‘Each bears his own ghosts’: How the classics speak to these days of fear, anger and presidential candidates stalking the land You thought Spooky Season ended at midnight on October 31? Here in the U.S., Rachel Hadas, professor of English at Rutgers University, writes, “A week before the election, everyone seems to be afraid.” “Our […]
I was very picky about the books I chose to read this year. As a result, I read a lot of good books—so many that putting together this list was an agonizing process. In past years, I’ve kept my best books list to a total of 15, usually a top ten list plus five honorable
The Best Books I Read in 2023 Read More »
Goodreads insists that I read 44 books in 2022, but my records indicate 46. Whichever number is correct, here are the best ones: 10 best + 5 honorable mention. Listed alphabetically by author’s last name. The 10 Best Connelly, Michael. Desert Star This latest installment in Connelly’s overlapping Harry Bosch/Renée Ballard series finds the detectives
#TopTenTuesday : The Best Books I Read in 2022 Read More »
‘Expressive times’: Publishing industry an open book in 2022 “In 2022, the story of book publishing was often the industry itself,” writes Hillel Italie for AP News. A Novelist’s Review of the State of 2022 Literary Fiction Mateo Askaripour is a Brooklyn-based writer whose first novel, Black Buck—which Colson Whitehead calls a “mesmerizing novel, executing
2022: A Literary Review Read More »
Best Books of 2019 I put this Goodreads list at the very top of this entry because it’s “the only major book awards decided by readers.” Check out the winners in a whole bunch of categories. The Ultimate Best Books of 2019 List And here’s the list made up from other lists. Literary Hub editor
More Best Books of 2019 Lists Read More »
Listed alphabetically by author Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games Connelly, Michael. The Fifth Witness Donoghue, Emma. Room Egan, Jennifer. A Visit from the Goon Squad Harbach, Chad. The Art of Fielding Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken Hoffman, Alice. The Story Sisters McLain, Paula. The Paris Wife Shapiro, Alison Bonds. Healing into Possibility Watson, S. J. Before I
The Best Books I Read in 2011 Read More »
This has been an abysmal year for me in terms of pleasure reading: I read a mere 18 books. The reason for this low count is that I’ve spent the entire year researching and then writing my dissertation, which I hope to finish up in early 2011. So I’m looking forward to 2011 being a
The Best Books I Read in 2010 Read More »
Listed alphabetically by author Corrigan, Kelly. The Middle Place Didion, Joan. Slouching Towards Bethlehem Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique Genova, Lisa. Still Alice Hoffman, Alice. The Story Sisters Larsson, Stieg. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo O’Connell, Carol. Bone by Bone Sarton, May. Journal of a Solitude Stockett, Kathryn. The Help Zaslow, Jeffrey. The Girls
The Best Books I Read in 2009 Read More »
Listed alphabetically by author Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby Goldberg, Natalie. Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir Hood, Ann. Comfort: A Journey through Grief O’Farrell, Maggie. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox Saks, Elyn R. The Center Cannot Hold:
The Best Books I Read in 2008 Read More »
My favorite end-of-the-year activity is compiling my annual list of the best books I read during the year. Making this list is both pleasurable and painful: pleasurable because it allows me to revisit and remember each book; painful because I have to cut some books I really enjoyed to get the list down to the
Best Books I Read in 2007 Read More »
