Best Reads in 2016

[Lilisa]

What were your Best Reads in 2016?

[Lilisa]

I can't believe 2016 is winding down! It's that time of the year to look back and share your best reads of 2016. Here's my list:

People of the Book
A Gentleman in Moscow
The White Tiger
The Gift of Rain
A Great Reckoning
Daughter Of Earth And Water: A Biography Of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Without question my top pick for my ATW challenge is Songs At the River's Edge: Stories From a Bangladeshi Village, followed by A Fine Balance. At the end of the year, and about 1200 pages into my current book (only about 100 to go!!), I think I will be happy to say goodbye to the Indian sub-continent for a while, and read more broadly in 2017.

Having said that, a few notable reads from other challenges in 2016 have been:
Why You Are Australian: A Letter to My Children - Australia...
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos - Sydney/New York/Holland
A Little Life - New York
Eleven - London
Bitter Greens - Italy

[Lilisa]

I will have to check out your top pick of the year Andrea. And glad you enjoyed AFB - one of my favorites. Which region of the world is next on your list?

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Lilisa wrote: "Which region of the world is next on your list?"

I think I will go a bit freerange in 2017 - I may not even compile a list (gasp!). I'll set a target though.

Actually I've just got home from another long visit to Nepal, and I've collected a few more recommendations from there, so that might be my starting point.

[Lilisa]

:-) hope you had a great visit. You are almost Nepali now! I'll watch out for your new titles.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I have a few favorites from the year, and several stem from my intentional focus on Africa:

The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane (Mozambique)
The January Children by Safia Elhillo (Northern Sudan)
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien (China/Canada)
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Vietnam)
Forty Rooms by Olga Grushin (Russia)

[Claire]

My Favourite Fiction Reads from 2016, with the first one listed being my Outstanding Read of 2016:

The Bridge of Beyond by Simone Schwarz-Bart (Guadeloupe)
Human Acts by Han Kang (South Korea)
Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi (Egypt)
Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante (Italy)
What Lies Between Us by Nayomi Munaweera (Sria Lanka)
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (US)

[Claire]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I have a few favorites from the year, and several stem from my intentional focus on Africa:

The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane (Mozambique)
[book:The January Ch..."

Oh great, I have two of those on the shelf to read in 2017, the Madeleine Thien and Viet Thanh Nguyen, looking forward to them. The others I haven't heard out, will check out your reviews.

[Aleks]

My favorite from 2016 was Shantaram

[Val]

These were not part of a challenge, but they are international and I enjoyed reading them all.
(Several are from the Man Booker International Prize.)
Submission by Michel Houellebecq
Selection Day by Aravind Adiga
A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa
Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal
Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
White Hunger by Aki Ollikainen
Dear Mr M by Herman Koch
The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah
Laurus by Evgenij Vodolazkin
A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
Minaret by Leila Aboulela
The Bones of Grace by Tahmima Anam

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Aleks wrote: "My favorite from 2016 was Shantaram"

I still need to read this one! I feel like I loaned it to a co-worker... hmm....

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Val wrote: "These were not part of a challenge, but they are international and I enjoyed reading them all.
(Several are from the Man Booker International Prize.)
Submission by [author:Michel Ho..."

Great list. I meant to put The Vegetarian on my list too.

[Shomeret]

My favorite international reads for 2016:

Everfair alternate Congo
The Book of Esther alternate Khazaria
Ink and Bone alternate UK and Egypt
Night in Shanghai US and China
Rebel Queen India
Honorary White South Africa

[Pauline]

My international favorites this year (in no particular order) were:
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors Argentina
The Husband's Secret Australia
Behind Closed Doors England
The Auschwitz Escape Poland
One Child: The Story of China's Most Radical Experiment China
Swimming at Night Indonesia
Never Fall Down Cambodia

[Rusalka]

My best international reads last year were:

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World for Japan
A Thousand Splendid Suns for Afghanistan.

I did have lots of 4 stars though.

For those of you that can count Australia as international, another 5 star read was The Natural Way of Things