#1) Lying by Sam Harris was published in November of 2013, and since then I've purchased four copies to share. It's actually not very well written, but it earns top billing on my list because the concept of living without any form of lying was key to my 2014 year. I could not stop talking about this slim, life-changing book. Read it. Then start watching how often you might be lying without consciously thinking about it. Living lie-free is challenging--and gloriously freeing.
#2) The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld was stunning. The story of death row is told through multiple characters: inmates, the fallen priest who serves in the prison, and the social worker whose investigations offer inmates their last chances to escape the death sentence. Denfeld accomplishes what I want in literature: she turns the pain of human experience into something beautiful. She is able to show the death-row inmates in their raw evil, yet still show us their humanity. Heart-rending and up-lifting: the ultimate combination.
#3) American Pastoral by Philip Roth - This wasn't a 2014 book, but it was one of the most engaging books I read all year. My neighbors growing up were the Evans family, parents of Linda Evans, Weatherman fugitive. I didn't understand what this meant as I delivered the Des Moines Register to their Ft. Dodge doorstop in the mornings. Philip Roth showed me.
#4) Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast. Oh my. If you are my age (54), you might be facing the aging-parents phase of your life. Chast is brilliant. Please share this with people with aging parents. Brutally honest and brutally funny.
#5) Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.: A Novel by Adelle Waldman - Books that made my list are ones that I found myself recommending or buying for other people. The 20-somethings in my life verified my sense that this hilarious and biting book is a dead-on reality dose.
#6) A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers - Written in 2001, the book finally made it to the top of my to-read pile. I understand some people have loved this book while others found it too crazy. Put me in the former category. I was enthralled with the way the stories spun out in roiling, manic voice.
#7) Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan - I chomp through a lot of YA books, but this one has lingered with me since I read it last spring. Just a dear book. I haven't felt compelled to foist it on a lot of my high-school readers (its protagonist is in junior high), but I've recommended it to my adult friends.
#8) Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes - Now this is a YA book that I've shared with several of my students--and with good results. I had some issues with the ending (one of the pleasures of being a reader is that you get to pass judgement on endings!), but overall I found it highly readable, honest, and funny.
#9) Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty - Oh this was fun! A mix of dead-on hilarious parenting commentary plus a murder (?) mystery and an examination of domestic abuse in wealthy households. One of those books I couldn't put down.
#10) All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy - Dipping back to 1993 for this one. I was on a kick this year to read some of the Pulitzers I'd missed and this was one I loved. It reminded me of Annie Proulx's "Brokeback Mountain" with is heartrending portrayal of doomed love. My Pulitzer chase also led me to The Goldfinch and Olive Kitteridge, both of which I found disappointing on several levels: the writing, the characterization, the predictability. I don't mean to end on that sour note; rather, I want to contrast those more recent Pulitzers to McCarthy's beautiful classic--a velvet look at human anguish.
What made YOUR top 10 list this year? I'd love to hear! Please share!
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