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Best of 2016 list
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I have to say The Regional Office Is Under Attack! piques my curiosity even with it's low overall GR rating. The first several reviews were enjoyable to read. What can I say? I wouldn't mind a few "yippee ki yay motherf*cker" moments in my life right about now.
Having just finished A Beautiful Truth, this one also catches my eye.Greenidge’s debut novel, We Love You, Charlie Freeman, follows the Freemans, a black family invited by a New England research institute to live with and teach sign language to a chimpanzee (the eponymous Charlie). But the institute is not all that it appears to be, and both the pressures of the situation as well as the dark secrets of the institute’s past bring the Freeman family to a crisis. We Love You, Charlie Freeman engagingly explores family, race, and language with great insight and fearlessness.
Mod
Greenidge’s debut novel, We Love You, Charlie Freeman, follows the Freemans, a black family invited by a New E..."
That does sound like it might be interesting.
What did you think of A Beautiful Truth?
Denizen wrote: "I have to say The Regional Office Is Under Attack! piques my curiosity even with it's low overall GR rating. The first several reviews were enjoyable to read. What can I say? I woul..."I can recommend Wise Children for all the above.. Especially if you have a fair bit of Shakespeare's plays , knowledge. SUCH FUN !! Like a 'Pirates of Penzance' musical nonsense, escapism. (Except the stories are quite different.. hehe )
Dosha, there are 9 black authors on the Buzzfeed best of list. You might want to make sure you check it out. A few more well known titles that are already on my list but I thought Another Brooklyn looked particularly interesting.
Booknblues wrote: "Denizen wrote: "Having just finished A Beautiful Truth, this one also catches my eye.Greenidge’s debut novel, We Love You, Charlie Freeman, follows the Freemans, a black family in..."
That does sound like it might be interesting.
What did you think of A Beautiful Truth?
Hard book but I liked it. I did prefer We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. Loved the quirky characters and the moments of humor.
Watching Looee mature was like watching a train wreck about to happen. It breaks my heart thinking of animals that intelligent being caught between two worlds. I wonder how many people still get chimps for pets after that woman lost her face and hands 5+ years ago.
Of possible interest, summary of laws about owning great apes in the various US states: https://www.animallaw.info/site/great...
Mod
It was a hard book and incredibly sad. I've known people who work with chimps in research at UCDavis and this book really made me examine this research.
Along these lines but in a naturalistic setting is Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd. I think you would like it.
Booknblues wrote: "Denizen wrote: "Hard book but I liked it. I did prefer We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. Loved the quirky characters and the moments of humor."It was a hard book and incredibly sad. I've kn..."
I can't imagine working with chimps in a research setting. Are conditions more humane than the ones described in the book? Any enrichment?
I have Brazzaville Beach on my TBR. Checking just now, I see that 4 Crossroaders rated it 4 or 5 stars. I do need to move it up on my list.
Booknblues wrote: "Denizen wrote: "Hard book but I liked it. I did prefer We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. Loved the quirky characters and the moments of humor."It was a hard book and incredibly sad. I've kn..."
Really liked Brazzaville Beach and also We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Mod
It was a hard book and incr..."
I really don't know. I never asked those questions, unfortunately. Davis is a really well known research university and they train veterinarians as well, so I hope so, but the did have PETA protest them.
Mod
If you liked those you should try A Beautiful Truth. It has a different style and it is a more tragic story.
I have to say I was surprised by Truly Madly Guilty. I enjoyed the one Liane Moriarity I've read but didn't consider it best of year quality. GR friend reviews of TMG lead me to believe the same of this book.
I even find it a worry that a writer like Liane, is VOTED by avid readers as the best of the best... I think my tastes are down from 5% to 3... Very few of our library catalogue EBOOKS are my taste. However there are many classics to catch up on. Like the great find Wise Children and I had never heard of Angela Carter. Her other books and in fact life story, also sounds very interesting. A bold woman.
Oh my goodness!! 47,000 + ratings for Truly Madly Guilty... perhaps I am only 1: 47,000 of the reading population..."Best of 2016 list "What?
I don't know if this is a "best list", but here are the top 10 books checked out of the Boston Public Library in 2016:1. All the Light We Cannot See by Doerr, Anthony
was borrowed 1,898 times in 2016 from the BPL
2. The Girl on the Train by Hawkins, Paula
was borrowed 1863 times in 2016 from the BPL.
3. Diary of A Wimpy Kid Cabin Fever by Kinney, Jeff
was borrowed 1001 times in 2016 from the BPL.
4. Fates and Furies by Groff, Lauren
5. Between the World and Me by Coates, Ta-Nehisi
6. My Brilliant Friend Book One : Childhood, Adolescence by Ferrante, Elena
7. Go Set A Watchman by Lee, Harper
8. Wonder by Palacio, R. J.
9. The Boston Girl by Diamant, Anita
10. Luckiest Girl Alive by Knoll, Jessica
https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/list/sh...
Mod
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-...
http://graphics.wsj.com/image-grid/Wh...
They aren't letting me access the articles.
Mod
That's funny, I just read them and they aren't letting me either.
From last nights 10th Annual ABC end of year Book Club:The Book Club
2 mins ·
..
Readers of Australia, you have spoken! Your FIVE OF THE BEST books of 2016 were:
1. Fight Like a Girl – Clementine Ford
2. The Dry – Jane Harper
3. The Man in the Corner – Nathan Besser
4. The Good People – Hannah Kent
5. Everywhere I Look – Helen Garner
And, rounding out the top ten we have:
6. The Memory Artist – Katherine Brabon
7. Goodwood – Holly Throsby
8. Truly Madly Guilty – Liane Moriarty
9. Commonwealth – Ann Patchett
10. The Hate Race – Maxine Beneba Clark
#8 & 9 are the only 2 I recognize. Which have you read, Lesley?
1. Heard a talk with RN Books re No 1 and Clemmentine's Fight Like A Girl.. sounds as feisty as she did.2. also heard of 2 The Dry and ordered it via EBOOKS.
5. LOVE Helen Garner her The Spare Room is one of my all time favourites. What do we owe our friends when they are dying? Not yet read this one Everywhere I Look, but have read other very evenhanded non-fictions.
8. Nah.. don't like her writing.. Too chic-litty for me.
9 Wasn't mad about it. Commonwealth
Well, disappointing results, but , so for me, bears out my thoughts that my tastes are not mainstream. Liane Moriarty had the two top selling fiction books , above one and The Husband's Secret for the year.
The best-selling across the board was Andy GriffithsThe 78-Storey Treehouse and then the Harry Potter new one.. according to the booksellers.
Crossroads
Books mentioned in this topic
Commonwealth (other topics)The 78-Storey Treehouse (other topics)
Fight Like a Girl (other topics)
The Dry (other topics)
The Spare Room (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Liane Moriarty (other topics)Andy Griffiths (other topics)
Angela Carter (other topics)
http://kottke.org/16/12/the-best-book...