"Best of the Best" and the Books I'll Be Reading during 2011

About five years into my 25 years as a librarian, I became interested in the annual "best books" lists.  I would look forward to the issue of People Magazine, Publisher's Weekly, Library Journal, New York Review of Books, Time Magazine and a few others that featured their choices, and put together my own list of "best of the best" to guide my reading for the coming year.  It was an unscientific process, made more so by the fact that some periodicals chose five titles while others chose fifty or more, some lists included nonfiction and others separated the two, some included poetry, and other differences that made a true and fair "best of the best" list a near-impossibility.

I didn't let that deter me, because I reasoned that the very "best of the best" would rise to the top and would be found on most lists.  I would make an effort to read those books, understanding that even some of those titles would fail my own personal litmus test for readability.  For those interested in what I look for in a (fiction) book:

• I enjoy books that are "character driven" as opposed to "plot driven". This is not to say that I don't think a good plot is important, but I can read about an interesting character for quite a while, but the best plot with cardboard characters won't keep my interest. Also, really interesting characters seem to draw action to them, and their reactions to whatever life throws at them are the basis for great reading.
• I enjoy books about relationships (again, it's that "character" preference), especially between friends and family members.  
• I love books that cover several generations of a family or long friendships, especially between women. 
• I love books that help me understand myself or others more completely. 
• I enjoy "multilayered" books, where different subplots are germinating beneath the surface.  
• I love long books that I can enjoy over several days or weeks. They keep me going on other, less enjoyable tasks; I can always look forward to going back to my book.  
• I enjoy books that teach me about history or geography or culture through their characters and settings.  
• I love southern literature and authors, but not to the exclusion of other great books and authors.  
• I love to read books by Oklahoma authors. It's my homestate and boasts of dozens of wonderful writers, many of whom I have had the pleasure of meeting.
• I love young authors, because they will probably be around to write more.  
• I love old (and deceased) authors, because their work is limited and all the more valuable. 

I have gone along happily since then, confident that the titles I chose from my "best of the best" list, plus all of the new titles coming out  recommended by friends, bloggers, book reviews from magazines and newspapers, and the latest books from my fairly long list of favorite authors, will provide me with more than enough to read for the coming year.  This treasure trove provides me with a never-ending feeling of wealth -- I have more than enough to read and the resources to supply me (my public library, my new Kindle, and a small budget for those books I really, really want to own.)

Now I don't even have to compile the "best of the best" list myself!  The Fiction Award Winners website has a list of the best fiction books of 2010, compiled from many lists, including Amazon, Publishers Weekly, New York Times, Library Journal, Time Magazine, Booklist, and others.  I was interested in seeing which of the "best of the best" books I had already read, and which I would probably want to read during the coming months.  (I don't apologize for the times I have decided against finishing a book from a "best" list, including a couple which were at the top of everybody's list except mine!)

These are the titles of "best of the best" fiction books for 2010, determined from the lists on which they appeared. (Go to the website for links, summaries, and details on the number and names of the lists.) (An asterisk denotes books I have read.)

*Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
To the End of the Land by David Grossman
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Room by Emma Donoghue
Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu
Great House by Nicole Krauss
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
The Passage by Justin Cronin
*Faithful Place by Tana French
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
One Day by David Nicholls
The Surrendered by Chang Rae-Lee
*The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
The Privileges by Jonathan Dee
By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
The Wake of Forgiveness by Bruce Machart
Memory Wall by Anthony Doerr
The Ask by Sam Lipsyte
Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross
*The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
Sourland by Joyce Carol Oates
*Innocent by Scott Turow
Agaat by Marlene Van Niekerk
The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris
The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald
Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon

It is not my intent to read through the entire list during the coming year.  I do plan to read summaries and reviews of each title, to read many of them, and to weigh in with you on some of them.

I wish you a happy year of reading and invite your comments on this list, your own "best of the year" list, or what you plan to read in 2011.  Annie   

Recent Books I've Enjoyed: The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt and Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos

I am an avid reader and enjoy recommending books to my friends and family, but have reservations about writing "critical" book reviews which suggest a more scholarly approach to reading and judging books.  I'm now reading primarily for pleasure, and I can tell within ten or fifteen pages whether or not a book will fulfill that requirement.  If it doesn't, I'll move on to the next book in my reading pile or my reserve list.  (Nancy Pearl, author of Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason, recommends the "rule of fifty", whereby you give a book about fifty pages to decide whether or not to continue if your age is fifty or under; if you're over fifty, you should subtract your age from 100 for the number of pages you should read.  That means that I'm short-changing my books; I should be reading about 37 pages.  Pearl is a former librarian and can probably understand my reasoning; if I have ten or more books waiting for me, ten pages to "audition" a book is plenty!)

I do understand that pleasure reading for me may be entirely different from that of my family or my friends (even good friends, whose reading tastes may entirely escape me).  With that in mind, I'll share some things that lead me to the books I read.  Again, I am doing this so that anyone who reads my book recommendations will remember that they are based on my own personal preferences.

• I enjoy books that are "character driven" as opposed to "plot driven".  This is not to say that I don't think a good plot is important, but I can read about an interesting character for quite a while, but the best plot with cardboard characters won't keep my interest.  Also, really interesting characters seem to draw action to them, and their reactions to whatever life throws at them are the basis for great reading.
• I enjoy books about relationships (again, it's that "character" preference), especially between friends and family members.
• I love books that cover several generations of a family or long friendships, especially between women.  
• I enjoy "multilayered" books, where different subplots are germinating beneath the surface.
• I love long books that I can enjoy over several days or weeks.  They keep me going on other, less enjoyable tasks; I can always look forward to going back to my book.
• I enjoy books that teach me about history or geography or culture through their characters and settings.
• I love southern literature and authors, but not to the exclusion of other great books and authors.
• I love to read books by Oklahoma authors.  It's my homestate and boasts of dozens of wonderful writers, many of whom I have had the pleasure of meeting. 
• I love young authors, because they will probably be around to write more.
• I love old (and deceased) authors, because their work is limited and all the more valuable.

Today, I am recommending two books about two different families; one is set in England from the Victorian era through World War I and the other is set in Nebraska from 1978 to the present.  I am writing about these two books together not because they are similar, but because I read them one after the other. They do, however, illustrate the range of titles you can find about family relationships, or friendship, or personal tragedy, etc.

The family in The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt lives in a rambling country home during a time of great cultural change; the children are exposed to new artistic expressions, socialism, women's suffrage, and sexuality through the lives of their father, a political crusader and their mother, an author of children's books.  Through the writing of a book for each of her seven children, Olive Wellwood tries to shore up their personalities against the inevitable; the revelation of the secrets that children must learn to see their parents and each other as they really are.  The Children's Book is lengthy and multi-layered and took me through a fascinating cultural and political era with a story about family -- meeting several of my personal criteria for a "best" book.

The family in Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos would seem to have no secrets.  They live in a small Nebraska town and the children are locally well-known through their physician/mayor father, and through their mother, who "went up", never to come down, in a 1978 tornado.  The three children, now adults, are still defining themselves by what happened to their mother and how the townspeople see them as her offspring. The death of their father by a lightning strike opens the book and finally leads to their own self-knowledge and rebuilding of their lives.  This book will also be on my list of personal favorites for its wonderfully quirky characters and the fascinating setting of a tiny town with Welsh traditions (from which the title comes: the town closes down for a week when someone dies and there is a three-day period of nonstop singing in Welsh for the laid-out deceased, culminating with "There is No Place like Nebraska").

You may find these titles at your local library or through the links to Amazon.com.

                                                                 

Why I Read Books: The Addiction I Embrace

I don’t (and never will) attend “Readers Anonymous” meetings. Reading is one addiction shared with enthusiasm and society’s stamp of approval. Studies have now proven that reading is one activity that can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and it is now understood that “too much reading” (an oxymoronic phrase?) won’t ruin your eyes. Those of us who are committed readers have found ways to combine reading with other activities, including exercise and travel (books on tape can substitute for page-turning when we’re driving or on the treadmill).


You will find that books and reading will be an important subject for my blog-posting, so I thought it only fair to write a bit about why I read and how I choose what to read. I understand that there are other reasons for reading than my own, but that’s an opening for a discussion, isn’t it? Here are my own reasons for reading books:



• Books are a great escape! They take me to another place or another time, sometimes offering me a needed break from my own.

• Books can provide me with a different perspective on my life and the lives of others. This can lead to greater self-knowledge and greater understanding of others’ values and beliefs.

• Reading books can be a wonderful incentive or reward. I can do almost anything for a given amount of time if I know that I can read when I finish.

• I want to be informed and many issues deserve more in-depth attention than TV, newspaper, or Internet coverage can offer. Books can provide the information I need to make good decisions in the marketplace, in the election booth, or in relationships.

• Books are an inexpensive form of entertainment, especially if I borrow them from the library. They can provide hours of relaxation or stimulation (depending on my mood) and can be passed on to a friend or family member for their enjoyment.

• Reading books can help keep me young! Recent research shows that lifelong learning can boost longevity. Zorba Paster, M.D., author of The Longevity Code, recommends reading for pleasure, reading to stay informed about the medical problems you have or are predisposed to, and reading for your job. Learning through reading can prepare us for many of the challenges and opportunities that aging presents.

• Reading books sets a good example! Jim Trelease points out the importance of children observing their parents reading for pleasure in his book, The Read-Aloud Handbook. And David Snowdon, Ph.D., author of Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier and More Meaningful Lives, says that parents have asked him what they can do for their children to build the brain density needed to offer protection about Alzheimer’s. His answer: “Read to your children.” More than playing Mozart to babies, buying them expensive teaching toys, prohibiting television, or getting them started early on the computer; reading to your children pays lifelong dividends. One of those dividends might be having a willing reader when you're unable to read for yourself!

These are just a few reasons I read books. My timer has just gone off and it’s time to get back to my book!  Bye for now,

Annie Joy

p.s.  You may be interested in reading the following books: