Stuff I Read This Year - 2017

Welcome to my second and maybe annual summary of books from the year. Hope it helps you find something you like, or at least avoid a dreadful mistake!

It was an up-and-down year in many ways, and my reading experiences mirrored that. For some reason I read almost nothing in the first half of the year, then I went on a binge over the summer, then a drought again for a few months, and finally another binge to close out the year. Every book I read but one was released in 2017, though the exception was notable. And they were all fiction except one, which is no surprise since reality sucks. I do read lots of non-fiction articles, which is about all I can stand as they leave me stunned and depressed. But if you like interesting articles, I suggest Don Van Natta’s “Long Reads” weekly email compilation of recommendations: http://www.sundaylongread.com/.

The first book I read when I broke my bookfast was “Since We Fell” by Dennis Lehane. The first half was great, the second implausible and silly. I gave it CCC (out of CCCCC). But things rapidly improved, I read several “Literary” crime/suspense novels that I liked: “Magpie Murders” CCCC¹/₂C , “Celine” CCCC, “The Good Thief” CCCC, and “The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley” CCCC¹/₂C. In particular I liked “Magpie”, which was a mystery within a mystery, and “Thief” and “Hawley”, which were unique and fun, and very well written.

By the way, I categorize the novels I read into two types: “Literary”, which means the author is actually using some symbolic language and I have to pay some attention while reading, and “Mystery”, books I consume like M&M’s that generally leave me feeling sugar buzzed and queasy. But they are a great rush while they are going down. I’ll try to point out which were which as I go along.

A couple other suspense novels I read which got high praise were “My Absolute Darling” and “Sycamore”. I liked them (CCCC), but not as much as the critics did. They would fall in the Literary group.

One of my 2017 favorites was my only non-2017 selection, “A Gentleman in Moscow”. It’s about a Russian aristocrat who is exiled to the nicest hotel in Moscow; in other words, it’s bit of a fairy tale, sort of a cross between “War and Peace” and “Eloise”. But it describes some Russian history, and Towle creates enchanting characters. I really enjoyed it, gave it CCCCC.

A few of the tasty Mystery stories I wolfed down were “Don’t Let Go” by Harlan Coben, who is an absolute master, “The Chemist” by Stephanie Meyer of “Twilight” fame, and “Right Behind You” by the prolific Lisa Gardner, all of which I gave about  CCC¹/₂C. I will say that this year I developed more of an appreciation for Coben and his peers in this genre; they are often very good writers who probably just prefer to write popular stuff instead of stuffy stuff. Coben’s books have more twists and turns than the road to Hana.

“The Dry” (CCCC¹/₂C) was maybe my favorite Mystery of the year, being more Literary than most. It was great to learn that people in small towns in Australia are just as cruel and duplicitous as their counterparts here in the good old USA.

The second of my top three of the year was “Beartown”, CCCCC. Beartown explained that people in small towns in other countries are not only as cruel and duplicitous as we are, but also as insane about sports, in this case hockey. Bachman is a smart and amusing writer, and this latest one is warm but painful too. Good stuff. I might have to try "A Man Called Ove" again.

“Manhattan Beach” (CCCC) by Jennifer Egan was a very interesting and maybe realistic historical piece about the World War era in New York City. She’s uniquely talented, and this one is a major departure from her more experimental books like “Welcome to the Goon Squad”, which has a remarkable chapter entirely in PowerPoint.

A couple of quirky books I liked, and I like quirky books, were “Midnight in the Bright Ideas Book Store” and “Sourdough”, both CCCC. “Sourdough” was particularly offbeat, and left me hungry for more from Robin Sloane.

During my end of year reading binge, on airplanes and in Hawaii I read “Bluebird, Bluebird” a mystery that I gave CCC¹/₂C, and “So Much Blue” (CCCC), which featured a painter who was wrapped in layers of melancholy. On the flight home I consumed “Less”, (CCCC¹/₂C), the life story of a gay writer which I liked for its depiction of a culture that I know little about. It was heartfelt and moving, and I liked it. The Washington Post named it one of their top 10 in 2017.

Last but not least was my third favorite book of the year, “The Smack” by Richard Lange, the story of a mid-level lifetime grifter. The book is not extraordinary (or “Literary”), but it is very well written and has wonderful characters, and I really liked it - CCCCC. It’s another great example of a talented writer who chooses to write very straightforward books; I can’t wait to go back and pick up some of his previous works in 2018.

So that’s my mediocre summary of a mediocre year of literary explorations. At least writing it gave me an excuse to sit down at the keyboard again. I hope you’ll find something you like in it, and please be in touch if you would like to share your thoughts. I wish you a happy fictional year in 2018!