Final Five Favorites

Forty-eight more hours and we'll be in a new year, a new decade. My expectations for 2020 are way too high so I'd better guard my heart. One thing that does not cause me trepidation however is knowing full well that we will be gifted with a plethora of grand new novels from our favorite writers and glorious debuts from names that have yet to cross our radar. For all of these, I am deeply grateful.

One novel on my top ten list that didn't seem to get the buzz I thought it deserved was "Find Me," Andre Aciman's follow up to the luminous "Call Me By Your Name." If you haven't read the first book then, I can't believe I'm

suggesting this, see the movie. It's worth it for the Italian scenery alone. Afterwards you can fall into the most romantic novel I read this year. Here's what I had to say in "Library Journal."

Love in all its sublime iterations is at the heart of Aciman's incandescent sequel to the acclaimed Call Me by Your Name. It's been ten years since the heartbreaking end to the passionate summertime affair between 17-year-old piano prodigy Elio and his father's protégé, Oliver, an American graduate student living with them in Italy. Now Elio resides in Rome, visited frequently by his father, Samuel. The two languidly walk the streets, revisiting places that have been meaningful to each and eventually sharing these vigils with new lovers. In sensuous prose, Aciman creates honest relationships unfettered by age, gender, or time, perfectly capturing that initial hesitancy one experiences when embarking upon an intimate liaison. The joy and mystery of music, so wondrously described that you can hear it, features prominently in the story when Elio bonds with Michel, whom he meets at a chamber concert in Paris. Though Elio and Michel care deeply for each other, readers will wonder if Elio can ever forget his first love and whether Oliver, a married professor with two children, will ever find his way back to Elio.

And then there's the poet Ocean Vuong whose debut novel with the striking title, "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous," brought me to my knees. https://bit.ly/2QbD9CM

Australian journalist Trent Dalton created Eli Bell, the most delightful twelve-year-old narrator I've ever spent time with. "Boy Swallows Universe" is unlike

any novel I've ever read so you can imagine how shocked I was to discover that this sprawling saga of familial chaos, organized crime, magical happenings, violence, and tenderness reflects Dalton's own coming-of-age experience. Yes, this book landed on "Library Journal's" top ten literary fiction books of the year. I didn't have to sell it. We all agreed.

I've been reading Alice Hoffman for at least thirty years but she became inordinately special to me several years ago when she attended the Southwest

Florida Reading Festival http://readfest.org/ to accept an award, not just for the depth and breadth of her writing, but for her work advocating for breast cancer survivors. "The World That We Knew" stood out for me this year as one of her very best. https://bit.ly/2SHvgXx

Note to my local readers! William Kent Krueger will be speaking at this year's reading festival on Saturday, March 7th. See the link above. He'll be discussing "This Tender Land," my final pick for 2019's top ten list. A writer of such warmth and heart, Krueger finds redemption in even the most despicable characters. His writing is a marvel of eloquence couched in simplicity. https://bit.ly/2F6QIgB

That's it folks. I could add ten more to the list but who would read through all that. Here's to a glorious new year, healthy, peaceful, and full of a lot more love. Happy reading to all and please comment, comment, comment. I really want to know what you're enjoying. 2020, here we come!