Ben Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 So it's that time of year where all the end-of-year favourites lists are upon us. I was just going through my reading this year, trying to pin down a round 10, and thought it might be nice if we all shared our best reads in 2016. I'm not going for all books published this year - if I've read it in the last 12 months, it qualifies! So without further ado, my list (in no particular order - I'm not that good at making decisions!): Ben's 2016 Favourites Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner Chess Story by Stefan Zweig Ragdoll by Daniel Cole If This is a Man / The Truce by Primo Levi Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov At the Existentialist Café by Sarah Bakewell When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi The Heavenly Table by Donald Ray Pollock Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy Moonglow by Michael Chabon Anyone read any of these? What did you think? Share your favourites! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onion Budgie Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 Here are mine: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides Bird Love by Leila Jeffreys (a book of bird photography) The Marx Brothers by Kyle Crichton and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street Underfoot in Show Business Letter From New York Apple of My Eye all by Helene Hanff I discovered Hanff at the beginning of the year, and have devoured almost all of her work since then. I find her an incredibly entertaining writer. (And, somewhat typically for me, the one book of hers that most everyone is familiar with -- 84 Charing Cross Road -- is the one that I like the least!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Here are mine, although I have 11. 1) The Pact by Jodi Picoult 2) When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation (1940- 1944) by Ronald C. Rosbottom 3)Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer 4) The Girl From Krakow by Alex Rosenberg 5) The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin 6) Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin 7) We the Living by Ayn Rand 8) Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said by Phillip K Dick 9) Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K Massie 10) She-Wolves: Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth by Helen Castor 10) The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted December 10, 2016 Author Share Posted December 10, 2016 The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street Underfoot in Show Business Letter From New York Apple of My Eye all by Helene Hanff I discovered Hanff at the beginning of the year, and have devoured almost all of her work since then. I find her an incredibly entertaining writer. (And, somewhat typically for me, the one book of hers that most everyone is familiar with -- 84 Charing Cross Road -- is the one that I like the least!) Still never read anything by Jeffrey Eugenides but fully intend to soon. Have you read all his novels? Have never been sure whether to start with Middlesex or The Virgin Suicides. Ah yes, of course the only Hanff book I've read out of those you've mentioned is 84 Charing Cross Road - although I did rather enjoy that. Would love to explore some of her other work, so will definitely keep an eye out for the other books you've mentioned. Here are mine, although I have 11. We'll let you off. Never read anything from your list sadly, Anna. Or maybe not sadly at all. Gives me more books to explore and look up for potential future reads. I'm sure as a forum we'll have wide-ranging lists. That's why I thought this could make a good topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onion Budgie Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Middlesex is the only book by Eugenides that I've read so far -- but I've put his other two on my TBR. If you're going to explore Hanff (hooray! I hope you do!), then I'd recommend giving Underfoot in Show Business a shot. It's a memoir of her early years as a struggling playwright in New York, and it's hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted December 11, 2016 Author Share Posted December 11, 2016 If you're going to explore Hanff (hooray! I hope you do!), then I'd recommend giving Underfoot in Show Business a shot. It's a memoir of her early years as a struggling playwright in New York, and it's hilarious. Have added Underfoot in Show Business to the wishlist - it sounds great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Have added Underfoot in Show Business to the wishlist - it sounds great. I`ve added it too. Favourite Books of 2016 : The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells - AS Greer The Back Honeymoon - Constance and Gwenyth Little Blythewood - Carol Goodman Dead Beat - Jim Butcher Spirit Legacy/Prophecy/ Ascendancy - EE Homes Happier at Home, Better than Before - Gretchen Rubin Mennonite in a Little Black Dress - Rhoda Janzen Doomsday Book, Time is the Fire - Connie Willis Dancing with Death - Joan Coggin Practise to Deceive - Frances and Richard Lockridge Something New - Lucy Knisley The secrets of Mariko - Elisabeth Bumiller Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto Murder Duet - Batya Gur Pilgrimage Vol 1 - Dorothy Richardson Favourite Reread : Death and the Dancing Footman - Ngaio Marsh Best Old Favourite : The Complete Peanuts 1997/8 - Charles M Schulz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrCat Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir Some poems by Yeats Reading The Woman in the Dunes now and I am loving it. 1913 The Summer of the Century by Florian Illies This year I read many things that honestly left me disappointed and did not like at all. Yes I am looking at you Dostoyevsky and T.E Lawrence! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 I can't quite make it a top 10, but hopefully a top 13 will be okay too. This is what I came up with after a few minutes of thinking. Stephen King - The Stand Trudi Canavan - The Age of the Five Brandon Sanderson - Warbreaker Peter F. Hamilton - Fallen Dragon Jodi Picoult - Nineteen Minutes Geronimo Stilton - Fantasia IX: De Fenomenale Reis (Grande Ritorno nel Regno della Fantasia) Lucy Diamond - The Beach Café Diane Chamberlain - The Lies We Told Catherine Ryan Hyde - When I Found You Becky Chambers - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet 1: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet Geronimo Stilton - De Grote Invasie van Rokford (La Grande Invasione di Topazia) Becky Albertalli - Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda Peter Monn - The Before Now And After Then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 (edited) I will only go for the ones that I've given 5/5, and that are not re-reads. I don't think there are that many this year.... The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster This Is Life by Dan Rhodes Far from True by Linwood Barclay Oh wow, that's really sad, only 3 books. My absolute favorite this year has been This Is Life by Dan Rhodes. Here are mine: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides Wohoo! Stephen King - The Stand That's a great one, indeed Edited December 17, 2016 by frankie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 (edited) My top 10 for this year (in order) is: 1. The House by the Lake by Thomas Harding2. The Outrun by Amy Liptrot 3. Germany, Memories of a Nation by Neil Macgregor 4. The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry 5. Howards End by EM Forster 6. Landfalls by Naomi Williams7. The Running Hare by John Lewis-Stempel 8. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham 9. Landskipping by Anna Pavord 10. Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor This list does not include rereads. With 5 non-fiction books, including the top three, it has definitely been one of the best non-fiction years ever. There have been more re-reads than most years, mainly because I've been tackling the English Counties Challenge from scratch. Those that would have otherwise achieved the above list would include: Emma by Jane Austen Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome Winnie-the-Pooh by AA Milne Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark It's been a brilliant year's reading! Edited December 24, 2016 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sky29 Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 My 5/5 are: - Millennium trilogy, Stieg Larsson (The girl with the Dragon Tattoo, being my favorite of three) -London for Immigrant suckers, Kolya S. (Unexpected hidden gem) - Sudden death, Alvar Enrique ( Maybe not 5/5 but I liked it) Slightly disappointed by "The Wangs vs The World" (Expected more) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 Hmmm...not the most prolific year for me due to various events this year but I've still managed to read some quality books, looking back these were the best 10. Bodies of Light ~ Sarah Moss One ~ Sarah Crossan Come Away With Me ~ Karma Brown Eternal on the Water ~ Joseph Menninger Ghostwritten ~ Isabel Wolff Fellside ~ M.R. Carey In the Shadow of Blackbirds ~ Cat Winters The Ballroom ~ Anna Hope Only Ever Yours ~ Louise O'Neill Blackout/All Clear ~ Connie Willis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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