
by J. K. Rowling Customer Comment from Gregor
The series changed the known reading universe, and Rowling created an exciting and satisfying conclusion in The Deathly Hallows. No book could be more deserving of this award!
List Price $34.99 Your price: $5.50
Used - Hardcover
add to wish list
5
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
by Michael Chabon Customer Comment from Elliott
...[A] novel of great humor and emotional depth. This book was my first introduction to Chabon's work and I have since gone and devoured more. Like the comic books he loves, Michael Chabon is able to entertain us and do so with a pure love of language and escapism.
List Price $17.00 Your price: $4.95
Used - Trade Paper
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6
The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak Customer Comment from wurdnurd
This book had me laughing out loud one minute and bawling the next. The elegant and understated persona of Death lends a dignity to the story that might otherwise be treacly or trite. A wonderful book to read or listen to between parents and children.
List Price $12.99 Your price: $8.00
Used - Trade Paper
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7
The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon Customer Comment from Kerry Holmes
The author did a wonderful job of creating a rich cast of characters. The city of Barcelona is described vividly and almost feels like another character in the book. The concept of a story within the story was well written and true readers everywhere will love the Cemetery of Forgotten Books!
List Price $16.00 Your price: $6.95
Used - Trade Paper
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8
Middlesex (Oprah's Book Club Selection #58)
by Jeffrey Eugenides Customer Comment from Emily DeVoto Middlesex is a most unexpected novel. It's at once brave, tender, utterly original, unpretentious, and profound. I can see myself re-reading it at different times of my life, and continuing to learn from it.
List Price $15.00 Your price: $6.50
Used - Trade Paper
add to wish list
9
Cloud Atlas: A Novel
by David Mitchell Customer Comment from JeffMoniker
Fans of Murakami, Chabon and Lethem should enjoy this masterful blending of genres, consisting of 6 separate narratives, seemingly disparate, but somehow Mitchell manages to coalesce them all into a mysterious whole.
List Price $15.00 Your price: $8.00
Used - Trade Paper
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10
Life of Pi
by Yann Martel Customer Comment from Reverend MG
This is a wonderful story! I was sucked in from the beginning with Pi's views on life and religion, all the way to the end of his journey across the sea....I'm not sure if I've recommended another book more than this one!
List Price $25.00 Your price: $9.95
Used - Hardcover
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While you were casting your Puddly votes, we also asked our coworkers to name the best book they read in the last decade. Check out the top 50 picks that won our adoration.
Results were calculated based on the number of votes submitted for a given title, not a specific ISBN (edition, binding, et al.). For example, all the votes for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay be it for the paperback, the hardcover, the audio book, the first edition, and so on count toward its placement in the final list.
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.