36. A book featured on an NPR Best Books of the Year list

[Bryony]

The United States National Public Radio (NPR) publishes an annual list of best books of the year. The list includes books from a variety of genres. The 2018 list is expected to be published in December. For this week, read a book included in the list in any year.

Suggestions:
NPR 2017 best books of the year - lists for earlier years are linked to from this page.

Note for European group members
Many members of the group who live in Europe have reported that the NPR website seems to be unavailable to them. Peter has very kindly compiled a list of all the books on the 2015, 2016 and 2017 lists, including links to the Goodreads page for each book. You can see the list here. Alternatively, there is the option of replacing the NPR list with a similar list published by a national radio station in your own country.

Optional questions:
- What are you reading this week?
- Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists?
- Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read?

[Serendipity]

I've gone the non-fiction route and plumped for Mozart's Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. It was on the list in 2017.

[Pam]

My #1 choice is The Goldfinch.

[dalex]

There are so many excellent books on these lists that I have about a bazillion choices for this prompt! I will probably read Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg. It's a book that I want to read in 2019 that doesn't quite fit any of the other prompts so this seems like a good spot to place it.

[Nadine in NY]

There are a lot of good books here. Since this category doesn't really push me to read something different, I'm going to use it to read one of N.K. Jemisin's "Fifth Season" trilogy (all three of the books make an appearance here, I think), so I'll probably check this box with The Obelisk Gate.

[Tracy]

Narrowed it down to 2 ( I think there were more but I may've used them for other prompts)

Her Body and Other Parties and The Best We Could Do

[Angie]

My options:



I'm leaning toward M Train or Spoonbenders.

[Melanie]

Angie wrote: "My options:

[bookcover:Spoonbenders|32827..."

Little Fires Everywhere is incredible. Celeste Ng in general is incredible. I very highly recommend both her books.

[Angie]

Melanie wrote: "Angie wrote: "My options..."


I read Everything I Never Told You for the challenge this year, and I loved it. I'm really looking forward to using Little Fires Everywhere for something next year. I' glad to hear it is good. I always worry about authors who have a great book and wonder if the next one will be good. I thought I might use it for the fire prompt this year, but the queue at the library is too long.

[Melanie]

Angie wrote: "Melanie wrote: "Angie wrote: "My options..."


I read Everything I Never Told You for the challenge this year, and I loved it. I'm really looking forward to using [book:Little Fires..."

I adored Everything I Never Told You. I get nervous when I'm reading an author's sophomore effort, but Little Fires was every bit as good. Well, maybe slightly less, as I bawled my way through Everything I Never Told You and didn't through Little Fires, but a few degrees shy of brilliance is still a very good book. It's also one of those books where you get to enjoy spotting the title in the work.

[Nadine in NY]

Melanie wrote: "... It's also one of those books where you get to enjoy spotting the title in the work. ..."


LOL!! I always like when that happens! I think to myself, And we have title!"

[Ron]

The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu. It includes N, P, and R in the title.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I much preferred Everything I Never Told You to Little Fires Everywhere. I might be in the minority on that one though... i just thought Little Fires Everywhere fell flat. The characterization wasn't as good.

[Serendipity]

I wouldn't say the minority. It sounds like I enjoyed Little Fire more than you but I definitely thought Everything I Never Told You was much better.

[Martha]

NPR's 2018 list is now available.

[Pam]

I just added another 15 possibilities from the 2018 list!

[Cendaquenta]

Okay, here's my options:

(view spoiler)[2017 list: An Unkindness of Ghosts, Autonomous, Days Without End, A Face Like Glass, House of Names, The Leavers, Norse Mythology, The Stone Sky, The Strays

2016 list: The Gustav Sonata, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae, The Romanovs: 1613-1918, Swing Time, The Winged Histories

2015 list: The Argonauts, NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently, Sorcerer to the Crown, The Witches: Salem, 1692

2014 list: Citizen: An American Lyric

2013 list: Men We Reaped: A Memoir (hide spoiler)]

And I guess I'm gonna have to wait for the 2018 list to be posted on the relevant thread here...

Ed.: Okay, 2018 options.
(view spoiler)[Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo", How Long 'til Black Future Month?: Stories, The Library Book, Sea Prayer, The Silence of the Girls, Space Opera (hide spoiler)]

[Lauren]

I will probably be reading A Conspiracy in Belgravia

The first book in the series, A Study in Scarlet Women, is also on the list (2016) and is excellent.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Here is a link to the 2018 list!

[Nadine in NY]

Their 2018 list is an odd one from my pov. Of the 319 books, I've read only 15, dnf'ed 1, and have 15 on my TBR. I guess it's because they are covering all the bases, from cook books to memoirs to fiction to picture books, and more, and I don't read all those types.

[Mom2triplets04]

I'm going with one that I purchased yet didn't have time to read

Far from the tree

[SadieReadsAgain]

@dalex, thanks for those lists! I'm another one going for Everything I Never Told You, which was on the 2014 list.

[Nathalie]

My first book of the year - One of 2018 : Becoming by Michelle Obama.

Happy to try this challenge for the first time!

[Charlotte]

What are you reading this week?
I just finished That Kind of Mother by Rumaan AlamThat Kind of Mother. Its on the 2018 list.

- Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists?

I do like some "best books lists". this year, I looked at the Modern Mrs Darcy List, the New York times list, Goodreads, and Oprah's list.
- Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read?
Several, I've got Michelle Obama's Becoming, Meg Wolitzer's Female Persuasion and a few others on my TBR!

[Angie]

- What are you reading this week? The Dead Mountaineer's Inn by the Strugatsky Brother, a 2015 pick
- Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists? I do like lists, because it helps narrow things down a bit. I have no favorite lists, but I will probably revisit the NPR one.
- Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read? So many. The Martian, Little Fires Everywhere, Spoonbenders, M Train

[MN]

I read Transcription, by Kate Atkinson for the week 36 topic. I'd thoroughly enjoyed all Atkinson's books, so was pleased to find good reason to read this one ASAP.

I hadn't used NPR lists before, but there were so many treats on the 2018 list I'll certainly use this one for inspiration.

[Courtney]

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett off of the 2016 best books list

[Evelyn]

- What are you reading this week?
Educated

- Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists?
Yes I love using best books lists and my favorites are Amazon, NPR, and Goodreads.

- Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read?
There is some that I would love to read Space Opera, Severance, Girls Burn Brighter, The Poet X, and The Kiss Quotient.

[Andrea]

For this challenge, I read H Is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. I noticed this title upon reviewing the 2015 NPR list and selected it because it has been one of the top books on my TBR shelf.

There are many books on these lists that I have read, and many of which I still have yet to read. Perhaps I will do what I do with many lists—turn it into a challenge!

[Kathy]

What are you reading this week?
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists?
I like looking at "best books" lists but I don't really follow any certain list.

Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read?
Yes, 1947: Where Now Begins, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, The Silence of the Girls and many more.

[Marilyn]

I recently finished reading THE FRIEND by Sigrid Nunez. Besides the nod as an NPR List book, it was also a National Book Award winner. I was disappointed. I found it depressing. There were other reasons, which I note in my Review on GR - but I also note its good points. Perhaps just not a book I should've read in the coldest, worst month of the year!

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

- What are you reading this week? Into the Raging Sea: Thirty-Three Mariners, One Megastorm, and the Sinking of El Faro
- Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists? I do- esp NYT
- Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read? Some but for some reason, this is a list I rarely find much on

[Emily]

What are you reading this week?

The Hate U Give

Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists?

I tend to get books from Booktube rather than any lists, but I do look at the NYT betsellers list sometimes.

Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read?

I'm sure there were, but I picked this book several weeks ago, so can't remember what they were.

[Jen]

I had to read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine for my FTF book club and someone suggested that it would fit this prompt. Since it is not my type of book that at least makes it a little more worthwhile reading it. It was OK but not my thing.

[Angela]

What are you reading this week?
Home Fire, by Kamila Shamsie


Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists?
Occasionally I’ll have a look at a list when it features in the media, but I don’t normally base my reading choices on them.

Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read?
Quite a few did grab my interest.

[Pam]

- What are you reading this week?
From the 2018 list: Educated by Tara Westover

- Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists?
No, mostly because I already have a huge TBR.

- Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read?
Of course! I can't look at a list without adding something.

[Kim]

What are you reading this week? What We Lose: A Novel by Zinzi Clemmons
Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists? NYTimes Best Sellers
- Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read? Probably, but I can't remember what they are since it was several months ago

[Joan]

- What are you reading this week? The Circle - It was on the 2013 list.
- Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists? I like looking at different lists and if I see a book on multiple lists then I generally make a mental note that I want to read it.
- Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read? Yes there were so many books on the list that it is hard not to find others that you are interested in.

[Beth]

I was spoiled for choice with this prompt - so many options on my TBR! In the end I decided on Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney from the 2017 list.

[Lisa]

What are you reading this week? I read My Sister, the Serial Killer (which I wasn’t a fan of).
- Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists? I’ve never done it before this year and then only because of prompts like this. There have been some hits and some misses.
- Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read? Yes- several.

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[Rose]

Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession by Alison Weir

[Karissa]

What are you reading this week? Milkman by Anna Burns
Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists? Sometimes. I've used NPR's and NYT's year-end top ten list.
Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read? Yes, a lot.

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

What are you reading this week? The Dry (Not my usual genre, but I see why it's such a hyped book. Very absorbing!)

Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists? No, I might occasionally browse a list like that if I run across it, but I don't generally need much help keeping my TBR overstocked.

Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read? Probably a few, but I had a terrible time finding one from the list on my already owned TBR -- I think The Dry might have been the only one from the list that also met that personal challenge goal for me.

[Debra]

I read The Ocean at the End of the Lane 1/21/19

[dalex]

For this topic I read The Strays by Emily Bitto, which was on the 2017 list. I very much enjoyed this "hauntingly powerful story about the fierce friendship between three sisters and their friend as they grow up on the outskirts of their parents' wild and bohemian artistic lives" (to quote the synopsis).

I love the yearly NPR lists. It's the end-of-the-year list that I most anticipate, to either discover new books or to provide motivation to read books I've added to my TBR.

[Celia]

- What are you reading this week?
Becoming
- Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists?
Yes; The NYTimes Best Books
- Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read?
I have already read The Immortalists. I briefly reviewed the list of over 300 books. I did not see anything else I want to read. In fact, I read Listen to the Marriage and did not like it at all. 2 stars

[Jill]

What are you reading this week?
I read Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists?
Some of the lists appeal to me , but not all

Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read?
Yes. Some I had read but some I hope to read

[Samantha]

- What are you reading this week? Severance
- Do you like using “best books” lists to help you choose books, and if so what are your favourite lists? Not generally
- Were there any other books on the list that you’d like to read? I didn't really look at too many options and not sure how I decided on this one, it is not at all what I expected.

[Sarah]

I think I had something else picked for this prompt, I read this for school and plan on reading it to my students.

I read Amina's Voice by Hena Khan. A light beautiful story.




I do like choosing books off "best book" lists, partly because I tend to pick by a book by it's cover or title. I dislike lists by famous people who have 'book clubs'; they seem fake.
Choices off this list (unread) that I have in my house right now:


Some other choices off this list:


Books on the list I've already read:

This is amazing and I highly, highly recommend it!

[Marie]

I read Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan.

No, I don't like using "best books" lists. I don't know who chose the books on this list, so why would I value their opinion? I never even heard of NPR before this prompt. Is this connected to a show about books, did DJs/presenters add books they enjoyed, or do the listeners vote? If I was a listener, I'd probably feel a connection to the list, but without that it's pretty meaningless.

With any list of this type, I just look for books on there that I already want to read, I'd never use them to pick a book I'd never heard of before.