BushĬhase Your Shadow: The Trials of Oscar Pistorius, John CarlinĪlcatraz, The True End of the Line, Darwin Coon What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Haruki MurakamiĤ1, A Portrait of my Father, George W. The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Steinĭrama, An Actor’s Education, John Lithgow The Stories We Tell, Patti Callahan Henry When I Was a Child I Read Books, Marilynne Robinson The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, Heidi Durrowįrederick Manfred, A Daughter Remembers, Freya Manfred We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler The Smartest Kids in the World, Amanda Ripley Still Life With Bread Crumbs, Anna Quindlen I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelouīoth Ways Is The Only Way I Want It, Maile MeloyĪn Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor If you pinched me really hard and MADE me pick one “best book” of last year, it would be the very first one on this list.Īll The Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr

Please note: not all of the books I read are “G-rated,” so if you have any questions about content, feel free to ask me. I highly recommend the five star ones regular-recommend the four star ones and say “eh” on the three star ones. By turns funny and sad, romantic and tragic, the book is also uplifting, even if there is no fairy tale ending.Here is how it is with me and reading – Sometimes I start to panic, and I have to talk myself off the ledge with this reminder: “You don’t have to read ALL the books.”īecause, lordy, I surely do want to read all the books.Īnyway, here are the books I read last year. It's the story of Elizabeth, who accepts a job as gardener for a recently widowed old woman (who spends her days winding her clocks) and is gradually - and reluctantly - drawn into the dysfunctional life of her employer's family. I am however starting to put that right – and, if all her books are as enjoyable as my first - The Clock Winder - I should have a treat ahead. Not only had I not read anything she had written, I hadn't even heard of her – despite her (I learned later) having been a professional novelist for almost 40 years. And so it was when a friend asked me a couple of months ago if I had read anything by Anne Tyler. Suddenly, you're looking forward not just to the few hours of pleasure that comes with getting lost in a great book, but a few days or even weeks. 'It's always great to get recommended a good book by a friend whose literary tastes you share, but it's even better when she recommends a new author - especially if the author isn't new at all.

Synopsis of a spool of blue thread