YEAR SEVEN OF READING

I usually post my favorites of a year of reading on my birthday, but I am a bit late this year. This accounting covers April 22 of last year through April 22 of this year. I read 121 books, most being older books bought used. I do order current books after I receive Christmas gift certificates. 2016 was an exceptionally good year for books, so almost half my favorites are new publications. I have indicated the year of publication and the month in which they were reviewed. I recommend all these books without reservation.


BLACK RIVER by S.M. HULSE
The emotionally involving story of a retired correctional officer and his attempt to find peace after tragedy and to give and accept forgiveness. In a story that could easily have been overly sentimental or violently melodramatic, Hulse hits just the right note in a story of ordinary people trying to do the right thing. (2015; reviewed June, 2016)

VICTORY by JOSEPH CONRAD
A suspenseful thriller, a love story, a psychological character study, and an examination of the nature of good and evil. Conrad combines all of those in this tale of an emotionally distant bachelor who rescues a young woman from peril and must then confront forces of evil to protect her. (1913; reviewed July, 2016)

VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE by KAREN RUSSELL
Highly inventive short stories that combine the mundane with the fantastic. Russell's characters include aging vampires, young girls transformed into human silkworms, and dead presidents reincarnated as horses. Some stories are sad, some are scary, and some are very, very funny. (2013; reviewed August, 2016)

DARKNESS VISIBLE by WILLIAM GOLDING
Two intertwined stories about the light and the dark, good and evil. This novel is dense with symbolism and religious imagery and has the tone of an allegory. Impressive stuff! (1979; reviewed August, 2016)

THE EGYPTIAN by MIKA WALTARI
The fictional autobiography of a physician in service to Pharaoh Akhnaton in ancient Egypt. This is the most immersive historical novel I have ever read, plus it tells a fascinating story. (1949; reviewed November, 2016)

THE BIG SKY by A.B. GUTHRIE, JR.
A story of mountain men in the Northwest before the migration of settlers. Guthrie is an amazing writer, and this book is filled with action, adventure, and flawless landscape description. (1947; reviewed December, 2016)

DAYS WITHOUT END by SABASTIAN BARRY
A young man from Ireland travels to 19th century America and encounters adventure and danger and finds love. Barry's prose is lyrical and addictive and reads like poetry. My favorite book of the year. Winner of England's Costa Book Award in 2016. (2016, reviewed January, 2017)

MOONGLOW by MICHAEL CHABON
The fictionalized memoir of the author's grandfather, including his job as a recruiter of Nazi scientists, his life with a mentally unstable wife, and his life-long fascination with travel in space. Chabon writes charmingly, with exuberance and dry wit. (2016; reviewed January, 2017)

TO THE BRIGHT EDGE OF THE WORLD by EOWYN IVEY
While a 19th century explorer experiences adventure and near-death in the uncharted Alaskan wild, his wife waiting back home goes on her own journey of self discovery. Ivey includes touches of magical realism, because magic can still exist at "the bright edge of the world." (2016, reviewed January, 2017)

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD by COLSON WHITEHEAD
The partly metaphorical account of a slave's escape to freedom, via a literal underground railroad. This was not my favorite book of the year, but I judge it to be the most important book of 2016. Winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. (2016; reviewed January 2017)

HOMEGOING by YAA GYASI
The twin plots, which come together in the end, follow two half-sisters and several generations of their descendants from Ghana in the days of the slave trade to America in the present day. Named best first novel of 2016 by the National Book Critics Circle. (2016; reviewed January, 2017)

WARLOCK by OAKLEY HALL
A revisionist Western loosely based on Tombstone, Arizona, during the time of Wyatt Earp. Hall combines a highly suspenseful surface story with an existential sub--text. (1958; reviewed February, 2017)


The only two books I read this year that I really, really disliked were Sneaky People by Thomas Berger and Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser, both of which are dark comedies that I thought to be mean spirited and depressing.

I have a new book shipment coming from my birthday gift certificates, so it's on to another year. Happy reading!