I collected over a dozen lists of the best books of the 2010s decade from various sources and compiled them into one meta-list. The results are below: every book on at least two of the original source lists, organized by fiction and nonfiction, and then by rank (that is, with the books on the most lists at the top). Please note that these are not my personal opinions and I have not read all these books.
Fiction and Poetry
On 11 lists
THE NEAPOLITAN NOVELS (2011-2014). By Elena Ferrante. Translated by Ann Goldstein
AMERICANAH (2013). By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
On 10 lists
THE GOLDFINCH (2013). By Donna Tartt
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD (2016). By Colson Whitehead
On 9 lists
A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD (2010). By Jennifer Egan
STATION ELEVEN (2014). By Emily St. John Mandel
On 8 lists
THE SYMPATHIZER (2015). By Viet Thanh Nguyen
HOMEGOING (2016). By Yaa Gyasi
On 7 lists
GONE GIRL (2012). By Gillian Flynn
LIFE AFTER LIFE (2013). By Kate Atkinson
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE (2014). By Anthony Doerr
A LITTLE LIFE (2015). By Hanya Yanagihara
LINCOLN IN THE BARDO (2017). By George Saunders
On 6 lists
THE SELLOUT (2015). By Paul Beatty
SING, UNBURIED, SING (2017). By Jesmyn Ward
On 5 lists
THE FLAMETHROWERS (2013). By Rachel Kushner
CITIZEN: An American Lyric (2014). By Claudia Rankine
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS (2014). By Marlon James
THERE THERE (2018). By Tommy Orange
NORMAL PEOPLE (2018). By Sally Rooney
On 4 lists
MY STRUGGLE (six novels) (2009-2011). By Karl Ove Knausgaard. Translated By Don Bartlett.
IQ84 (2010). By Haruki Murakami. Translated by Jay Rubin & Philip Gabriel
FREEDOM (2010). By Jonathan Franzen
ROOM (2010). By Emma Donoghue
THE SENSE OF AN ENDING (2011). By Julian Barnes
SALVAGE THE BONES (2012). By Jesmyn Ward
TENTH OF DECEMBER: Stories (2013). By George Saunders
DEPT. OF SPECULATION (2014). By Jenny Offill
THE FIFTH SEASON (2015). By N.K. Jemisin
FATES AND FURIES (2015). By Lauren Groff
MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION (2018). By Ottessa Mosfegh
THE OVERSTORY (2018). By Richard Powers
On 3 lists
THE MARTIAN (2011). By Andy Weir
READY PLAYER ONE (2011). By Ernest Cline
SWAMPLANDIA! (2011). By Karen Russell
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS (2012). By John Green
A MAN CALLED OVE (2012). By Fredrik Backman. Translated by Henning Koch
REDEPLOYMENT: Stories (2014). By Phil Klay
GOD HELP THE CHILD (2015). By Toni Morrison
A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW (2016). By Amor Towles
EXIT WEST (2017). By Mohsin Hamid
LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE (2017). By Celeste Ng
ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE (2017). By Gail Honeyman
HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES: Stories (2017). By Carmen Maria Machado
LESS (2017). By Andrew Sean Greer
THE NICKEL BOYS (2019). By Colson Whitehead
On 2 lists
THE SISTERS BROTHERS (2011). By Patrick deWitt
DIVERGENT (2011). By Veronica Roth
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS (2012). By M.L. Stedman
BRING UP THE BODIES (2012). By Hilary Mantel
THE CASUAL VACANCY (2012). By J.K. Rowling
WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES (2013). By Karen Joy Fowler
CRAZY RICH ASIANS (2013). By Kevin Kwan
THE NIGHTINGALE (2015). By Kristin Hannah
FORTUNE SMILES: Stories (2015). By Adam Johnson
YOU TOO CAN HAVE A BODY LIKE MINE (2015). By Alexandra Kleeman
LAROSE (2016). By Louise Erdrich
THE MOTHERS (2016). By Brit Bennett
SUDDEN DEATH (2016). By Álvaro Enrigue. Translated by Natasha Wimmer
THE IDIOT (2017). By Elif Bautman
WHAT IT MEANS WHEN A MAN FALLS FROM THE SKY: Stories (2017). By Lesley Nneka Arimah
NO EXIT (2017). By Taylor Adams
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE (2017). By Elizabeth Strout
CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS (2017). By Sally Rooney
THE HATE U GIVE (2017). By Angie Thomas
CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE (2018). By Tomi Adeyemi
CIRCE (2018). By Madeline Miller
DISORIENTAL (2018). By Negar Djavadi. Translated by Tina Kover
WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING (2018). By Delia Owens
MILKMAN (2019). By Anna Burns
Nonfiction
On 12 lists
BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME (2015). By Ta Nehisi Coates
On 9 lists
THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS (2010). By Rebecca Skloot
On 8 lists
JUST KIDS (2010). By Patti Smith
On 6 lists
THE ARGONAUTS (2015). By Maggie Nelson
On 4 lists
THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES: A Biography of Cancer (2010). By Siddhartha Mukherjee
THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration (2010). By Isabel Wilkerson
WILD: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (2012). By Cheryl Strayed
BAD FEMINIST: Essays (2014). By Roxane Gay
H IS FOR HAWK (2015). By Helen MacDonald
On 3 lists
THE NEW JIM CROW: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (2010). By Michelle Alexander
SAPIENS: A Brief History of Humankind (2011). By Yuval Noah Harari
BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity (2012). By Katherine Boo
FAR FROM THE TREE: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity (2012). By Andrew Solomon
WE SHOULD ALL BE FEMINISTS (2014). By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP (2014). By Marie Kondo
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION: An Unnatural History (2014). By Elizabeth Kolbert
BARBARIAN DAYS: A Surfing Life (2015). By William Finnegan
EVICTED: Poverty and Profit in the American City (2016). By Matthew Desmond
WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR: What Makes Life Worth Living in the Face of Death (2016). By Paul Kalanithi
EDUCATED: A Memoir (2018). By Tara Westover
THESE TRUTHS: A History of the United States (2018). By Jill Lepore
On 2 lists
UNBROKEN: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption (2010). By Laura Hillenbrand
BRAIDING SWEETGRASS: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (2013). By Robin Wall Kimmerer
MEN WE REAPED: A Memoir (2013). By Jesmyn Ward
WAVE: Life and Memories after the Tsunami (2013) By Sonali Deraniyagala
I AM MALALA: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban (2013). By Malala Yousafzai
ADULTING: How to Become a Grown-up in 535 Easy(ish) Steps (2013). By Kelly Williams Brown
THE COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness (2013). By Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi
THE EMPATHY EXAMS: Essays (2014). By Leslie Jamison
REASONS TO STAY ALIVE (2015). By Matt Haig
NEGROLAND: A Memoir (2015). By Margo Jefferson
CONCUSSION (2015). By Jeanne Marie Laskas
HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS (2016). By David France
BORN A CRIME: Stories from a South African Childhood (2016). By Trevor Noah
THEFT BY FINDING: Diaries 1977-2002 (2017). By David Sedaris
WHY WE SLEEP: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams (2017). By Matthew Walker
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (2017). By David Grann
TELL ME HOW IT ENDS: An Essay in 40 Questions (2017). By Valeria Luiselli
BECOMING (2018). By Michelle Obama
FREDERICK DOUGLASS: Prophet of Freedom (2018). By David W. Blight
THE YELLOW HOUSE (2019). By Sarah M. Broom
SHE SAID: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement (2019). By Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
SAY NOTHING: A True History of Memory and Murder in Northern Ireland (2019). By Patrick Radden Keefe