Best book(s) you read in 2016?

Cafe Society
41

A biography of Arbella Stuart that I bought in the gift shop at Chatsworth this summer and started reading in the garden that same afternoon while I was waiting for the bus back to Buxton.

It’s a tragic story, even for one of the Stuarts (who very rarely lived to have happy lives even if they didn’t get their heads cut off). This niece of Mary Queen of Scots, brought up by her grandmother Bess of Hardwick, was a serious contender to be Elizabeth’s heir in her girlhood–but of course her first cousin James VI/I got the throne instead. The precarious politics of her position pretty well ruined her life. She tried to run away to France with a husband she secretly married, but got caught and ended up in the Tower.

One thing that struck me when I was reading the appendices at the end. Arbella appeared at Elizabeth’s court a couple of time when she was about 12 - 14; a letter from a French ambassador describes the girl and adds that she’s said to be Elizabeth’s illegitimate daughter. Now, this is nonsense, but it made me think of the same kind of rumor, sometimes made into fact, that pops up in historical fiction of the period from time to time: that Elizabeth and Robert Dudley had a daughter. And in those stories, it is always a daughter, never a son. Were Arbella’s visits to the court where this idea got started?

42

Not much really stood out for me last year and nothing made it onto my “best ever” list, but here is a list of books I enjoyed the most in 2016.

Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, very inspirational book that didn’t take itself too seriously.
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, 2016 Pulitzer prize winner that was a surprisingly readable spy story with a unique the point of view.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows, lovely story about surviving WWII on the tiny island off the English coast.
Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty, bonus 4th book of the excellent Sean Duffy trilogy set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley, follow up to The Rook which is one of my all time favourites, not as good but still worthy of a read.

43

I only read 26 books in 2016, and of those, the three I rated with 5 stars are as follows:

The Familiar Vol. 3: Honeysuckle & Pain by Mark Z Danielewski
Sometimes there’s a bit of pride in reading a book. Feeling like I’m part of the actual journey and taking the author’s hand and being led into an amazing world. This third volume is like that. This is a complex level of story telling with strata upon strata of plot lines. If there’s a series of books I’d go door-to-door knocking to get people to convert, this story would be it.

Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra
Sometimes a story moves from the passive to the active voice. This moves the snippets almost to the reader’s voice. A gimmick of a multiple choice test goes through the short book and tells different snippets of life from a definite Chilean point of view (lots of post-Pinochet references).

Here’s an example of a multiple choice from the book asking which sentence does not belong:

*Suck Less: Where There’s a Willam, There’s a Way *by Willam Belli
Finally, an advice book. I hate to say that this is a funny book, that creates expectations of laugh out loud moments. But this is one of the few books that had me not keeping quiet while trying to read. What’s even better than the humor is that the advice is beyond frank to the point of just being brutal. Willam doesn’t pull punches in some matters and touches things that just aren’t found in “polite conversation” (like how to pick out pictures for a hook-up, how to tuck your stuff in drag, or how to bottom).

44

I lose track of how long ago last January was. 2016 was not a good year for reading, I often felt like I had already read all the good books. And I spent a lot of time traveling so not reading much. Maybe :

Sarah Waters “Fingersmith”
Louise Erdrich “The Master Butchers Singing Club”
Philipp Meyer “The Son”

The first two were just page turners.

“The Son” stands out as a book that may become an important landmark work, but then, I can’t imaging a movie being made of it, so it will probably languish in relative infamy. For those unfamiliar with it, it follows a family through pretty much the entire duration of the presence of Americans in what is now Texas. At times overly crude and excessively descriptive.

45

Oh, i forgot Richard Flanagan’s “Gould’s Book of Fish”. A truly amazing book, an exaggerated account of the convicts sent out to Tasmania, based on several of the true-life figures.

46

I read and enjoyed SDMB favorites The Creeping Shadow and Stiletto. Here are some of my other favorites from this year-

Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson. This book was told in three parts: the years leading up to a cataclysmic event that ends life on Earth, the month or years immediately following, and several thousand years later. I found it unbelievably gripping and really enjoyed the digressions about orbital mechanics and such, but my husband couldn’t finish it, so YMMV.

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. Somehow I missed this in school, but probably appreciated it more as an adult.

Arcadia, by Iain Pears. This enjoyable book is a mishmash of sci-fi, fantasty, and time travel.

City of Stairs, by Robert Jackson Bennett. Really interesting fantasy full of political intrigue, rich characterization. I especially enjoyed the world-building in this.

The Lake House, by Kate Morton. The protagonist is a London detective who goes out on leave after some blunders in her last case. She uses her downtime to solve mysteries old and new. It was a fun read.

What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty. This was also a fun read, about a mother who loses 10 years of memories in an accident and has to take care of children she doesn’t remember and is apparently divorcing her husband and doesn’t remember why. It’s an interesting look at how people change over time and made me wonder what my 10-years-younger self would think of my current life. (Mostly, I suspect I’d just be happy to be successfully done with grad school.)

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Top:

The Runner, by Cynthia Voigt. It’s the fourth book in its series (Tillerman), and I think it benefits from the setup, but it would work as a standalone. It’s rare that I love a book with a main character who is so difficult to love, but this book is simply powerful. I didn’t stop thinking about it for days. YA realism.
Runners Up:

The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton. This was my first Wharton and it’s brilliant. Lily Bart is a wonderful character. Classic literature.

The Pursuit of Love, by Nancy Mitford. Hilarious, snarky, snobby, gentle, and tragic. All in the same sentence. Classic literature.
**Also: **

Homecoming, by Cynthia Voigt and Dicey’s Song, by Cynthia Voigt. The first and second books in the Tillerman cycle. There’s something very real and very challenging about Voigt’s Tillerman books. YA realism.

Flesh and Spirit, by Carol Berg and Breath and Bone, by Carol Berg. More authors should write duologies. If you love Lois McMaster Bujold’s Chalion books, try these. I was enthralled. High fantasy.

The Wizard Hunters, by Martha Wells. One of the best main characters I can ever remember. Not sure if fantasy or science fiction makes the most sense as a genre. It’s the first in a trilogy. The second and third books are nearly as good.

Uprooted, by Naomi Novik. Fairy-tale ish I guess? So well done. Fantasy.
Rereads:

The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Emmuska Orczy. Maybe it’s only on the list because I have adored it for nearly 40 years. But I’ve adored it for nearly 40 years for a reason. Swashbuckling adventure.

Spindle’s End, by Robin McKinley. A sparkling, wonderful fairy-tale reimagining. I didn’t think it would hold up to a previous read, but it did. Fantasy.

48

This is SO GOOD, one of my favorites. Her sister Jessica wrote more of a straight memoir of her childhood, Hons and Rebels, and you can see where Nancy got a lot of inspiration for Alconleigh.

49

I love, love, love Dicey’s Song. It’s one of the few books I think everyone **must **read, especially people who’ve lost a parent.

50

This is one of my favorite novels–like most of Wharton, depressing as hell but great to read.

There was a film version made about 10 years ago starring Gillian Anderson which was pretty good. Painful to watch Lily’s polished exterior cracking as her situation grows more desperate.

51

I read a lot (commute time) and re-read a lot. Leaving out re-reads, these are the 5-star books from last year:
Tea with the Black Dragon - R. A. MacAvoy
Tooth and Claw - Jo Walton
Learning to Swim - Sara J. Henry
The Fifth Season - N. K. Jemisin
Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Zer0es - Chuck Wendig
Impossible Things - Connie Willis
The Labyrinth Gate - Kate Elliott
Written In Red - Anne Bishop
Shadow of Ashland - Terence M. Green
Yesterday’s Echo - Matt Coyle
Reclamation - Sarah Zettel
The Long and Faraway Gone - Lou Berney
Midnight Riot - Ben Aaronovitch
Motor City Blue - Loren D. Estleman
Every Heart a Doorway - Seanan McGuire
The Midas Murders - Pieter Aspe
The Last King of Texas - Rick Riordan
The Death of Friends - Michael Nava
Early Graves - Joseph Hansen
Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart - Christopher Fowler

52

I love these characters so much. In general, I like what Martha Wells does with gender in her books.

53

The Creeping Shadow, Jonathan Stroud

Five Children on the Western Front, Kate Saunders

The Last One, Alexandra Oliva

The Fall of the House of Cabal, Jonathan L. Howard

My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Grady Hendrix

Stiletto, Daniel O’Malley

End of Watch, Stephen King

The Bone Clocks, David Mitchell

Lovecraft Country, Matt Ruff

Black Swan Green, David Mitchell

54

As the OP asked, please give the reasons you particularly liked those books.

55

Well…

                      The Creeping Shadow, Jonathan Stroud - part of a very-well done YA series about children who run a ghost-fighting agency.  I like most of Jonathan Stroud's books, and topically this series is right up my alley.  (I hope I never mature to the point where I want to read books about bankers or politicians or whatever grown-ups read about).  :)

Five Children on the Western Front, Kate Saunders - Covered by others upthread, a nice visit to some old beloved characters.

The Last One, Alexandra Oliva - Reality show contestants are the last to know about a plague that wipes out much of the population. I like those surviving-in-the-wilderness shows, so the behind-the-scenes part was interesting, and of course like all of us I have been expecting the world-cleansing plague for years.

The Fall of the House of Cabal, Jonathan L. Howard - Last (?) book of a series featuring the wonderful Johannes Cabal, arrogant genius and necromancer.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism, Grady Hendrix - Amusing and sweet. A piece of chocolate cake in book form. If you like the title, you’ll probably like the story.

Stiletto, Daniel O’Malley - Long-awaited sequel to The Rook, about a magic British secret agency. A nice thick one too!

End of Watch, Stephen King - Middle-quality Stephen King book, last of the Bill Hodges trilogy. More supernatural stuff than in the others, and of course Steve knows how to do it best.

The Bone Clocks, Cloud Atlas, and Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell - Yeah, I slipped in an extra one. :slight_smile: I guess this was my year to discover David Mitchell. All of these books were very good and very different from each other. The Bone Clocks might be considered sci-fi, Cloud Atlas nested several stories of various types together, and Black Swan Green is a bildungsroman narrated by a young teen boy. Apparently this Mitchell dude can pull off almost anything well.

Lovecraft Country, Matt Ruff - You had me at Lovecraft. But this was a fascinating book even beyond that…I did not know there really were travel guides published in the old days to help black people navigate the pitfalls of getting around in hostile white country.

Honorable mention: Carter & Lovecraft, mentioned upthread. Jonathan L. Howard kicks ass.

56

Ooh, I’m intrigued.

57

Ripping my way through it right now!

58

[quote=“nearwildheaven, post:39, topic:776016”]

The first one that comes to mind is the last book I read in 2016 and one I’m surprised I haven’t seen yet, Dr. Paul Kalanithi’s “When Breath Becomes Air”. The introduction is by Dr. Abraham Verghese and the epilogue is by his wife, written after his death in early 2015, and it is a beautiful book.

<snip>

I love this book! Was so good I had to buy it. I also was watching for a mention of it in this thread. It’s probably my favourite 2016 book. Dr Kalanithi introduced me to Sherwin Nuland, MD and I then read most all of his books. The most appropriate one for me was* How We Die***.

I also loved Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

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See post 54.