Dear Readers,
Thank you so much for another wonderful year in the world of books. I wish you health and happiness in the new year, and a warm, cheery holiday season, however you celebrate.
Now, for the last Rosemary & Reading Glasses post of the year, the traditional last-minute gift guide. It would tax your patience if I were to talk about every book I’ve read this year (97 as of this writing, probably just over 100 by year’s end), so I’ve listed (with two exceptions) 2016 releases in categories constructed by my arbitrary whims. All these books are recommended.
Poetry
Ocean Vuong, Night Sky with Exit Wounds
Donika Kelly, Bestiary
W. S. Merwin, Garden Time
Catherine Pierce, The Tornado is the World
Monica Youn, Blackacre
Honorable Mention to Ross Gay’s Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude (2015), which I couldn’t bear to leave off this list.
Short Stories
Ellen Prentiss Campbell, Contents Under Pressure
Helen Oyeyemi, What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours
Junot Díaz (editor) and Heidi Pitlor (series editor), The Best American Short Stories 2016
Clare Beams, We Show What We Have Learned
Short Novels
Kent Haruf, Our Souls at Night
Graham Swift, Mothering Sunday
Elizabeth Strout, My Name Is Lucy Barton
Idra Novey, Ways to Disappear
Longer Novels
Dominic Smith, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos
Alexander Chee, The Queen of the Night
Louise Erdrich, LaRose
Peter Ho Davies, The Fortunes
Lived Up to the Hype
Ann Patchett, Commonwealth
Brit Bennett, The Mothers
Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad
Jeff Zentner, The Serpent King
Books in Translation
Maylis de Kerangal, The Heart (translated by Sam Taylor)
Dulce María Loynaz, Absolute Solitude (translated by James O’Connor)
Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Reputations (translated by Anne McLean)
Nonfiction
Claire Harman, Charlotte Brontë: A Fiery Heart
Carlo Rovelli, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures
Depressing (and Very Good)
Katy Simpson Smith, Free Men
Jung Yun, Shelter
Garth Greenwell, What Belongs to You
Katie Roiphe, The Violet Hour: Great Writers at the End
Delightful (and Very Good)
Shirley Barrett, Rush Oh!
Lindsay Faye, Jane Steele
Honorable Mention to Zen Cho’s Sorcerer to the Crown, out in paperback this year
Best for Sleuths
Elliott Chaze, Black Wings Has My Angel
Erica Wright, The Granite Moth
Best for New Parents
Jennifer Stewart Miller, A Fox Appears
Best Shakespeare Adaptation
Margaret Atwood, Hag-Seed
Best Graphic Novel/Comic
Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples, Saga: Volume 6 (Start with Volume 1, though!)
Best Sui Generis
Claire-Louise Bennett, Pond
Rosemary and Reading Glasses 
What a good year of reading! And I loved v. 6 of saga too! I hope your holidays are magnificent!
What a list! I love your “Delightful” category.
Thank you so much. Honored & Grateful to have Contents Under Pressure here.
Thank you so much. Honored & Grateful to have Contents Under Pressure here.
Thank you!
On Dec 20, 2016 6:38 AM, “Rosemary and Reading Glasses” wrote:
> Carolyn O posted: ” Dear Readers, Thank you so much for another wonderful > year in the world of books. I wish you health and happiness in the new > year, and a warm, cheery holiday season, however you celebrate. Now, for > the last Rosemary & Reading Glasses p” >
The Haruf, Swift and Strout all such wonderful books and all will probably make my favourites list this year as well. I’m desperate to read Commonwealth and LaRose – both are on my Christmas wishlist.
What an amazing year-end list! Some of my TRs are here as well, and I especially love your “lived up to the hype” section – it helped answer my questions 🙂
Happy Holidays, Carolyn!
I like that ‘Depressing’ gets its own category. 🙂
Enjoy your Holidays!!
Fun! I love your categories! I haven’t even made a best of 2016 post, but I’m hoping that I can get it together to do an Eagerly Anticipating in 2017 post sometime soon. I know people rag on “Best of” lists at the end of the year, but I must confess I live for them. :p