A brief review of the best and worst of 2016, and a list of everything I read.
The Top Ten (in the order I read them) Brutal to cull it down to just ten - so pay attention to the honorable mentions - there are great books in there. And everything that was a re-read was necessarily placed in honorable mention, even though I love them, or I’d never have gotten down to ten. I read some great books this year, you guys.
1. Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940’s, Sarah Weinman, ed. - Ok, this is sort of a cheat, because this consisted of four crime novels written in the 1940’s, but the thing is, while the individual four books were fun, what made it super was reading all four together and seeing the range of crime fiction written by women, and all ones I’d never heard of (and I’m reasonably educated on crime fiction). Such a fun book to dip into.
2. The Great Silence, Juliet Nicholson - Of course, I adore books about the Great War and its immediate aftermath, but this nonfiction social history of the first few years after and how society coped is amazing. I could have read a thousand more pages about this subject by Nicholson.
3. The Bookshop, Penelope Fitzgerald - The first book I read for my new bookclub (new to me, not to them) and such a delight. Such a short but incisive, witty read. It will take you no time, but it will stay with you afterwards. Read it.
4. Deliverance, James Dickey - This is why I do the Modern Library Project (I swear to God, I am finishing that project this year). It introduced me to a book I had no intention of ever reading and blew me away. One of the few books about the meaning of masculinity that has ever moved me.
5. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry - And this is another. Though its about so much more than that - history, and how we understand the old West, and different ways of living your life, and such a great plot you don’t even realize that 1) you are thinking about these heady things and 2) you just read 800 pages.
6. A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy, Sue Klebold - I can’t imagine being this woman. Her son is a famous murder, one of the Columbine two, and she writes with such clarity about the horror that that was. Losing him. Knowing he killed others. Finding ways to continue her life. Heartbreaking and beautiful.
8. Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, Jill Leovy - Everyone should read this as we try to grapple with the reality of urban crime, and why it happens and how we can stop it. Everyone should read it, and Republicans, you should read it twice.
9. Buying A Bride: An Engaging History of Mail-Order Matches, Marcia A. Zug - Now, my friend wrote this book, but I’d have recommended it anyway. It both relays the history of mail order brides in America, and made me re-think the entire idea of mail order brides. An academic book that, if there was justice, would be a popular cross-over.
10. Lady Cop Makes Trouble, Amy Stewart - I just loved this. Loved the first in the series, loved this one. Can’t wait for the third. Guys - go out and read about lady cop Constance Knopp. You won’t regret it.
11. Commonwealth, Ann Patchett - Beautiful. Again, I wanted 800 more pages. I love Patchett, I loved this book, I loved the opening scene, I love the characters. I even love the beautiful cover design.
Honorable Mentions - the ones I culled the top 10 list from (in no order at all). Too lazy to link these, but if you search the post below you can find out what number they were and read the posts. Sorry, but I have been working on this post for hours!:
The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate, Nancy Mitford; The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett; The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster; Busman’s Honeymoon, Dorothy Sayers; The Blue Castle, L.M. Montgomery; Shot in the Heart, Mikal Gilmore; The Rival Queens: Catherine de Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois and the Betrayel That Ignited a Kingdom, Nancy Goldstone; Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel; The Tresspasser, Tana French; 144. American Ghost, Hannah Nordhaus; The Swans of Fifth Avenue, Melanie Benjamin; Fall on Your Knees, Ann-Marie MacDonald; We That Are Left, Clare Clark; H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald; Did You Ever Have a Family, Bill Clegg
WORST. Don’t want to give them too much ink, but all these books disappointed or borded me this year. Don’t bother.
The Wilderness of Ruin: A Tale of Madness, Fire, and the Hunt for America’s Youngest Serial Killer, Roseanne Montillo; Judy + Liza + Robert + Freddie + David + Sue + Me…, Stevie Philips; Elmer McCurdy: the Misadventures in Life and Afterlife of an American Outlaw, Mark Svenvol; The Bone People, Keri Hulme; A House for Mr Biswas, VS Naipul; The Buccaneers, Edith Wharton (completed by Marion Mainwaring); The Secret Poisoner: A Century of Murder, Linda Stramann; Aunt Dimity and the Duke, Nancy Atherton
The full list (mostly for my own google-fu purposes, since I’m too stupid to add searching to my blog)
1. Locke & Key, Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
Then the Collected Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940’s, Sarah Weinman, ed. which consisted of:
2. Laura, Vera Caspary
3. The Horizontal Man, Helen Eustis
4. In a Lonely Place, Dorothy Hughes
5. The Blank Wall, Elizabeth Sanxay Holding
6. The Phantom of Fifth Avenue, Meryl Gordon
7. Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Stephen King
8. Trigger Warning, Neil Gaiman
9. It Ended Badly: 13 of the Worst Breakups in History, Jennifer Wright
10. The Wilderness of Ruin: A Tale of Madness, Fire, and the Hunt for America’s Youngest Serial Killer, Roseanne Montillo
11. The Crooked House, Christobel Kent.
12. Night Shift, Stephen King
13. The Road to Yesterday, L.M. Montgomery
14. Death and the Dancing Footman, Ngaio Marsh
15. Death of an Expert Witness, P.D. James
16. Judy + Liza + Robert + Freddie + David + Sue + Me…, Stevie Philips
17. Lord Fear, Lucas Mann
18. The Rival Queens: Catherine de Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois and the Betrayel That Ignited a Kingdom, Nancy Goldstone
19. Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, Sarah Vowell
20. Dark Corner, Ruth Rendell
21. The Dead Duke, his Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse, Piu Marie Eatwell
22. The Shadow Cabinet, Maureen Johnson
23. Never Too Late, Angela Thirkell
24. Growing Up, Angela Thirkell
25. Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
26. Jane-Emily, Patricia Clapp
27. The Gate to Women’s Country, Sheri S. Tepper
28. The Warden, Anthony Trollope
29. The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street, Susan Jane Gilman
30. Happy Returns, Angela Thirkell
31. Private Enterprise, Angela Thirkell
32. The Pursuit of Love Nancy Mitford
33. Love in a Cold Climate, Nancy Mitford
34. The Great Silence, Juliet Nicholson
35. We That Are Left, Clare Clark
36. Cotillion, Georgette Heyer
37. The Bookshop, Penelope Fitzgerald
38. Death in the City of Light, David King
39. Await Your Reply, Dan Chaon
40. The Way Men Act, Elinor Lipman
41. The Convenient Marriage, Georgette Heyer
42. The Lighthouse, P.D. James
43. Did You Ever Have a Family, Bill Clegg
44. Elmer McCurdy: the Misadventures in Life and Afterlife of an American Outlaw, Mark Svenvol
45. Peace Breaks Out, Angela Thirkell
46. Enter Sir Robert, Angel Thirkell
47. Deliverance, James Dickey
48. The Ice Cream Blonde, Michelle Morgan
49. The Temptress: The Scandalous Life of Alice De Janze and the Mysterious Death of Lord Erroll, Paul Spicer
50. Hark! A Vagrant, Kate Beaton
51. County Chronicle, Angela Thirkell
52. Jutland Cottage, Angela Thirkell
53. The Bean Trees, Barbara Kingsolver
54. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry
55. The Bone People, Keri Hulme
56. A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy, Sue Klebold
57. The Franchise Affair, Josephine Tey
58. To Love and Be Wise, Josephine Tey
59. West of Eden, Jean Stein
60. The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett
61. A Hat Full of Sky, Terry Pratchett
62. Wintersmith, Terry Pratchett
63. An Old Fashioned Girl, Louisa May Alcott
64. The BFG, Roald Dahl
65. A House for Mr Biswas, VS Naipul
66. Crampton Hodnet, Barbara Pym
67. Jane and Prudence, Barbara Pym
68. Oh These Men, These Men!, Angela Thirkell
69. Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, Jill Leovy
70. Outerbanks, Anne Rivers Siddons
71. Her, Harriet Lane
72. Promise Not to Tell, Jennifer McMahon
73. The Family Tree, Karen Branan
74. Busman’s Honeymoon, Dorothy Sayers
75. Wait for Me! Deborah Mitford, Duchess of Devonshire
76. The Baker’s Daughter, D.E. Stevenson
77. A Shilling for Candles, Josephine Tey
78. High Rising, Angela Thirkell
79. August Folly, Angela Thirkell
80. Pomfret Towers, Angela Thirkell
81. The Brandons, Angela Thirkell
82. Christmas at High Rising, Angela Thirkell
83. Northbridge Rectory, Angela Thirkell
84. Marling Hall, Angela Thirkell
85. The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Roald Dahl
86. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
87. George’s Marvelous Medicine, Roald Dahl
88. The Magic Finger, Roald Dahl
89. The Twits, Roald Dahl
90. Matilda, Roald Dahl
91. Tales of Beedle the Bard, J.K. Rowling
92. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields
93. Pedal Zombies: Thirteen Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories, Edited by Elly Blue
94. Fall on Your Knees, Ann-Marie MacDonald
95. Buying A Bride: An Engaging History of Mail-Order Matches, Marcia A. Zug
96. Rose Kennedy, Barbara A. Perry
97. Dorothy Parker: Complete Broadway 1918-1923, Dorothy Parker (Kevin Fitzpatrick, Ed.)
98. H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald
99. The Wicked Boy, Kate Summerscale
100. James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
101. The Enormous Crocodile, Roald Dahl
102. The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster
103. Across the Miles; L.M. Montgomery
104. The Thief, Megan Whalen Turner
105. Tom’s Midnight Garden, Philippa Pearce
106. Cary Grant: A Biography, Marc Eliot
107. The Buccaneers, Edith Wharton (completed by Marion Mainwaring)
108. End of Watch, Stephen King
109. If You Ask Me, Libby Gelman-Waxner
110. Fiasco, James Robert Parish
111. Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane, Paul Thomas Murphy
112. The Secret Poisoner: A Century of Murder, Linda Stramann
113. Mort, Terry Pratchett
114. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett
115. Snobs, Julian Fellows
116. American Gods, Neil Gaiman
117. Smoke and Mirrors, Neil Gaiman
118. A Very Great Profession, Nicola Beauman
119. Shot in the Heart, Mikal Gilmore
120. Before Lunch, Angela Thirkell
121. Summer Half, Angela Thirkell
122. The Tresspasser, Tana French
123. Lady Cop Makes Trouble, Amy Stewart
124. The Deadly Dowager, Edwin Greenwood
125. Death Of A Cozy Writer, G. M. Mallet
126. Aunt Dimity and the Duke, Nancy Atherton
127. The Mistletoe Murder, P.D. James
128. The Daylight Marriage, Heidi Pitlor
129. The Forgotten Girls, Sara Blaedel
130. Flowers For the Judge, Margery Allingham
131. The Winter People, Jennifer McMahon
132. Different Class, Joanne Harris
133. Jack and Jill, Louisa May Alcott
134. The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Margaret Sidney
135. The Five Little Peppers Midway, Margaret Sidney
136. The Blue Castle, L.M. Montgomery
137. Jane of Lantern Hill, L.M. Montgomery
138. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne
139. Commonwealth, Ann Patchett
140. Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance
141. The Seventh Book of Wonders, Julianna Baggott
142. The Best of Connie Willis, Connie Willis
143. The Flaming Corsage, William Kennedy
144. American Ghost, Hannah Nordhaus
145. The Swans of Fifth Avenue, Melanie Benjamin