02 December 2013

The NYT Top 100 Notable Books: What did you read? What got left out?

JLaw loves book lists, too!
'Tis the season for book lists.  Is everybody else as excited as I am?  No?  Why on earth not?  Every year, The New York Times issues a list of 100 notable books published that year.  I should specify for adults, that is.  There is a separate list that celebrates notable children's books. Like any list, there's a percentage of titles that I agree with and a certain number that I'm outraged over their exclusion.  I wish I know how titles got on the list.  There are more than 100 adult titles that got rave reviews from the Times over the last 11 months. And what happens to those books published in December?  Are they just not considered at all?

This year as I was reading the list, it felt like I'd read a LOT of the titles and I started to feel perhaps a little too pleased with myself. Then I actually counted the titles and it was only 16. Not to brag about my mad math skills or anything, but I can tell what percentage of 100 that those sixteen titles make without even using a calculator. In other words, 16 titles ain't squat for someone in my vocation (bookselling) or avocation (blogging, though avocation is putting it a bit strongly. okay, a LOT strongly).

Here are the titles in alphabetical order that I read, with nonfiction at the end. I  conclude with two  that I gave the ol' college try and just couldn't get anywhere with.

1. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat
3. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena* by Anthony Marra
4. The Dinner by Herman Koch
5. The Goldfinch* by Donna Tartt
6. The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer
7. Longbourn by Jo Baker
8. The Lowland* by Jhumpa Lahiri
9. A Marker to Measure Drift* by Alexander Maksik
10. Schroder by Amity Gaige
11. The Son* by Philipp Meyer
12. The Two Hotel Francforts by David Leavitt
13. We Need New Names by Noviolet Bulawayo
14. The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud
15. Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink
16. My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor

*These books will likely make my personal Top Ten list for 2013, which I've clearly not compiled yet because, hello, I will be reading books in December, unlike The New York Times.

17. The End of the Point by Elizabeth Graver -- ugh, not for me
18. Someone by Alice McDermott -- ugh, really not for me

If I had to pick one title that I'm gobsmacked wasn't included on the list, I'd go with Ruth Ozeki's excellent novel, A Tale for the Time Being, which was one of the best books I've read this year. On the other hand, my favorite book this year, The Rosie Project, I am not at all surprised to see not make the cut. There are works of fiction on this list that I don't believe are worthy of inclusion, but I won't name them here because I *perhaps* have met these folks (or will meet them one day) and don't want to burn any bookselling bridges.

So what about you, dear reader?  Check out this link and tell me which books you read, if any, and which books should have been included in your impeccable estimation!