What is the best number? By the way, there's only one correct answer.

It's the most wonderful time of the year! When everyone posts their best-of lists. And of course, I have to add to the onslaught.

This is a tough list to put together, because I have a lot of books to choose from. (108. I'm bragging).

So without further ado, here are the best books I have read this year. Go get yourself a copy immediately! (Unless you are a member of my family. In which case, don't spoil your Christmas gift!).

***

Category: Non-Fiction

Best Life Story

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

Runner up: Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff

Best Life Guide

Anti-Cancer by David Servan-Schreiber

Best Sociological Exploration

Quiet by Susan Cain

Runner up: Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

Full List of Non-fiction Titles

Shadows at Dawn by Karl Jacoby
Quiet by Susan Cain
Everything Changes by Kairol Rosenthal
Anti-Cancer by David Servan-Schreiber
The Sense of Style by Steven Pinker
Cancer by Greg Anderson
Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips by Kris Carr
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Evolution of God by Robert Wright
Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink
Cheating Death by Sanjay Gupta
The Shallows by Nicholas Carr
Stiff by Mary Roach
The Art Detective by Philip Mould
Ambition and Desire by Kate Williams
Drive by Daniel H. Pink
Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss
Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
Nothing Daunted by Dorothy Wickenden

***

Category: Spirituality


Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hahn




Full List of Spirituality Titles
How To Expand Love by the Dalai Lama
Comfortable with Uncertainty by Pema Chodron
No Time to Lose by Pema Chodron
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hahn
The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer

***

Category: Memoir


I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai




Full List of Memoir Titles
I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
Two or Three Things I Know for Sure by Dorothy Allison
Tracks by Robyn Davidson
Shakespeare Saved My Life by Laura Bates
Spinster by Kate Bolick
Blackout by Sarah Hepola

***

Category: Self-Help


Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Runner up: Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin




Full List of Self-Help Titles
Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Thinking for a Change by John C. Maxwell
Rising Strong by Brene Brown
Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

***

Category: Classic Fiction


The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins



Full List of Class Fiction Titles
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Emily of New Moon by LM Montgomery
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Winnie the Pooh and the House at Pooh Corner by AA Milne
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
The Tempest by William Shakespeare

***

Category: Young Adult Fiction


The Song of the Lioness Series
Alanna, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce



Full List of Young Adult Titles
Paper Towns by John Green
Alanna, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce
If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman

***

Category: Fiction

Best Post-Apocalyptic Novel


Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel



Best World War II Novel


All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr



Best Family Drama


Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

Runner-up: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler



Best Swedish Novel


A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman

Runner up: The Hundred-Year-Old Man who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson



Full List of Fiction Titles
The Eight by Katherine Neville
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin
Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen
The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
Rogues edited by George R.R. Martin
The Violets of March by Sarah Jio
Magic Bites, Magic Burns, Magic Strikes, Magic Bleeds, Magic Slays, Magic Rises, and Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews
Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
The Look of Love by Sarah Jio
Stoner by John Williams
Adultery by Paul Coehlo
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Sherlockian by Graham Moore
Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
Tenth of December by George Saunders
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
Calico Joe by John Grisham
Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloane
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Dear Life by Alice Munro
The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore
Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
The Hundred-Year-Old Man who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
God Help the Child by Toni Morrison
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula LeGuin
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman
The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood

When in doubt, go to the library.

*****

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Blunt
Format: Audiobook

The Story: The story of a family told by 14 year old June, the youngest daughter. As the story opens, her Uncle Finn, who she loves, dies of AIDS. She watches how her family reacts and feels alone in her grief, because of their difficulty dealing with her uncle's homosexuality. A few months pass and June discovers that Finn had a partner that she never met, a man named Toby. The two become friends, joined by their memories of Finn and their grief.

The Review:
So excellent. I really enjoyed this book. It's got a cast of very real characters, dealing with very real emotions. It is interesting to watch how each of them process their grief and how they both reach for and reject each other.

It's also an interesting look at the AIDS epidemic in the 1980's. It's set in the late 80s and June comments that on the news one night they see that the FDA is approving medication to treat AIDS. Except it is 6 months too late to save her uncle. For me it was an interesting insight into how AIDS was treated and the big shift to how it is treated now.

I recommend it.

*****

The Evolution of God by Robert Wright
Format: Audiobook

The Story:
This is a non-fiction sociological look at how societies have defined their gods through known history.

The Review:
I found this really interesting at the beginning. Wright began with all kinds and types of tribes and communities, and broke down what we know about them from artifacts and records. And then he discussed their worship practices and who/what they thought god/God was. These societies are so interesting because they are using gods and the supernatural to explain the world they lived in. And it's so understandable. Even in the movie "Twister" they say an F5 tornado is "the finger of God." So of course these early humans would have needed some way to understand the world.

But I lost interest halfway through when Wright took to breaking down the Bible to understand those societies and their definitions of god/God. At first it was interesting. But then it just really dragged on and on.

I don't really recommend it, unless you are super in to this sort of thing.

*****

Tenth of December by George Saunders
Format: Audiobook

The Story:
A collection of short stories.

The Review:
These were so great. I enjoy short stories (although they are incredibly difficult to review). Saunders is clever. These are well-written and are full of interesting characters and unexpected plotlines.

I recommend it.

Have you seen my Balzac? … Have you seen my Dickens? … Have you seen my Longfellow?

Audiobooks!




The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
Format: Audiobook

The Story: The true story of the crew team from the University of Washington that went to the 1936 Olympic games. Brown, the author, is invited to meet Joe Rantz, who is in the present dying. Rantz begins to tell Brown his story, the story of the eight other men he rowed with and the boat.

The Review: This is a beautiful book. It's a fascinating story. We follow Joe's early life and the struggles he lives through with his family after his mother dies and his father remarries and they struggle through difficult economic times. Joe learns to work to support himself, but decides that he will go to college. For him the way to survive college at the University of Washington is to make the crew team.

As the story shifts to the University, we meet the eight other men who make up Joe's team, and more importantly to Joe, we meet the boat. And the boatmaker. I was amazed at the descriptions of the boat and how difficult it is to row because of the balance required. But this team starts winning.

It is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it.

*****

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore
Format: Audiobook

The Story: This is a mystery that centers around a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle legend. Doyle kept journals, but the journal that would cover the time when Doyle decided to resurrect Sherlock Holmes after he killed him off is missing. It is the holy grail of the Holmes fanatics. This mystery gets tangled up with a murder and both must be solved.

The Review: Can I be honest? I listened to this after one of my surgeries this summer. I don't know if I really slept through the entire thing, or if it's the meds, but I have no memory of this book. I have no idea what happened. I don't know if it was interesting. I really just don't remember.

*****

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Format: Audiobook

The Story: Gladwell examines the point that turns something into a trend. His examples range from an unpopular shoe being picked up by a few kids and then spreading to become the shoe everyone has to have, to the spread of suicide among teens.

The Review: This is a good read and listen. Gladwell is engaging and has tons of examples to prove his point.

If you've never read it, I recommend it.

*****

Life of Pi by
Format: Audiobook

The Story: Pi Patel leaves India with his family and the animals from their zoo. There is a terrible storm and the ship they are all on sinks, leaving Pi as the only survivor in a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, a gorilla, and a tiger named Richard Parker.

The Review: This is a reread and a new listen for me. This is a great book. It is beautifully written. I love Pi as the narrator. He is so introspective and thoughtful even while he must do everything he can to keep himself alive in a lifeboat.

The narration of this was also great. It was easy to listen to.