Books from the aughts one really ought to read.

New Year's Eve 2009 will see the end of one of the most politically charged and aesthetically challenging decades in human history. What easier way to make sense of the endless ricochet of event and analysis than with a list?

Our contributors have chosen their top ten creative works of the decade, from artworks to albums, which we will publish on a daily basis.

When I sat down to create my list of the top ten books of the past decade, I realized I had recommended more books than I had read, and only read books based on recommendations. On top of that, I almost immediately forget everything I read. So all I can offer is that each of these books has left its imprint somewhere and I've done my best to locate where.

Top Five Books I've Recommended this Past Decade

Mouthing the Words by Camilla Gibb (Pedlar Press, 1999) It could be the tale of Gibb writing this book in a trailer, her laptop plugged into the stove. Or that she wasn't sure she'd told a story until she received final confirmation from the publisher that, yes, she had. Or the resulting fanfare for a brave, bizarre voice. It could have been the author photo. I just remember thinking that that was that--I was a writer, dammit. This isn't just a great book, it's an astonishing tool for any new writer who's still wondering if it's okay to use their real voice, and a strong reminder for more established authors who have forgotten theirs. (Location: gut.)

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (Little, Brown and Company, 2000) David Sedaris was my first introduction to personal essays that are as funny as they are well-written. He was also one of the first writers I'd come across who used his words as much his pen, at once giving away the most interesting stories from his life and keeping them for himself. (Location: voice.)

Skim by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki (Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press, 2008) The perfect marriage of text and image, Jillian's illustrations tell a story unto themselves, as if the leaves on a chilled autumn evening have as much to say as Mariko's protagonist. If you're a queer kid or adult, Skim is an essential contribution to the queer canon. If you're not, but have a clue, this will only confirm your good sense. If you don't have a clue, get one, and read Skim. (Location: heart.)

February by Lisa Moore (House of Anansi Press, 2009) Moore sets the reader up on the shore, squaring our shoulders against the horizon. Her narrative ebbs and flows, cycling back over territory and time--the routine act of matching socks reappearing in a widow's readiness to picture her husband's last moments. (Location: feet.)

Corked: a Memoir by Kathryn Borel, Jr. (Wiley Canada, 2009) I have some trouble with empathic embarrassment. Improv, live comedy, gymnastics, figure skating, awards shows--this is just a short list of things that result in a screaming pain through the centre of my hands. It's always worth it in the end, the jubilation and intense relief of seeing the person emerge safely on the side, if not entirely unscathed. The point being, I'm surprised I could even hold this book. And yet, I can't stop talking about it. (Location: palms.)

Top Five Books I've Read (Or Plan To Read) Based On Reader Recommendations

Stacey May Fowles (author and publisher of Shameless Magazine) recommends Skinny by Ibi Kaslik (Harper Perennial, 2004) Stacey says: Finally a book appears about the lives, dilemmas, and struggles of young women without being patronizing, moralizing, or melodramatic. Kaslik does a beautiful job of getting inside the emotional lives and experiences of her characters in a book so authentic, that it finds its place securely in the literary mainstream. Beautiful, tragic, moving, and most importantly, real.

Sean Cranbury (of Books on the Radio and Advent Books) recommends No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (Knopf, 2005) Sean says: A modern day legend told like a straight story. A deceptively simple narrative deals with questions of the soul, the nature of evil, drugs, money, hope, terror, wisdom, law, justice, blood, mortality, antelope, unforgiving landscapes, and generational change. This book is all heart, though the story is crafted with a kind of arid precision and the language is as old as stones. There's a dangerous honesty in this book and I recommend it any chance that I get. Like now.

Dani Couture (author and animal effigist) recommends The Refrigerator Memory by Shannon Bramer (Coach House Books, 2005) Dani says: Small and delicious, Bramer's darkly funny fairy tales take poetry where it's always wanted to go.

Ashley Winnington-Ball (jewelery designer and shopgirl) recommends 2666 by Roberto Bolaño (Picador, 2009)

Ashley says: Getting through this 898-page novel requires quite a commitment, but it's a captivating and ultimately fulfilling read. Told in five distinct but related sections, 2666 can be devastating and bleak, but it is a literary feat and very much of our time.

Marina Endicott (author) recommends The Mitochondrial Curiosities of Marcels 1 to 19 by Jocelyn Brown (Coach House Books, 2009) via The Advent Book Blog, and palmed me a copy, which I plan to pay forward when I buy it for everyone I know this Christmas. Marina says: Craft-tastic teen struggles to make sense of her father's death. Hilarious, devastating, beautifully written. Wean your daughter/niece/self from vampires with some glorious adolescent reality-funk.