D eliberating over the Atlantic 10 list is, in some ways, a test of memory. Does a novel we read in January still thrill us? Does the reportage that impressed us midyear still feel surprising when we turn back to it in the fall? We’re asking ourselves, in short, which books have kept our attention, sometimes months after we’ve first encountered them. This exercise helps ensure that the books we select aren’t just gorgeously written, inventive, or clarifying, but that they will also linger in