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The Bookworms’ Best of 2014
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
So many books, so little time.
It’s easy to feel that way when faced with an entire
bookstore full of possibilities. How do you pick? How do
you know what’s good?
Start here, with the Bookworm’s Best of 2014…
Let’s start with FICTION.
Throughout the year, every time something bad happens,
you’re reminded to hug the ones you love. Five Days
Left by Julie Lawson Timmer, the story of a woman
who is at the end stages of a terminal disease, and a man in
another state who has fallen in love with a child he’s
fostering, will actually make you want to do that. Bring
tissues. That’s all I’m saying.
My list wouldn’t be complete without my annual nod to
Emma Donoghue. Her novel Frog Music, a big
story of murder and lust set in 1870s San Francisco is a
must-read for this year. It’s a gauzy tale – in fact, it
seems at times like a dream, as though the main character,
Blanche Beunon has imagined the whole friendship she had
with Jenny Bonnet and the reason for Jenny’s death. Bonus:
it’s based loosely on a true event.
I almost guarantee that you won’t see The Last Time I
Died by Joe Nelms on any other Best Of list. It’s
here because it was one of those books that just struck me:
Christian Franco, a loser in life and love, learns that he
can re-visit his childhood by being brought back from the
edge of death. Early trauma left him with holes in his
memory. Reviving gave him answers. But he had to die again
and again and you won’t be able to put this book down until
you know what happens.
They say we all have a doppelganger, and Recognition
by O.H. Bennett is based on that idea: on a rainy night,
as a young widow heads home to pick up her son, she sees a
beggar who is her late husband’s double. Many years ago, he
went missing and was presumed drowned – but did he? You’ll
wonder, too...
And finally, a tie: A Wanted Woman by Eric Jerome
Dickey and I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes are
both thrillers; I couldn’t decide which I liked better. Be
aware that the Dickey book leans toward violence and
profanity, while the Hayes book is more espionage-like. Both
kept me on the edge of my seat for days…
And then there are my NON-FICTION PICKS…
The Baby Boom by P.J. O’Rourke will bring back memories for anyone
born between 1947 and 1964. O’Rourke recalls the usual
things that Boomers will remember – playing outside til
dark, getting that first Color TV – but the real appeal
comes when he finds something you’ve long-forgotten, and he
expounds upon it. This book is like time-travelling to your
childhood.
Lovers of the Old (or new) West will love Badluck Way
by Bryce Andrews, the story of cowboying, ranch life,
and the end of both. It’s also a tale of conservation:
wolves were a big problem on the ranch where Andrews worked,
and they cost his employer a good amount of money. But
where’s the happy medium between raising cattle and being a
steward to the land and its wildlife? This book doesn’t
have all the answers, but it’ll make you think.
I’m normally not a big fan of biographies that include
recreations, but Death of a King by Tavis Smiley
was a great exception. In this book, Smiley envisions
the last year of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: his
friendships, his dilemmas, the heartbreak he knew and
caused, the work he did, and that which he might’ve wished
he didn’t do. I liked this book because it’s thoughtful, and
because it makes Dr. King into an ordinary man. Smiley makes
King approachable.
If you’ve read other Best Of lists this year, you’ve
probably found Being Mortal by Atul Gawande there –
and for good reason. It’s about the end-of-life, aging, and
how medicine perceives both. Gawande urges readers to take
charge of the end of their lives. That’s powerful stuff, in
a powerful book.
And lastly, another tie: The Removers by Andrew
Meredith, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty,
and The Skeleton Crew by Deborah Halber all
deal with bodies. Dead ones. The Meredith book is a
father-son memoir in a coming-of-age way; the Doughty book
is a memoir about her years working in a crematory; and the
Halber book is about how everyday people spend their time
comparing missing persons lists with online lists of
unclaimed bodies. I liked ‘em all. I couldn’t decide …
And then my Best of CHILDREN’S BOOKS:
For the littlest kid, Don’t Push the Button by
Bill Cotter is a near-guaranteed gigglefest. There’s a
monster inside this book, and a red button. Whatever you do,
well, read the book with your favorite three-to-six-year old
and see.
Post-apocalyptic novels have been done to death, but
H2O by Virginia Bergin really struck me as unusual.
The premise of this book is that planetary dust has caused
contaminated rain. Anybody who gets wet dies – bloody,
painfully, and fast. That includes the heroine’s parents,
sibling, friends, neighbors, and everyone she loves. Or
maybe not, because there’s a wicked cliffhanger here and I
loved it.
I also liked Noggin by John Corey Whaley, a
disturbingly plausible book about a young man who’s
suffering a terminal illness. His only hope is to have his
head cryonically frozen and to wait for a donor body. But
can everybody in his life wait for him to return?
As I read Endangered by Jean Love Cush, I
wasn’t sure whether or not it was an adult book or a teen
read. I decided it was both: it’s the story of a young teen
who gets arrested for a murder he didn’t commit, but it’s
also the story of his mother, who tackles the justice
system, the law, and everything she never thought she’d have
to deal with on behalf of her son. Timely and sobering, this
is another one of those books you just can’t put down.
And finally, Skink No Surrender by Carl
Hiaasen is a great way to introduce your teen to the
humor of this adult author. In this book, a teen goes
missing and it’s up to her cousin and a
Vietnam-veteran-former-mayor-possibly-insane-conservation-minded
madman to find her. What’s not to like, hm?
And there you are: 15 books you just can’t miss. The Best of
the Year.
Happy Reading! |
