LJ Best Books 2010: More of the Best
By Bette-Lee Fox, Margaret Heilbrun, Barbara Hoffert, Anna Katterjohn, Heather McCormack, Michael Rogers, and Wilda Williams Nov 18, 2010More books are arguably published now than ever before, so we couldn't bear to limit our best-of picks to the top ten. Chew, then, on these 18 additions: more outstanding fiction and nonfiction also worthy of your sweet time and attention.
FICTION
Egan, Jennifer. A Visit from the Good Squad. Knopf. ISBN 9780307592835. $25.95.
"Time is a goon" goes a favorite line in this cerebral, punk rock-infused tale of interlocking lives set around the world. By chronicling the acute growing pains of Bennie Salazar, Sasha, and company, we see that humiliation—whether by our own hands or others—is not a choice but a prerequisite for human consciousness. Stumble and recover alongside these characters. (LJ 4/15/10)
Grossman, David. To the End of the Land. Knopf. ISBN 9780307592972. $26.95.
When her son up and reenlists in the Israeli army, Ora avoids the waiting and wondering by going ahead with the hike in the Galilee the two had planned—leaving her cell phone behind. Her journey, with flashbacks to another terrible battle, deftly, bravely, and beautifully illuminates the horror of war and its consequences. (LJ 8/10)
Grunwald, Lisa. The Irresistible Henry House. Random. ISBN 9781400063000. $25.
Henry House arrives in the world as a 1940s practice baby, earning his title of "irresistible" by learning early in life how to please eight different mothers. He's a master at keeping women engaged without showing a preference. Grunwald's sweeping novel captures the tumult of the mid-20th century as it follows Henry's quest to find his true self—and love. (LJ 11/15/09)
Machart, Bruce. The Wake of Forgiveness. Houghton Harcourt. ISBN 9780151014439. $26.
One dark night in 1895 Texas, Karel Skala must ride his family's best horse in a race against the daughter of a wealthy and powerful Spanish horse breeder; the outcome will blight the family forever. This taut, muscular, gloriously written novel marks the debut of a major writer. (LJ 7/10)
Mengestu, Dinaw. How To Read the Air. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). ISBN 9781594487705. $25.95.
Mengestu's first novel (The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears) was accomplished enough. Fluid, heartbreaking, and utterly engrossing, this second novel is an extraordinary leap forward. As Jonas reconstructs a trip taken by his immigrant parents, we come to understand life's constant departures—and what we travel toward as well. (LJ 6/1/10)
O'Hagan, Andrew. The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe. Houghton Harcourt. ISBN 9780151013722. $24.
Don't let the Maltese canine narrator scare you off—"Maf," as he's affectionately known by his actress owner, comes at you with the style, grace, and urbanity of Balzac after two martinis. The point here isn't Monroe's tragic end but human beings' panoply of flaws and triumphs—and the heartbreaking sensitivity of the animals all around them. (LJ 10/15/10)
Perkins-Valdez, Dolen. Wench. Amistad: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780061706547. $24.99.
Every summer, three slave mistresses vacation with their Southern white masters at a resort in the free state of Ohio. When a newcomer, the rebellious Mawu, talks about running away, the women face difficult choices. Drawing on a forgotten piece of history for inspiration, Perkins-Valdez's memorable and engaging debut challenges readers to take a fresh look at the "peculiar institution" of slavery. (LJ 12/09)
Stuart, Julia. The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise. Doubleday. ISBN 9780385533287. $24.95.
Bleak times have fallen on the Tower of London's residents until a royal decree to house the Queen's menagerie may be just the thing to mend their broken hearts. This charming, witty, and heartfelt novel will delight Anglophiles. (LJ 6/15/10)
NONFICTION
Arngrim, Alison. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned To Love Being Hated. It: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780061962141. $25.99.
It may be because of rather than despite a lifetime of being loathed for her onscreen personality that Arngrim is an immensely likable narrator. She hilariously portrays 1970s Hollywood among a family of actors—living in the Chateau Marmont and making soup from KFC chicken bones. Arngrim has no shame in bowing to the B-list celebrity gods and opens the door to the Little House in order to promote activism for people with HIV and abuse survivors.
Bailey, Elisabeth Tova. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating. Algonquin. ISBN 9781565126060. $18.95.
Who could believe that a book about a sickly, bedridden woman and a snail would be the charmer of the year? Bailey here recounts how a snail brought in from her garden became her companion and savior through her convalescence. She mixes her own story with multiple factoids about snails from a remarkable array of resources. Handled by a less gifted writer, this would bore, but readers will fall in love. (LJ 8/10)
Biddle, Daniel R. & Murray Dubin. Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America. Temple Univ. ISBN 9781592134656. $35.
Deeply researched, handsomely written, this narrative reminds us of the struggle for civil rights, fought against streetcar segregation and voter exclusion in the face of angry white majorities, scores of years before the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Octavius Catto (1839-71) was a Philadelphia school teacher, orator, and sportsman, founder of the city's first black baseball club, and a martyr to the cause for African American rights, here given his due by two gifted veteran journalists. (LJ 6/15/10)
Deutscher, Guy. Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages. Metropolitan: Holt. ISBN 9780805081954. $28.
Homer was fond of "rosy fingered dawn" and the "wine dark sea." Why did he go for those red tones and never once remark on the sky being blue? In Deutscher's elegant, erudite, and charming book, the exploration of language's relationship to culture and thought—and the history of our study of linguistics—is rendered entirely accessible and, yes, even entrancing. (LJ 8/10)
Gabriel, Sarah. Eating Pomegranates: A Memoir of Mothers, Daughters, and the BRCA Gene. Scribner. ISBN 9781439148198. $25.
At 19, British journalist Gabriel survived the trauma of her mother's death from ovarian cancer. She submitted to gene testing when it became available and, upon testing positive for a mutation, had her ovaries prophylactically removed. A year later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. With grace and equanimity, Gabriel exquisitely reveals how a disease can ravage families and force mothers and daughters to reevaluate their lives and question their futures. (BookSmack! 1/21/10; "Editors' Spring Picks," LJ 2/15/10)
Gorant, Jim. The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick's Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption. Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). ISBN 9781592405503. $26.
Everyone remembers with horror the discovery of the Bad Newz Kennels, but do we know what happened to the dogs? In an act of exemplary reporting, Gorant not only details the case but also shows that virtually all the dogs have been rehabilitated—some even serve as therapy animals. Riveting, heartbreaking, and, yes, finally hopeful. (LJ 8/10)
Rinzler, J.W. The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Del Rey: Ballantine. ISBN 9780345509611. $85.
When Rinzler released 2007's wonderful The Making of Star Wars, fans hoped and prayed for a follow-up on Empire, everyone's hands-down fave of the saga. And, boy, did he deliver. The book not only offers a thorough chronicle of the film's technical creation, but it also sports tons of behind-the-scenes tidbits. The comprehensive text is matched by more than 1200 blow-your-fanboy-mind-like-the-Death-Star pix. (LJ 7/10)
Roach, Mary. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. Norton. ISBN 9780393068474. $25.95.
While one normally pictures astronauts as steely-nerved adrenaline fiends ready to laugh in the face of death, today's space shuttle crews are scientists and engineers and not always ideally suited to hurtling through space. With her signature humor, Roach thoroughly investigates what it takes to get off the ground, stay sane over long missions, and how to safely barf in zero gravity. What more could you want? (LJ 7/10)
Shelden, Michael. Mark Twain: Man in White: The Grand Adventure of His Final Years. Random. ISBN 9780679448006. $30.
This centennial year of Mark Twain's death brought several studies of the man and his works, with Shelden's proving the most engrossing. Shelden gives us a full portrait of Samuel Langhorne Clemens in his final Mark Twain iteration as a man in a white suit, who, from December 1906 until his death in April 1910, partook of all that the new century had to offer, even as he reckoned with loss and potential ruin. (LJ 2/1/10)
Smith, Patti. Just Kids. Ecco: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780066211312. $27.
Punk rock legend Smith arguably perfected bohemian fame in 1970s New York with the love and admiration of her artistic soul mate, Robert Mapplethorpe. A valentine to their unbreakable bond through the hazes of poverty, success, and AIDS, this plays like a silent film, with Smith's spare, impressionistic language leaving etches on your memory. (Xpress Reviews, 11/20/09)
This article originally appeared in the newsletter BookSmack! Click here to subscribe.
