Best Books of 2013

The New York Times has released its list of the top ten books of the year, a Christmas tradition that started in 1968. The fiction choices include Americanah, the third novel of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which takes a tragicomic look at American race relations through the eyes of a young Nigerian immigrant, and The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kusner, a story of how the social forces of the 1970s affect a young woman who moves to New York to become an artist.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt; Life after Life by Kate Atkinson; and Tenth of December, a series of short stories by George Sanders, are also included in the list.

For the non-fiction category, it is interesting to see that none of the numerous books written on the Kennedy administration and his assassination made the list. The selected books touch on topics from World War I to the Bush-Cheney administration, the 2008 financial meltdown, and the ravages of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 tsunami.

For the full text of the article (including an animated short video), please see
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/boo....