Top Faves of 2018

Here it is, New Year's Eve, and I'm only just deciding on my favorite reads of 2018. In fact, yesterday I finished a gorgeous novel that I'm reviewing for Library Journal but, since it doesn't even come out until 2019, I'll save it at the top of my list for next year. It's called "The Dragonfly Sea" by Yvonne Owuor. Be sure to keep an eye out for it in March. The language will have you swooning.

So, the operative word here is "favorite," not necessarily "best." That moniker I left to the journals and newspapers. These are the books that touched me deeply, that made me sigh with satisfaction or delight when I closed the last page. In no particular order they are:

"Asymmetry," by Lisa Halliday is one of the most original books that I read this year. Two books in one, a May/December romance that may or may not be based on Ms. Halliday's long relationship with Philip Roth, and the story of an Iraqi-American detained by authorities at Heathrow airport. Halliday brilliantly ties the two stories together in this amazing debut that examines the imbalance, the asymmetry if you will, in unequal relationships. https://bit.ly/2LFkgVd



"Anatomy of a Miracle," by Jonathan Miles. This incredible novel should be on every reading group's list if they want a powerful book discussion. A wheelchair bound Afghan war veteran suddenly stands up and walks. A miracle? Oh how believers wish it were so, no matter what the medical evidence says. The church sends an envoy from Rome, the little Mississippi town is turned upside down, a doctor's reputation is on the line, and a TV crew can't wait to make fools of Cameron and his devoted sister and caregiver Tanya. If you read for characterization, you'll love Miles.
https://bit.ly/2QcrVuF





I rarely read short stories so I surprised myself with my reaction to this rare, luminous collection, "Florida, Stories," by Lauren Groff. She captures the Sunshine State at its very darkest, dankest, and most evil, yet each story rings completely true for those of us who've lived here for any length of time. Take your time and savor each story slowly. https://bit.ly/2s03wPv




"The Great Believers," by Rebecca Makkai has topped out many lists this year and there's a reason for that. We toggle back and forth between late '80's Chicago as Yale pursues his career in art acquisition - a fascinating story in itself - and 2015 Paris. Fiona is the bridge. Fiona is a woman suffering from the trauma of losing everyone she's known and cared for. Is it possible that she's used up all the love she had to give? Unable to sustain her marriage, now estranged from her adult daughter, Fiona is on a mission to bridge the divide with her child and maybe even find a reservoir of compassion left for herself. Makkai sheds a harsh light on the pain of the AIDS epidemic, a time some readers may not even remember. https://bit.ly/2LIhfU2


 
 "Gun Love," by Jennifer Clement left me feeling broken but amazed at the way an author's words could do this to me. Oh! the talent!

A 1994 Mercury Topaz is home to Pearl, the precocious and wryly observant fourteen-year-old narrator of this devastating, lyrical novel set in a dilapidated Florida trailer park where the denizens live on the edge of quiet desperation while dreaming of a different life, devoid of drugs and guns and men who can’t be trusted. Clement has written an unforgettable paean to the resilience of the human spirit.
I'm certain that few of you have ever heard of Joseph Cassera or his first novel "The House of Impossible Beauties." I don't understand why Library Journal was one of the few reputable resources to add this gloriously written book to it's top ten list. If you know as little as I did about the transgender culture and dance houses in New York City during the '80's, made famous by the documentary film "Paris is Burning," this amazing debut will open your eyes and implore your empathy for the young Latino men and women searching for identity, family, and acceptance.



And of course, what librarian would not add Susan Orlean's delightful, well researched, "The Library Book," a fascinating, uplifting, and dazzling history of Los Angeles and the great fire that shuttered its flagship library.

Orlean throws herself into the research with the verve she has previously applied to such disparate characters as ghost orchids and Rin Tin Tin. She unearths some delicious details about previous librarians who helmed LA Public. Did you know that women weren't "allowed" to hold library cards in LA until 1880?  https://bit.ly/2EWXKWt







Richard Powers' "The Overstory" is still my number one of the year. In this stunning work of imaginative prowess, Powers illustrates the symbiotic relationship between trees, insects, animals, and human beings through Norwegian immigrant Jorgen Hoel who moves to Iowa, pockets filled with chestnut seeds  which he plants on the family farm, setting in motion this luminous tale of nine seemingly unrelated characters whose lives intersect over decades in profoundly unsettling ways.
 https://bit.ly/2EZ4JxZ



 
And finally, hey, my champagne is waiting for me in the other room, Leif Enger's "Virgil Wander." This is a novel that will restore your sanity in these troubled times. I promise. The daily life of a small, declining, Minnesota town is movingly exalted by Enger’s beautifully written meditation on memory, loneliness, loss, and rebirth as seen through the eyes of Rune, a flyer of kites, in search of a son he never knew he had, and Nadine, who’s given up hopes of reunion with her long-missing husband, and Virgil himself, a man whose spirit opens to a new world of possibilities after surviving a nearly fatal automobile accident.

Happy New Year everyone. Isn't it wonderful to realize that there are more wonderful books than ever, already written and just waiting for our enjoyment, out there right now? Too many books, too little time. Enjoy!