Category: Writings

I read a lot of books this year, mostly crime/thriller/mystery stuff. When I went back through them on the Kindle I could hardly remember most of them. In fact, several times this year I began a new sample or one already in my library and realized 20-30 pages later that I’d already read it. I guess it’s probably time to find an additional hobby.

The best of that genre were The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly (I read all of his books); The Thursday Murder Club; and The Last Thing He Told Me. Special mention for Billy Summers by Stephen King; I’ve always liked his writing but I don’t like his usual supernatural fare. This one isn’t, it’s straightforward thriller stuff. Very good.

That’s four I liked, I probably read forty or more in that category. As for the other stuff…

The Lincoln Highway was a charming little adult fairy tale. Amor Towles writes beautiful, feel-good books.

Last month I got really pissed off that my local schools were banning Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison, a book that I remembered liking. So I read it again, and it is wonderful. I’m so glad that so many young people, and adults too, will read it because they banned it. You should too.

Way back in January I read How Lucky, by Will Leith. It’s a good book for guys who don’t read books, but pretty good for women, and readers, and women readers as well. Plenty of humor and warmth.

This brings me to my favorite books of the year. The best thriller by far was Dream Girl by Laura Lippman, of whom I have become a big fan. In addition to being a compelling story, I thought the writing was brilliant. But still straightforward and easily accessible. It was haunting and powerful.

Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny is just laugh out loud funny from start to finish. So I read her previous book, Standard Deviations, and I liked it even more. Perfect cures for a pandemic that doesn’t have any intentions of waning.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a couple of years old. I really enjoyed it, thought I learned a lot from it about the perspective of an African immigrant dealing with America. I just finished Sankofa about an Afro-Brit, which was also good.

The Count of Monte Cristo is more than a couple of years old, but I had heard it is still is eminently readable. And indeed it was. I’m still in awe of the author, Alexandre Dumas. The book has tension, humor, pathos, grief, sarcasm, compassion, every element of drama. Not since my Tolstoy days 40 years ago had I read anything like it. Some of those old boys were pretty sharp. Try it if you have roughly 40 hours to spare.

So that’s it, that’s the list. Hope you will try a couple of them, and I’d love to here your feedback and recommendation. On to 2022!

Here is my annual list of favorite books of the year, most of which were published this year. I read a lot of crime fiction in particular. I’m afraid I failed in my goal of reading one non-fiction book every year, but I don’t care. Reality sucks.

10. The Sentence is Death, by Anthony Horowitz. Horowitz is extraordinarily prolific, the author of the YA series of Alex Rider books and many screenplays. His mysteries are remarkably clever, and blend in a lot of real life people and events, including himself. Warning: they have tons of characters and intricate plots, and are hard to follow. But very entertaining.

9. The Guest List, by Lisa Foley. An Agatha Christie style whodunit. Very well written and cleverly plotted, with lots of twists.

8. The Searcher, by Tana French. French is just a marvelous storyteller. Her plots are sometimes a little far-fetched, but not this one. I’ve read all of her books and this is my favorite.

7. The Law of Innocence, by Michael Connelley. I read all of his books, too. If you like police and lawyer procedural stories, he’s the very best at them.

6. Good Girl, Bad Girl, by Michael Robotham. There are lots of writers doing thrillers about psychopaths, and Robotham is the best of them. I liked this one so I read its precursor next, When She Was Good.

5. Moonflower Murders, by Anthony Horowitz. See above. I liked this one better.

4. Pizza Girl, by Jeon Kyoung Frazier. This is a quirky little book about a young woman trying to find herself and her life. Very well written, funny and entertaining.

3. Utopia Ave, by David Mitchell. The tale of the explosive rise and fall of a 60’s rock band. Mitchell’s books are often bizarre, but he’s an amazing writer and one of my favorites. But not everyone’s cup of tea.

2. Writers and Lovers, by Lily King. I don’t remember exactly why I liked this book so much, but most of the critics did too. She’s a wonderful writer, and she created a captivating character.

1. And my favorite book of the year, Nothing to See Here, by Kevin Wilson. The premise is absurd, but don’t let that stop you, this book is really entertaining and fun. Lots of great insights into modern life and contemporary characters. Don’t read the jacket, just trust me.

I was having lunch with a friend yesterday, and we got to talking about how much we like books that make us laugh out loud. So I put this list together for her, and I will share it with the world, because God knows we all need something to laugh about these days.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple, is about a woman who fulfills all of our fantasies and just runs away from home. I also liked her latest book, Today Will Be Different, about an unrepentant snob.

The Financial Lives of the Poets,by Jess Walter is a hilarious book that no one will read because of the title. Read it anyway, one of my favorites.

It Won’t Always Be This Great, by Peter Mehlman, who was a writer for Seinfeld. MOT’s will especially like this one, but you gentiles will laugh too.

Nobody’s Fool, by Richard Russo, is about a curmudgeon who would cut off his face to spite his face. Russo’s early books are all funny. These days he is more about being profound, ugh.

The Fundamentals of Caregiving, by Jonathan Evison is an irreverent look at living with a debilitating disease. But it’s funny and charming anyway. I like his other books, too.

Kitchens of the Great Midwest and The Lager Queen of Minnesota, by J Ryan Stradal are insiders’ accounts of being midwesterners. More warm and compassionate than humorous, but still full of out-loud laughs. The chapter in Kitchens about bars is a classic.

The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simpson is one of Bill Gates’ favorites. You’ll see why pretty quickly. This book is very funny, and he’s written a couple of sequels that are more of the same.

This Is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper. He’s written several books about interfamily warfare, this is my favorite.

High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby, is about a purposeless slug. It’s full of wisdom about uselessness. His other books are good, too, I liked About a Boy.

Skinny Dip, by Carl Hiassen is my favorite of his many books about nutty folks in South Florida. There is no shortage of material for him there.

Then We Came to the End, by Jonathan Ferris, is a wry, true tale of working in an office. The best I’ve ever read about the absurdities of the jobs most of us do.

*PG Wodehouse doesn’t really fit on this list, his books are older and many of them are short stories. But if there is a Pope of humor writing, I would elect him. I can revisit his books at any time I want a few laughs. I can almost recite the story about the gambling syndicate formed for the second grade picnic by heart.

There you have it, my favorite humor novels. Let me know if you try any of them.

A couple of caveats: The Best Books of 2019 are neither the Best nor 2019. They are the Best of what I read, and some were not written in 2019.  

To earn a 5 from me a book must be entertaining and feature extraordinary writing. Sometimes they are also insightful and emotionally powerful. These met some or all of those challenges.

Washington Black is an engrossing tale of a runaway slave. I learned some things from it, but mostly it’s a lot of fun. A good start to the year.

The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney I read because I enjoyed his November Road last year. I liked this one even more, it’s fast paced, suspenseful, and smart. He’s terrific.

Once Upon a River is a beautifully written picaresque tale of a village in England. Unique and special.

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout is a linked set of stories about an aging woman and her neighbors in a small town in Maine. Ms Strout is the best portrayer of human emotions that I have read this side of Tolstoy. Read this book, as well as its predecessor Olive Kitteredge and her other recent works.

The 4.5 rated books fell just short of my top ratings. Read them too.

A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself I read because I liked William Boyle’s previous book The Lonely Witness. Like Berney’s books, it’s fast paced and true.

The Maze at Windermere is five stories about Newport, RI. It’s clever, impactful, and full of history. All good.

Big Sky is a crime novel by Kate Atkinson in her series starring Jackson Brody. Atkinson is one of my favorite writers, if she writes it. I read it.

Virgil Wander and So Brave, Young, and Handsome are by Leif Wander. I loved the former, which came out this year, so I read the latter next. Virgil does not have a lot of plot, Brave is more plot-driven. But Enger is an astounding craftsman with our language. If you read just for action they may not be for you, but his sentences are works of art.  

I love Laura Lippman mysteries, and Lady in the Lake is my favorite. And she’s a new friend of a friend, too.

I read everything Michael Connelly writes, too. The Night Fire is him at his best, with three of his usual protagonists. He’s the best of the police procedural genre.

Last and deserving of special mention is Miracle Creek by Angie Kim. Angie is my former neighbor and good friend, and Creek is her first novel – and a best seller! And I actually helped her with it ever so slightly. It is distinctive, suspenseful, and powerful, and you will learn a lot from it. So excited for Angie, and eager to read her next one!

Here’s the whole list. Your comments welcome.

1. Washington Black                               5
2. A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself    4.5
3. The Silent Patient                                3.5
4. The Lost Night                                     3
5. The Maze at Windermere                  4.5
6. Big Sky                                                 4.5
7. Gutshot Straight                                  4
8. The Lonely Witness                             3.5
9. The Long and Faraway Gone              5
10. The Man Who Came Uptown             4
11. The Feral Detective                            3
12. Cari Mora                                           2.5
13. Lanny                                                   3.5
14. The Dutch House                                 4
15. Virgil Wander                                     4.5
16. American Spy                                      4
17. Miracle Creek                                     5
18. Lady in the Lake                                      4.5
19. The Night Fire                                     4.5
20. The River                                             3.5
21. So Brave, Young, and Handsome        4.5
22. The New Girl                                       4
23. Daisy Jones and the Six                            4
24. Chances Are                                        3
25. Once Upon a River                              5
26. Transcription                                       4
27. Olive, Again                                        5