As I’ve done in recent years, I will list my favorite books in terms of categories rather than creating a simple top ten list (or whatever number). How can I really say which is better, my favorite biography vs. my favorite mystery, for example? So here is what stands out the most from the year:
Best fiction overall:
- Dorothy Baker’s Cassandra at the Wedding
- Alissa Nutting’s Tampa
- Justin Torres’s We the Animals
- Paul Harding’s Tinkers
- Elizabeth Gentry’s Housebound
Most enjoyable novels — these are maybe not great, great books, but they were lots of fun:
- Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette
- Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins
- Georgette Heyer’s The Talisman Ring
Best mystery:
- Sara Gran’s Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead
Best graphic novel (yes, I only read two this year, but still):
- Craig Thompson’s Blankets
Best biography/autobiography:
- Vivian Gornick’s Fierce Attachments
- Sonali Deraniyagala’s Wave
Best essay collections:
- Michelle Orange’s This is Running For Your Life
- Jo Ann Beard’s The Boys of My Youth
- Kiese Laymon’s How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America
Best literary criticism:
- Phillip Lopate’s To Show and To Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction
Best unclassifiable nonfiction:
- Maggie Nelson’s Bluets (a reread)
Here’s hoping that we all find some wonderful books in 2014!
Of Books and Bicycles 
I am full of admiration for the breadth of your reading. I read very little other than fiction, letters and journals. Perhaps I should review my decision not to make any hard and fast reading resolution for 2014 and take myself in hand and expand my literary horizons.
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Thank you! I see nothing wrong with reading mostly fiction, letters, and journals, unless, of course, you would really like to read other things. Perhaps you can have a loose and tentative reading resolution instead of a hard and fast one in this vein?
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I am hoping to read housebound in a month or two. I am very much looking forward to it!
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That’s great! I hope you enjoy it!
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Thanks for sharing your best reads. I’ll keep these lists in mind. Have a wonderful 2014!
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You too, Arti! Happy New Year!
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Love your choices! Couldn’t agree more for Bluets. Beautiful Ruins and Fierce Attachments. I loved them all. I have – as you may imagine! – quite a few mentioned on your lists to read in 2014, which is something I am very delighted about. 🙂
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I’m eager to read more Maggie Nelson this year. She just so fabulous. And great news about having some of these books on your 2014 list!!
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Loved the Maria Semple, too. Great fun and cool cover.
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Agreed about the cover!
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Thank you for sharing your best of list. Love reading through these. I had Blankets on loan from the library and returned it unread. Darn! Have also seen the Semple book on several lists and I need to move that one up on my shelves. Here’s to a fabulous reading year!
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I definitely think you will like the Semple. The same is true for Blankets, and surely you can get it from the library again!
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