Of all that I read this year, these are the ones I can recommend… a little of everything from non-fiction to poetry to investigations into the worlds of well-known authors. Someone really has to invent the word that describers the feeling of being so immersed in a book that you can’t imagine switching loyalties to another title, ever. A type of break-up heartbreak. But good. Eventually, you love reading enough that you begin the hunt for your next title. Thanks to the writers, all of you, for enriching our lives.
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (be sure to pair with the old TV series with Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones – on Amazon)
This is Happiness by Niall Williams (nobody doesn’t like this book)
Lost and Found by Kathryn Schultz (beautiful memoir from a New Yorker writer)
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (you’ll obsess over LA haunts mentioned – look here)
A Tribute to the Source by Robert Frost (classic title, beautiful old book, a nice gift)
The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen (crazy funny, recommend listening)
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (my daughter and her doctor colleagues love this)
Fellowship Point by Alice Elliot Dark (great vacation read)
The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz (this author has a great range of topics, and this is a ripping read)
Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile (listen to the breakout star read her autobiography and then sing at the end of each chapter)
How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith (wonderful discourse on how history is made)
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (see my post here)
Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen (this is a wonderful read, family saga and questions about religion)
A Beginner’s Guide to the End by Dr. BJ Miller and Shoshana Berger (non-fiction primer on death)
Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins (see my post here)
The Magician by Colm Toibin + Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (Toibin a master – in this book, he tells the story of Thomas Mann’s life, so pair it with the famous Mann novella; learn more about Thomas Mann House in LA here)
In Our Time – Earnest Hemingway (wonderful, early stories)
Selected Short Stories – William Faulkner (pithy and eerily prescient stories)
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (many feel this is the best book of the year)
Small Thing Like These by Claire Keegan – 128 pages of perfection and also on every best list
