Before the Decade Ends, Here Are the Best Novels of the 21st Century

The Idiot by Elif Batuman (2017)

A semi-autobiographical recounting of the author’s own experience, Elif Batuman’s second book follows a Turkish college freshman at Harvard in the 1990s, Selin, as she finds herself falling for someone through the brand new medium of email. However, her fearful counterpart is reluctant to bring their fantasies to life.

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The More You Know

  • A reindeer's eyes can change colors with the seasons.
  • Peanuts can be used to make dynamite.
  • It costs the U.S. Mint almost twice as much to mint each penny and nickel as the coins are actually worth. Taxpayers lost over $100 million in 2013 just through the coins being made.
  • A typical cloud weighs around 1.1 million pounds.
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