FoCo Readers discussion

What were your favorite reads of the year? Share with us what you loved and what you hated in your reading world (both bookclub and non-bookclub books).

Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland by Sarah Moss
Recommended those planning or thinking about visiting Iceland

The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City by David Lebovitz
Tells how Lebovitz, a pastry chef, moved to Paris from the US, his struggles and successes, includes recipes.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
A quick, fast-paced novel

Those sound great, Carol! I love David Lebovitz and am fascinated by Iceland and Greenland right now.

My favorites this year were probably Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, The Sandman Graphic Novels by Neil Gaiman, and Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Also really enjoyed The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.

Hard to narrow it down to a single favorite, but top few:
Extremely Loud and Incredible Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell
Comparative Mythology by Jaan Puhvel

Hated:
The Good Life by Jay McInerney
and a handful of shorter writings on rhetoric from the Enlightenment

Hmm... I really like Unfamiliar Fishes too. And I absolutely loved The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare. I also really liked Dune. The first real Science Fiction book that I read. Oh and I forgot The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Instant favorite.

I really dislike Oryx and Crake. I couldn't get passed the child abuse. It was probably really good though.

The books I think I simply had the most fun reading and lost myself the most in were The Time Machine by Wells, Around the World in 80 Days by Verne, The Man Who Was Thursday by Chesterton, and selected stories of Lovecraft.

The books that were most emotionally or intellectually impressive on the other hand were probably Go Tell It on the Mountain by Baldwin, and The Journey to the East by Hesse (this was actually a reread, but better the second time).

I just read W G Sebald's "Rings of Saturn" and loved it. Got it at WFP: don't know who donated it, but I am glad. It ended up being part of my Nature reading binge I did. And am still doing.

One of my favorites so far this year has been Why School?: Reclaiming Education for All of Us, which I had to read for a class. It is so well written you have no choice but to pay attention to what is being said.

Not school related; I fell in love with the new Ms. Marvel arc. It's funny and I really like how they handle the main character's internal struggle to fit in.

Still reeling from Essbaum's Hausfrau, which has led to a lot of psychoanalytic criticism readings, mostly Kristeva and Lacan. Reading Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, which I adore. Favorite so far this year is The Meadow by James Galvin.