Ten Favorite Reads of 2020

Despite the trauma of the pandemic (or maybe because of it), 2020 turned out to be an amazing year of reading for me. I managed to finish 44 books by the end of December, a personal record since I began keeping track in 2012 (you can see my yearly lists in the sidebar). I've been an avid reader my entire life, and I can hardly remember a year during which book after book not only entertained but impressed me. As a reader, it was exhilarating to read so many great novels; as a writer, it was both inspiring and somewhat daunting to encounter such craft. Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullogh, a powerful novel in verse about the seventeenth century artist Artemisia Gentileschi, was far and away my favorite of the year, but nine other books stood out as particular gems:

Parrot & Olivier in America (2010) by Peter Carey

Hamnet (2020) by Maggie O'Farrell

Call Upon the Water (2019) by Stella Tillyard

Beheld (2020) by TaraShea Nesbit

Sugar Money (2018) by Jane Harris

Light Changes Everything (2020) by Nancy E. Turner

The Blood of Flowers (2007) by Anita Amirrezvani

Varina (2018) by Charles Frazier

How Much of These Hills Is Gold (2020) by C Pam Zhang

Several other books wanted to sneak onto this list, but what good is a list if it includes everything? Among the contenders were books written by writers I know personally: Revelations (coming in 2021) and The Vanishing Point (2006) by Mary Sharratt, A Trace of Deceit (2019) and A Dangerous Duet (2018) by Karen Odden, Drowning with Others (2019) by Linda Keir, The Giant (2020) by Laura Morelli, and Dreamland (2020) by Nancy Bilyeau. Since I could never choose among the babies of my friends, I make it a rule not to include their books on my yearly list of favorites. All of their books, however, are excellent reads that I highly recommend.

Over the holidays, I rearranged furniture in my house, which entailed reorganizing my bookshelves and rediscovering the many books I've bought but never yet read. I'm looking forward to tackling some of them this year, along with books yet to be published. I've already almost finished Diane Setterfield's intriguing The Thirteenth Tale (2006) as I aim to hit my goal of 50 books for 2021. Having resolved to spend less time on the internet and more time with my nose in a book, I'm excited to see what the new year brings.

What was your favorite novel of 2020? Did you set and reach a reading goal? 

In any case, I wish you many happy reading adventures during the coming year!

Best Reads of 2015

I almost made it to my goal of reading 35 novels by the end of 2015... if I finish THE NIGHTINGALE by midnight tonight, I will have completed 33. If I include the completed but not yet published manuscripts I've read and critiqued for fellow writers, then I easily met my mark. I read many great books this year, some old, some new, and many written by friends (which makes compiling a list of favorites even more difficult and, frankly, rather awkward). In compiling my list of standout reads for 2015, I decided to exclude novels written by authors with whom I have a personal connection. I list those novels, along with links to reviews I wrote for them, below.  They were all wonderful books, and I encourage readers to pick them up, if they haven't already.

From among the remaining books I read, these were my favorites of 2015, in no particular order:

THE RED NOTEBOOK (LA FEMME AU CARNET ROUGE) 

by Antoine Laurain, translated by Jane Aitken and Emily Boyce

(2014; translated 2015)

A delightful story of a Parisian bookseller who finds a lost handbag on the street and puzzles together the owner's identity from the jumble of possessions inside it. A red notebook that contains the anonymous woman's jottings spurs the bookseller's desire to find her. Witty and romantic without being the least bit sappy, this beautifully translated novel examines the notions of nostalgia, regret, and serendipity with flair and charm.

THE MOOR'S ACCOUNT

by Laila Lalami

(2014)

The imagined memoirs of the first black explorer of  America, a Moroccan slave named Estebanico, this compelling novel recounts the doomed Narvaez expedition to Florida in 1527-28. Only four men out of an original 600 survived the series of disasters that befell the Spanish party. Estabanico was one of the lucky ones, yet he received only one line, a mention of his name and origin, in the official account of the group's adventures. This Pulitzer Prize-listed novel gives Estebanico a voice and offers a new perspective on the European drive to colonize the New World.

THE CRAZED

by Ha Jin

(2002)

In the months surrounding the Tiananmen Square massacre, student Jian Wan cares for his mentor Professor Yang, a respected teacher of literature who suffers a debilitating stroke. Are the professor's wild ravings the product of his diseased mind, or does his disability provide him cover to speak truths too dangerous to articulate? Exposed to disturbing ideas that he had trained himself not to contemplate, Jian Wan is forced to question his predetermined path. This remarkable portrait of late twentieth century Chinese society exposes the political pressures that oppressed an entire generation of scholars and activists.

THE LAST PILOT

by Benjamin Johncock

(2015)

This stark novel recreates the early days of the U.S. space program through the eyes of Jim Harrison, an Air Force test pilot. Used to cheating death on a daily basis, Jim finds his courage and authority challenged when unexpected tragedy blindsides his young family. With his marriage and career on the line, Jim must come to terms with loss, grief, and the realization that the traits that make him an ace pilot are not necessarily those of a successful father and husband. A beautiful, emotionally intense novel of hope, courage, and forgiveness.

SISTERS OF SHILOH

by Kathy and Becky Hepinstall

(2015)

When her husband is killed in the battle of Antietam, Libby vows to kill one Union soldier for every year of his too-short life. Disguised in her husband's clothes, she enlists in the Confederate army. Josephine, desperate to protect her grief-crazed sister, joins her. As Thomas and Joseph, the two sisters battle through the final days of the war, with Libby falling into madness and Josephine falling in love with a fellow soldier who thinks she's a man. A beautiful tribute to the tie that binds sisters and the hope that sustains victims of war.

THE STORY OF LAND AND SEA

by Katy Simpson Smith

(2014)

An intricate, poetic novel about the love between parent and child set in a small coastal town at the end of the American Revolution. Told in three parts, the novel explores several generations of a family forced to endure the difficult circumstances of war, kidnapping, and slavery. A quiet novel that pays rich dividends to the reader who savors it to the end.

THE THING ABOUT DECEMBER

by Donal Ryan

(2013)

Set in Ireland, this novel recounts a year in the life of Johnsey Cunliffe, an innocent, simple young man who, after the death of his overprotective parents, becomes the victim of greed as avaricious townsfolk attempt to cheat him of his valuable farm. Deeply moving and at times unsettling, this novel celebrates the resilience of the human spirit as a lonely, limited man struggles to make sense of the world.

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Friends and colleagues published the following novels, all of which I read and greatly enjoyed this year. Please click on the links provided to read the reviews I wrote for them at the time of publication.

RODIN'S LOVER

by Heather Webb (2015)

FLASK OF THE DRUNKEN MASTER

by Susan Spann (2015)

ENCHANTRESS OF PARIS

by Marci Jefferson (2015)

REBEL QUEEN

by Michelle Moran (2015)

MADEMOISELLE CHANEL

by C.W. Gortner (2015)

THE TAPESTRY
by Nancy Bilyeau (2015)

THE PRICE OF BLOOD

by Patricia Bracewell (2015)

MÉDICIS DAUGHTER
by Sophie Perinot (2015)

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That wraps up 2015! Here's to more good reading in 2016. Happy New Year!

Ann Weisgarber's THE PROMISE, Now in Trade Paperback. Review.

A year ago, I published this review of Ann Weisgarber's luminous novel, THE PROMISE, released today in trade paperback from Skyhorse Publishing. Every word of this short novel rings true and resonates deeply. Ann's insightful and compassionate take on human weakness and courage inspired me as a reader; her masterful use of language and fictional technique has become the bar I strive to approach as a writer (and a high one it is!). I'm so happy that THE PROMISE has now come out in softcover so more people can read and appreciate it. Don't miss this wonderful book. I'm convinced it will make your list of favorite novels, too.

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Ann Weisgarber's THE PROMISE (Skyhorse Publishing, April 2014) is the story of two women's love for the same man, set against the backdrop of the devastating Galveston hurricane of 1900. Yet this wise and beautifully executed book is so much more than this description might suggest. With great insight and deep compassion, THE PROMISE explores the redemptive power of forgiveness--forgiveness of self, of others, and of fate. This spare, moving narrative resonates long after the treacherous storm winds it depicts die down.

Oscar Williams, a former coal delivery boy from Dayton, Ohio, has built a thriving dairy business on the gulf-exposed island of Galveston, Texas. Hardworking, generous, and self-effacing, Oscar has lost his young wife Bernadette to malaria and faces the prospect of raising his four-year-old son Andre on his own. Catherine Wainwright, Oscar's former classmate and unattainable first love who went on to become an accomplished pianist, revives the lapsed correspondence the two had once shared. Finding herself shunned by polite society for an extramarital affair with her cousin's husband and desperate to escape her difficulties, Catherine seeks out Oscar, hoping he will propose marriage. Without divulging her shame, she accepts his offer and abandons her cultured city life for a rough and arduous existence on the flat, sea-swept Texas island. Not only must she survive suffocating heat, snake-infested outhouses, the mistrust of a grieving child and her own guilty conscience, she must endure the disapproving animosity of Nan Ogden, the plain-spoken and devoted friend of Oscar's late wife, who has become his housekeeper and Andre's surrogate mother.

The two women could not be more different, and tale is narrated from their alternating viewpoints. Pride blinds each of them as they try to make sense of the other and of their feelings for Oscar. Although Nan won't admit it, she is more than a little in love with Oscar and jealous of the beautiful, incompetent woman he has chosen over her. Catherine, wounded from her failed affair, fights her growing attraction to Oscar and resists the refuge his kind gentleness and accepting reticence offer. As time goes on and Catherine begins to warm to Oscar's devotion, the situation becomes more than Nan can bear. But before she can make good on her decision to leave, a devastating hurricane hits the island, with tragic consequences. Tried by fear and danger, the women dig deep into themselves to protect Andre's fragile security and very life.

It is impossible not to view Oscar as a Christ-like figure, in love with Catherine despite her faults, eager to forget despite her unwillingness to seek forgiveness, patient, hopeful, kind and passionate. Recurrent appearances of pelicans, birds native to coastal waters but also traditional symbols of both Christian charity and the Redeemer himself, support this reading. Oscar admits a fascination with the birds, who manifest themselves at important moments in the book. His influence, compounded by the goodness and generosity of the simple island people she originally scorns, lead Catherine to a clarity about herself and her actions, revealing truths that she has long ignored. The question of whether Catherine has time to act upon this knowledge, however, keeps the reader turning pages as the storm bears down upon the island and threatens to snatch away the promise of a happiness that she does not deserve.

Ann Weisgarber is a masterful writer who plumbs the truths of the human condition while enthralling readers with tension-filled tales of characters caught in circumstances beyond their control. Her books offer a hope-filled vision of humanity that is missing from so many modern works. I was fortunate to read THE PROMISE last year when it appeared in a British edition and named it one of my "Best Reads of 2013." I appreciated it even more now upon a second read, and am thrilled that American readers now have the opportunity to enjoy it. I loved Weisgarber's first novel, THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE (Viking 2010), longlisted for the Orange Prize, but THE PROMISE simply blew me away. If you read one book this year, make it this one.

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Ann Weisgarber is the author of THE PROMISE and THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE. She was nominated for England's 2009 Orange Prize and for the 2009 Orange Award for New Writers. In the United States, she won the Stephen Turner Award for New Fiction and the Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction. She was shortlisted for the Ohioana Book Award and was a Barnes and NobleDiscover New Writer.

THE PROMISE was inspired by a dilapidated house and by an interview Ann conducted when she was writing articles for a Galveston magazine. She wrote much of the novel in Galveston where pelicans glide along the surf and cows graze in pastures. Her debut novel, THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE, was inspired by a photograph of an unknown woman sitting in front of a sod dugout. It was published in England and France before being published in the United States.

Ann, who splits her time between Galveston and Sugar Land, Texas, is currently working on her next novel that takes place in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, during the winter of 1888.

You can learn more about Ann at her website, which includes many historical photographs of Galveston the hurricane's aftermath.

Best Reads of 2014

Time for me to choose the best of the nearly thirty novels I read for pleasure in 2014. Many wonderful novels passed through my hands this year (see sidebar for the complete list); choosing the top eight proved to be quite a difficult task. The books that made the cut engaged me from the first page, sustained my interest throughout, and remained with me long after I closed the cover. They spoke to me through their lovely use of language, the uniqueness of their voice, the artfulness of their plot, and their depth of character and theme. Some were published this year, others years ago; several are outstanding debuts, others the work of more established authors. I thank these authors for the pleasurable hours I spent lost in the pages their wonderful, accomplished stories.

In alphabetical order:

ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE 

by Anthony Doerr (Scribner, 2014)

The story of a blind French girl working for the Resistance and a young Nazi engineer whose lives become inextricably bound through the invisible power of radio waves, this marvelous literary novel caught the book world by surprise. Narrated in short chapters that alternate between the two character's perspectives, the novel explores love, patriotism, and the nature of goodness amid the deprivation and devastation of war.

THE BOOK THIEF 

by Markus Zusak (Knopf, 2005)

I was late to the party on this one, but so glad I came! In a wry yet sympathetic voice that eschews melodrama, Death recounts the story of a German foster girl who survives the horrors of the Holocaust by stealing books and sharing them--with neighbors during bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her cellar. The story illustrates the power of the written word to free the soul even as it bridges the chasms that separate us.

THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI 

by Helene Wecker (HarperCollins, 2013)

A Nebula nominee and winner of numerous prestigious awards, this stunning debut novel blends history with fantasy as a mythical Jewish golem encounters a Syrian jinni in turn-of-the-century New York City. I knew little about either folklore when I started reading, but the novel's inventive premise, convincing setting, sympathetic characters, and intriguing conflicts grabbed hold of my imagination and didn't let go until the satisfying end. An unusual and truly glorious read.   

THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS

by M. L. Stedman (Scribner, 2012)

This story appeals through both its unique setting and the depth of its moral conflict. Living alone as lighthouse keepers on a secluded island off the western coast of Australia, a young couple rescues a baby from a boat smashed against the rocks. Having lost several children to miscarriages, the wife begs to keep this child as their own. Against his better judgment, the husband agrees...until they return to the mainland and discover the devastation their decision has wrought upon the child's real mother. Can Tom right the wrong without tearing his family apart? A poignant reminder that actions can be wrong for all the right reasons...

LONGBOURN

by Jo Baker (Knopf, 2013)

Longbourn reimagines PRIDE AND PREJUDICE from the perspective of the estate's servants: the housekeeper, Mrs. Hill, and her butler husband; two housemaids, Polly and Sarah; and the mysterious new footman, James. Torn between the attentions of James and the Bingleys' charismatic black footman, Ptolemy, romantic and ambitious Sarah struggles to define her future as unexpected secrets linking life above and below the stairs come to light. No need to be an Austen fan to appreciate Baker's finely crafted tale, one that never feels contrived or derivative.

THE MINIATURIST

by Jessie Burton (Ecco, 2014)

In rapacious, religiously oppressive seventeenth century Amsterdam, a young wife's polite but distant husband presents her with an elaborate doll-sized replica of their home as a wedding gift. The miniatures Nella purchases to furnish it begin to echo the family's life in unsettling ways. Is the mysterious miniaturist an agent working to hasten the family's destruction, or a savior attempting to guide Nella out of a labyrinth of dangerous secrets? Although the answer remains as elusive as the miniaturist, this suspenseful tale entertains with unforeseen twists and gratifying turns as it exposes the hypocrisy of a society that worships wealth above Christian charity.  

VANESSA AND HER SISTER

by Priya Parmar (Ballantine, 2014)

Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? Painter Vanessa Stephens Bell might not fear her brilliant sister, but she certainly has her hands full dealing with the manipulative, emotionally fragile author. Parmar's novel focuses on the two sisters at the center of the bohemian intellectual circle known as the Bloomsbury group. Amid the comings and goings and shifting pairings of the artists, writers and thinkers who frequent the Stephens' salon in early 20th century London, Vanessa struggles to protect herself, her husband, and her family from Virginia's obsessive need for her sister's undivided attention. Vanessa's narrative offers an engaging portrait of a visual artist struggling to stand her ground in a world of shifting words and discarded convention.

THE WIDOW OF THE SOUTH 

by Robert Hicks (Warner Books, 2005)

The commandeering of her home to serve as a hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers shakes Carrie McGavock out of the torpor she has suffered since the death of her young children. With the help of her black servant Mariah, she sets to work tending the soldiers sandwiched onto the floors of the plantation house. Refusing to allow Zechariah Cashwell, who wants nothing more than to die, this escape, she sends him to surgery. The pair finds mutual healing in the weeks that follow. Carrie spends the rest of her life caring for the graves of the thousands of soldiers buried on her property. A story of love and courage painted with curious particularity against a backdrop of epic proportions.

Here's to 2015 and another delightful year of reading!