The vast majority of books I read this year were not published this year, but I did read several 2017 releases. You'll notice that hardly any of the books I absolutely loved received major awards attention or adulation this year. The hype surrounding most of the books at the tops of the critics lists were largely lost on me. I tried reading a few of them--and I won't say which ones, as it would be bad manners to publicly put down other novelists (now if we were in private conversation that'd be another thing altogether...)--but I found them mostly unreadable, pretentious, dull, overhyped, or, most often, a combination of all four factors. So, I am only mentioning here the books I read in 2017 that I loved. My reading list this year was largely shaped by the fact that I taught in Edinburgh for two weeks this summer, so I immersed myself in Scottish literature as much as I was able. And it is an incredibly rich literature. The other twenty-two books I read this year cam
A friend recently challenged me to post my ten favorite books on Facebook, one a day, for the next ten days. I've decided to post them all in one fell swoop here so I can try to articulate my thinking a bit. Choosing ten favorite books is just about impossible for me. It's akin to choosing a favorite child. So instead, I tried to think about the ten books that are really speaking to me today as ones that changed me as a person and a writer. My list of favorites is constantly changing. So, this is my list of ten favorites today. It might be different tomorrow. As you'll see if you keep reading, sometimes I've chosen one book by a favorite author simply as a placeholder for many books. I'm listing these in no real particular order but my two favorite writers are Willa Cather and Thomas Hardy, so I'll talk about them first. I absolutely love Cather's My Antonia , O Pioneers! , My Mortal Enemy , and Death Comes For the Archbishop . They are al
My favorite books published in 2016: 1. News of the World. Paulette Jiles's short and beautiful Western was deeply moving and it is one of those rare books of which I can honestly say that every single sentence is a gem. Absolutely the novel of the year for me. 2. Mothering Sunday. Graham Swift wrote this elegant and stunning 192 page novel. Its shortness emphasizes just how masterful it is because in just a few pages Swift creates an entire world and gives us big themes like class, the power of storytelling, and loss, all delivered in prose that is erotic, economical, and powerful. 3. Raymie Nightingale. Kate DiCamillo wrote one of my all-time favorite books, Because of Winn Dixie, but this one is almost as good. A look at the definitions of friendship, family (chosen and blood), and the desire to be a good person. I absolutely loved it. 4. Miss Jane. Full disclosure here: the author, Brad Watson, was one of my mentors when I was studying for my MF
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