For those who have not yet discovered the FAVORITES tab at the top of the Home page for SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH BOOKS, here is the list of my own favorites from among the many wonderful books I read this year:
Juan Gabriel Vasquez–REPUTATIONS
Max Porter–GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS
Richard Hines–NO WAY BUT GENTLENESSE
Thomas Keneally–NAPOLEON’S LAST ISLAND
Juan Gomez Barcena–THE SKY OVER LIMA
Wackiest Literary Novel: Ian McEwan–NUTSHELL
Most Powerful Revived Classic: Magda Szabo–THE DOOR
Most Intriguing Collection of Short Stories: Mai Al-Nakib–THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF OBJECTS
Most Engrossing Non-Fiction: Richard Hines–NO WAY BUT GENTLENESSE. The author, a child at the time, tames a wild hawk, not in the usual way of dominance, but solely with gentleness.
Most Fascinating Biographical Non-Fiction: Ross King–MAD ENCHANTMENT: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies
Most Interesting Fictionalized Story of a Real Event (tie): John Preston–THE DIG, a story of archaeology and the new discoveries regarding the earliest settlers of England, and David Dyer–THE MIDNIGHT WATCH: The Titanic and the Californian, the story of the ship which was closest to the Titanic when it struck and which might have saved hundred of lives, but didn’t.
Most Intriguing Experimental Novels: Max Porter–GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS and Yoel Hoffmann–MOODS
