1. The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson Amid chaos in her extended family's life, a comic book creator finds out she is unexpectedly pregnant. I have enjoyed everyone of Jackson's novels, but this one is easily her best. Funny and touching, this shows what family really means.
2. My Absolute Darling - Gabriel Tallent An absolutely brutal punch to the gut. Hard to read, but the fantastic writing makes it worth the read. Fourteen year old Julia lives in a ramshackle house with her mentally ill, paranoid father. I don't often read books because of the blurbs, but when Stephen King calls something a masterpiece, I'm interested.
3. Sourdough - Robin Sloan From the author of "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore", an earlier favorite of mine, comes this humorous story of a sourdough starter that seems to have special powers.
4. Long Way To A Small Planet - Becky Chambers This is the first in a science fiction trilogy that I really enjoyed. It felt old fashioned (in a good way) and thoroughly modern at the same time.
5. News of the World - Paulette Jiles A short novel about a post Civil War former Army Captain trying to return a young girl that had been a captive of the Kiowa for several years to her surviving family.
6. Celine - Peter Heller Celine is a 68 year old, ill private detective traveling across the US in a motor home on the track of a criminal with her husband. Based on Heller's real mother, who worked for the FBI and became a detective late in life.
7. Beartown - Fredrick Backman I am a huge fan of Backman and while this is his best written book, it is dark and depressing. It is the story of a small town in Sweden and it's love and how much it depends on it's youth hockey team.
8. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann The best non=fiction I read this year. The story of the Osage Indians of Oklahoma in the 1920's. When oil was discovered on their land, speculators & con men did everything they could to take it away from them.
9. Strange Weather - Joe Hill Four short fantasy novels, all good, but one of which I am still thinking about almost 2 years later.
10. The Force - Don Winslow Fantastic antihero thriller about a group of bad cops and their attempts to hang on to their ill gotten games.
And the book I couldn't stand this year was "George & Lizzie" by Nancy Pearl. She may be a great librarian, but this romantic comedy of a book was just dreadful.
I think you recommended Peter Heller's fabulous book, The Dog Stars, so I'm very much interested in Celine, especially since we now own an RV. I have Beartown on my shelf, but haven't gotten around to it. Killers of the Flower Moon sounds like a good book for my bookclub. Another friend has spoken highly of it, so maybe it's time I give it a read. I loved News of the World. Read it twice, although the second time was on audio and not quite as compelling as the print edition. Thanks for all the recommendations!
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