My approach is anti-completionist. I actively avoid seeing the 'full' list. I'll look at last year's list, pick one book that intrigues me, and read it. Then maybe next year, I'll look at a list from five years ago. Treating it as a monolithic checklist feels like homework. Treating it as a periodic source of one good recommendation feels like a gift from a well-read friend. Keep it casual.
I use a simple Google Sheet. Column A is the year, Column B is the title, Column C is the author, Column D is a checkbox for 'Read,' and Column E is for my rating. I add to it slowly whenever I encounter a title from any year. It's not pre-populated, but building it manually forces me to engage with each entry.
Considering the rise of autofiction, 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' by Ottessa Moshfegh is a key text. A novel about a privileged, depressed young woman in 2000 NYC who decides to medicate herself into a year-long sleep. It's bleak, funny, and strangely mesmerizing. It was a critical and commercial hit.
It's essential for capturing a certain millennial anomie and aesthetic. The narrator's detachment and dark humor speak to a very contemporary sense of alienation. It's not a likable book in a traditional sense, but it's a razor-sharp character study that defines a certain mood of the late 2010s. It shows how unlikeable protagonists can be compelling mirrors of our times.
Think of it as a marathon, not a sprint. The historical rankings reward endurance. A novel might debut at #1 and sell two million copies in three months, but if it falls off the list after 20 weeks, it gets outranked by a middle-grade novel that stays in the lower ranks for 300 weeks from steady backlist sales. That's why children's books and perennial self-help guides often climb so high on the cumulative lists.
Has anyone made a spreadsheet? I'm kidding... mostly. But seriously, the list is overwhelming. My practical method was to join a book club that specifically tackles 'modern classics' from lists like this. We vote on one every couple of months.
Having a group to discuss it with makes the experience richer and holds me accountable. We just finished 'The Nightingale' and the discussion was incredible—way better than if I'd just read it alone. So my essential tip is: don't go it alone. Make it social.