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2013 Fiction Top Picks:
Beautiful Ruins
by Jess
Walter. Contributor comments: “A lovely novel set alternately
in the Italian coast in the 1960s and Hollywood today ... transitions between a beautiful
young cast member of the Cleopatra movie who was involved with Richard Burton,
a young hotelier in Italy, an American writer who summers in Italy and an
American film producer and his assistant.”
"The book takes you from 1960s Italy in (during filming of the Burton/Taylor Cleopatra) to present day Hollywood and American heartland in the present.” And, "This book is well-written, at times very funny, cynical, and sweeping. It apparently ties together the Italian sea coast of the 1960s to Hollywood today and has been very well reviewed. Well written, and will make you chuckle."
“Romantic, historical fiction that will take you away. Very enjoyable read. It comes together beautifully in the end.”
by Jess
Walter. Contributor comments: “A lovely novel set alternately
in the Italian coast in the 1960s and Hollywood today ... transitions between a beautiful
young cast member of the Cleopatra movie who was involved with Richard Burton,
a young hotelier in Italy, an American writer who summers in Italy and an
American film producer and his assistant.” "The book takes you from 1960s Italy in (during filming of the Burton/Taylor Cleopatra) to present day Hollywood and American heartland in the present.” And, "This book is well-written, at times very funny, cynical, and sweeping. It apparently ties together the Italian sea coast of the 1960s to Hollywood today and has been very well reviewed. Well written, and will make you chuckle."
“Romantic, historical fiction that will take you away. Very enjoyable read. It comes together beautifully in the end.”
Brooklyn
by Coim
Toibin. This was on the 2012 New Fiction list. It was bumped up this year on the strength of additional enthusiastic reviews. Eilis
Lacey grew up in a small town in Ireland after World War II. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to
sponsor her in America, she decides she must go, leaving behind her fragile mother and
vivacious sister.
“I loved the tone and the voice of the narrator, the way the story was sparsely told and yet so full of life. Toibin shows us so much about the time and experience of Irish immigrants in the years after World War II without telling us explicitly." (Great interview with author here: BBC)
“I can’t possibly explain why I loved this book so much. But it says something about the state of literary fiction that it took me until halfway through this book to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop. Just because she’s putting her suitcase in a shed while she spends the day with her brother before her ship sails, does NOT mean it will be stolen. There are actually people who can be trusted. You can have a whole novel populated with decent human beings and have it still be so compelling that readers fly through it and are left wanting more.”
by Coim
Toibin. This was on the 2012 New Fiction list. It was bumped up this year on the strength of additional enthusiastic reviews. Eilis
Lacey grew up in a small town in Ireland after World War II. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to
sponsor her in America, she decides she must go, leaving behind her fragile mother and
vivacious sister. “I loved the tone and the voice of the narrator, the way the story was sparsely told and yet so full of life. Toibin shows us so much about the time and experience of Irish immigrants in the years after World War II without telling us explicitly." (Great interview with author here: BBC)
“I can’t possibly explain why I loved this book so much. But it says something about the state of literary fiction that it took me until halfway through this book to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop. Just because she’s putting her suitcase in a shed while she spends the day with her brother before her ship sails, does NOT mean it will be stolen. There are actually people who can be trusted. You can have a whole novel populated with decent human beings and have it still be so compelling that readers fly through it and are left wanting more.”
Faithful Place
by Tana French. “How had I not heard of Tana French before
last summer? In this, her third novel,
an undercover Dublin cop is called back to his old neighborhood by his
sister. He’s avoided the place since his
girlfriend disappeared twenty-two years earlier, just before just when they
were about to elope. And now her
suitcase has been found in an abandoned house, turning all his old assumptions
on their heads. He investigates (failing
to mention to his higher-ups his personal involvement in the case). It’s a dark, compelling page-turner. French is a master of story and character and
an exquisite writer. (NB: If you like Faithful Place, do not be tempted to think
her earlier works must be even better. Unlike many contemporary writers who get
lazy after one success, French’s work has only improved. It’s best to move on to the sequel, Broken
Harbor).”
by Tana French. “How had I not heard of Tana French before
last summer? In this, her third novel,
an undercover Dublin cop is called back to his old neighborhood by his
sister. He’s avoided the place since his
girlfriend disappeared twenty-two years earlier, just before just when they
were about to elope. And now her
suitcase has been found in an abandoned house, turning all his old assumptions
on their heads. He investigates (failing
to mention to his higher-ups his personal involvement in the case). It’s a dark, compelling page-turner. French is a master of story and character and
an exquisite writer. (NB: If you like Faithful Place, do not be tempted to think
her earlier works must be even better. Unlike many contemporary writers who get
lazy after one success, French’s work has only improved. It’s best to move on to the sequel, Broken
Harbor).”
The Round House
by Louise Erdrich. Lots of positive comments: “Riveting and
suspenseful, arguably the most accessible novel to date from the creator of Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, and The Bingo Palace, Erdrich’s The Round House is a
page-turning masterpiece of literary fiction—at once a powerful coming-of-age
story, a mystery, and a tender, moving novel of family, history, and culture.”
“Modern day version of To Kill a Mockingbird. Very interesting story about life on an Indian reservation in the Southwest.”
by Louise Erdrich. Lots of positive comments: “Riveting and
suspenseful, arguably the most accessible novel to date from the creator of Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, and The Bingo Palace, Erdrich’s The Round House is a
page-turning masterpiece of literary fiction—at once a powerful coming-of-age
story, a mystery, and a tender, moving novel of family, history, and culture.” “Modern day version of To Kill a Mockingbird. Very interesting story about life on an Indian reservation in the Southwest.”
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie
by Ayana Smith. This book, like many these days, hovers between short story and novel, with stories eventually woven together to form a whole, growing richer as it progresses. Readers learn about a mother, Hattie Shepherd, through the stories of her many children. “Yes, it felt like an Oprah book but still very good.” “It's a novel in which each chapter tells the story of one the main character's children. So it's a bit like short stories that are woven together. It is easy to get into and it follows a large family from the segregated south who struggle to find their way out amid poverty and racism. It is compelling and well written and on Oprah's book list.”
Where'd You Go, Bernadette
by Maria Semple. The author, among other accomplishments, wrote
for Arrested Development, which might give you some notion of what you’re in
for. The book is about a Seattle mother
who disappears just as the family is about to go on a trip to Antarctica. Her 15-year-old daughter takes on the task of
finding her. It’s an epistolary novel,
but entire chapters consist of medical reports and faxes and police
reports. It’s satirical – lots of humor
about Seattle (I don’t know that much about Seattle, but that’s not necessary
to appreciate it).
“So funny and
wacky, Seattle humor.”
“Great beach book about an eighth grade girl whose
mother has disappeared. Well written and
funny with an interesting (but not off-putting) structure. I read it in three days.”
“Very funny, clever writing with several LOL
moments. Will appeal to Moms in our ‘over achieving’ [DC] area.”
Mike Isabella's Crazy Good Italian: Big Flavors, Small Plates
by Carol Blymire. We’ve never had a cookbook as a top pick, but
this one is special. Not only was it
co-written by our clever and devoted contributor, it also includes great
summery recipes. (Carol, among many
accomplishments, also cooked her way through the Alinea Cookbook. See here).
by Carol Blymire. We’ve never had a cookbook as a top pick, but
this one is special. Not only was it
co-written by our clever and devoted contributor, it also includes great
summery recipes. (Carol, among many
accomplishments, also cooked her way through the Alinea Cookbook. See here).
The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: A Southern Girl, a Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life
By Rod Dreher. “It's a wonderful book--just released and
debuted on the NYT bestseller list. A story of family, community, small town
America, illness, and a meaningful life. Ruthie Leming – the author's sister
and a non-smoker – is diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer in her early
40s. Little Way tells the tale of what happens in the wake of her diagnosis.
The ways in which a community rallies around the Leming family and the ways in
which it profoundly changes her brother Rod, the author. It's a beautiful book
and I highly recommend it to you readers. I couldn't put it down and--despite
crying several times during the book. I
felt happy and uplifted after reading it. Little Way is a rare book and I hope
you and the beach books list will give it a whirl.”
By Rod Dreher. “It's a wonderful book--just released and
debuted on the NYT bestseller list. A story of family, community, small town
America, illness, and a meaningful life. Ruthie Leming – the author's sister
and a non-smoker – is diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer in her early
40s. Little Way tells the tale of what happens in the wake of her diagnosis.
The ways in which a community rallies around the Leming family and the ways in
which it profoundly changes her brother Rod, the author. It's a beautiful book
and I highly recommend it to you readers. I couldn't put it down and--despite
crying several times during the book. I
felt happy and uplifted after reading it. Little Way is a rare book and I hope
you and the beach books list will give it a whirl.”
Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife
by
Dr. Eben Alexander. Many of you
mentioned this book, about a brain surgeon’s near death experience. “This book had
tremendous impact on me. Of course,
Scientific American is discounting everything in it. I read it after a good
friend died and shortly after the terrible tragedy in Connecticut occurred. As
I watched the Rabbi, Priests, Ministers, etc., give their eulogies, it just was
so clear to me that they were all praying to the same ‘person.’ Alexander's writing simplifies things in a
way that gave me a language to explain these two events to myself and to my
children. Highly recommend for anyone
who is struggling or suffering from a loss.”
“This book doesn't constitute ‘proof,’ but it's an interesting addition to the literature on this topic. The author makes his case from his perspective as a neurosurgeon who underwent a critical illness and had a near death experience.”
(pssst... you're not done! top picks are just the beginning - see our other lists for 2013: newer fiction, non-fiction and older fiction! Navigate from the "blog archive" to the left.)
“This book doesn't constitute ‘proof,’ but it's an interesting addition to the literature on this topic. The author makes his case from his perspective as a neurosurgeon who underwent a critical illness and had a near death experience.”
(pssst... you're not done! top picks are just the beginning - see our other lists for 2013: newer fiction, non-fiction and older fiction! Navigate from the "blog archive" to the left.)
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