Here are several lists, randomly ordered, starting with
the best books I read in 2016 (ignoring publication date). I do not include
books by friends on these lists, though, as you’ll see below, I did include a separate,
brief list of some of the books my friends published during the year that I
read. PLEASE don’t get mad if your book isn’t on there! I just really had to
mention some of these books by beloved buddies, and it was hard not to open the floodgates….
And because I realize I didn’t do this write-up in 2015, I
tacked on that list as well. I mean, why not? A good book is timeless, right?
2016
Tiny Beautiful Things
(Dear Sugar) by Cheryl Strayed: What can I say that hasn’t been said about
the wise and empathetic generosity of spirit that Cheryl Strayed brings to her
writing? Advice for all of us, and a hug to make you feel loved, sweetpea.
Manhattan ’45 by
Jan Morris: New York City! Published in the 1980s, but researched to show us
what NYC was like in 1945, at the crossroads of post-war America.
The Faraway Nearby
by Rebecca Solnit: An exploration of love and loss and the creative life, one
of the most brilliant books I have read. If I were to meet Rebecca Solnit, I
would stare in wonder at her.
Sweetbitter by
Stephanie Danler: I can’t resist a girl-goes-to-New-York book, especially when
she works in a restaurant! Read this for the New Yorkiness and the food and the
astute observations and less for the plot.
All the King’s Men
by Robert Penn Warren: A classic for a reason. From the very first page of the
road unfurling, this story pulls us through the cynical underbelly of politics
and the South. (Okay, I got a big bogged down in the family history section,
but then I’m from Iowa, not the South!)
Chelsea Girls by
Eileen Myles: Another girl goes to New York, and writes like the poet she is.
Highly readable, so don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I would just read a
sentence and set the book aside to ponder the language and its juxtaposition. I
don’t get why this is called a novel, but who cares?
Hue and Cry by
James Alan McPherson: After he died this summer, I thought it was shameful I’d
read only a couple of essays along the way…and I was right. These stories are
stunning, especially the first two.
My Body Is a Book of
Rules by Elissa Washuta: This is a flawed book, but when it was good it was
very, very good—and inventive. A dark memoir told through a variety of forms,
including lists and (especially brilliant) a dialogue with the TV show “Law
& Order SVU.”
Toby’s Room by Pat
Barker: I entered a phase of British/Irish writers while in residency at the
Hawthornden Castle in Scotland and resumed my love affair with Pat Barker and
her riveting novels about World War I. This is less-battle intense than the Regeneration
Trilogy but no less harrowing. I inhaled it from the early shocker in the first
chapter, as did two of my fellow writers in the castle! Bonus: It was exciting
to be reading a copy signed by Pat Barker (one of my literary idols) that I
found in the Hawthornden library.
A Bit on the Side
by William Trevor: Another from the Hawthornden library. I’d read William
Trevor in the New Yorker, but these
stories were a revelation. I’m not sure if it was these stories all at once or that
I was living somewhat in the landscape described, but the spare heartbreak of
these stories was gorgeous. Please, sir, may I have some more? Luckily I can,
despite his recent death…he wrote lots of books!
Birthday Letters
by Ted Hughes: Okay, I didn’t read all of this (I had to return it to the
Hawthornden Library and head home). But what I read was a thrill. No wonder
Britain is still recovering from this poet’s towering presence. (I read some
Sylvia Plath alongside for balance and conversation’s sake.)
As noted, I choose not to include books by my friends on my
list, but it seems like I can certainly mention a few books by friends that I
read (and loved!) in 2016:
Traveler’s Rest by
Keith Lee Morris: snowy, spooky novel
Crash Course by
Robin Black: short essays on life and writing
Echoes of the Tattered
Tongue by John Guzlowski: wrenching poetry about his parent’s experiences
in a German slave camp in WWII
You May See a Stranger
by Paula Whyman: linked stories about a woman trying to carve out a life for
herself
Invincible Summers
by Robin Gaines: Claudia’s father dies, and this 60s-70s era Detroit family
falls apart
Harmony by Carolyn
Parkhurst: a DC couple hopes a parenting guru can save their autistic daughter
at this off-the-grid New Hampshire camp
Ghosts of Bergen
County by Dana Cann: Ghosts, a dead child, and heroin…a potent combination
Heirlooms by
Rachel Hall: linked stories about one Jewish family’s escape from WWII-era France
and the burdens they carry into America
As noted, I see that I didn’t put together a list last year,
so because I’m compulsive and a completist, here we go, minus the commentary
because I have some Christmas tasks to get to!
Best Books (I read) in
2015
Bad Feminist by
Roxane Gay [essays]
The Love of the Last
Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald [unfinished novel]
The Trip to Echo
Spring: On Writers and Drinking by Olivia Laing [non-fiction]
The Unspeakable and Other Subjects of Discussion by Meghan
Daum [essays]
Get in Trouble by
Kelly Link [stories]
Redeployment by
Phil Klay [stories]
Station Eleven by
Emily St. John Mandel [novel…and I’ll butt in to say, this may be the book I’ve
recommended the most over the past two years]
The Ice Cave: A Woman’s
Adventures from the Mojave to the Antarctic by Lucy Jane Bledsoe [essays…the
first two are a little slow IMHO…give it a chance!]
Friday Night Lights
by H.G. Bissinger [non-fiction]
And some of my favorite books by my friends in 2015:
Pasture Art by
Marlin Barton [stories and a masterful novella]
Watch Me Go by Mark
Wisniewski [novel]
My Coolest Shirt
by W.T. Pfefferle [poetry]
Count the Waves by
Sandra Beasley [poems]
Washing the Dead
by Michelle Brafman [novel]
Flying Home by
David Nicholson [stories, set in DC]
And onward to 2017! I’ve got stacks of books I want to read,
but even more exciting is to think about the random discoveries waiting ahead! Happy reading, everyone!
