I love broadsheets (I have to; one pays half my mortgage) but this weekend I read my way through the annual Best Books of 2011 features and found my jaw clenched so tight I feared for my tooth enamel.
Were they a smorgasbord of unheralded literary – and not so literary – delights? Did they enlighten me? Point me to places in Waterstones I might not otherwise have sought? Did they heck as like. The choices of of Margaret Drabble? Julian Barnes? Alan Hollinghurst? CHECK. Books by Julian Barnes? Alan Hollinghurst? Margaret Drabble? Ohhh yes. *pause for weary sigh *
Some lists were more imaginative, but the same names popped up with wearying regularity. Antonia Fraser and Andrew Motion, John Banville and Hilary Mantel… you get the picture. All of these people are amazing writers, yes. Their talent is indisputable; it’s no doubt why they make so many repeat appearances in these pages. But I can’t help feeling these features are a rather weary ring-round of the same old faces. They feel, to me at least, increasingly like an irrelevance, with no energy or surprises; a waste of an opportunity.
I thought of the books I’ve enjoyed this year; often books by people who don’t appear in the broadsheets. Where were the commercial novels, the funny books, the first novels, the graphic novels? Where was Caitlin Moran’s critically lauded feminist tract How To Be A Woman? Or Alan Partridge? Where were the phenomenally successful authors that we never see in these pages? Writers like Sophie Kinsella or Jodi Picoult? I’d LOVE to know what they are reading. I’d even like to know what Katie Price is reading. I’d actually be reassured to find that she actually reads books.
I’ve just read my way through 30-odd first novels for the Costa Book Awards, and many of them I have since pressed on people, delighted to have found amazing new voices, unheralded books I’d never have read otherwise. (I think I saw ONE of these in the books pages)
Taking all this into account, I thought I’d open the floor for some of my favourite writers – and readers – to submit their own. I’ve kicked off with some of my own (I’ll no doubt kick myself for those I’ve forgotten) Please do add to the list.
Mine: ( from the Costa Shortlist:)
City of Bohane by Kevin Barry: an extraordinary, rollicking and perfectly plotted swagger through a post-apocalyptic Irish turf war.
Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson: rich, gripping (and very funny) family saga told by a girl sent to live with her grandparents in Congo.
The Last 100 Days by Patrick McGuinness: If anyone had told me I would be gripped by a tale of Caucescu’s Romania I would have laughed. But this is a fascinating and wryly humorous tale of an innocent abroad.
Pao by Kerry Young, an epic tale of multicultural Jamaica and of a young man negotiating his way through its fledgling political system.
Excluding books by people I know (for obvious reasons), I also loved Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen, which made me laugh until my stomach hurt, Essie Fox’s The Somnambulist, and Charles Frazier’s Nightwoods, whose sentences I kept pulling apart just to study their brilliance.
I also really enjoyed the Alex Rider graphic novels, which I’ve been reading with my sons. Gripping and beautifully drawn.
Stella Duffy, author of Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore: “One of the novels I most enjoyed this year is Zoe Strachan’s novel “Ever Fallen in Love” (Sandstone Press) for many reasons, not least the smart pace and lovely writing, but also for its honesty about relationships (family and romantic), a welcome take on the university novel from a different class perspective (not about posh kids finding themselves at Oxbridge – woo hoo!) and for proving it is possible to set a ‘gay novel’ outside a major metropolis.”
Jenny Colgan, author of Meet Me At The Cupcake Café The book about the world economic crisis, Boomerang, by Michael Lewis, is gripping reading, and essential for anyone trying to get a grasp on where we are, financially speaking. The Big Short, his previous book, is even better. He’s an absolutely peerless journalist on the trail of the biggest story of his life.
The Pile of Stuff at the Bottom of the Stairs was funny, sad and compulsive, and SJ Watson’s Before I Go to Sleep was as clever and engrossing a thriller as I can think of. Like most of the rest of the world, I dived into A Game of Thrones for months on end and started muttering ‘winter is coming’ ominously in response to almost any question. But the book (although it was published in 2010) that most took my breath away, made me heartbroken, then overjoyed this year was completely unpredictable- it was Andre Agassi‘s staggeringly honest, sad, frank, fascinating autobiography, Open. Whether you’re a tennis fan is immaterial; if you’re a life fan, you have to read this book.
Chris Manby, author of Kate’s Wedding: I’ve just finished reading Jeanette Winterson’s memoir ‘Why be happy when you could be normal?‘ in which she talks about the childhood that inspired ‘Oranges are not the only fruit’ and her recent search for her birth family. It’s a wonderful read. Laugh out loud funny at times. Twist of the guts sad at others. Winterson writes about the importance of the written word as a means of escape. She says, ‘I believe in fiction and the power of stories because that way we speak in tongues. We are not silenced. All of us, when in deep trauma, find we hesitate, we stammer; there are long pauses in our speech… we get our language back through the language of others. We can turn to the poem. We can open the book. Somebody has been there for us and deep-dived the words.’
I never imagined I had much in common with Jeanette Winterson but it turns out that I do. We’re both adoptees, unlikely Oxford graduates and novelists. On the subject of adoption and the long shadow it casts over the lives of everyone involved, I found that Ms. Winterson had certainly ‘deep-dived’ the words for me.
You’ve got a lot of fantastic books on this list!
I haven’t seen any of my favourite books mentioned yet:
The History of History by Ida Hattemer-Higgins (weird, wonderful story about Berlin, madness and women of WWII)
You Deserve Nothing by Alexander Maksik (book questioning many moral issues within a school)
The Afterparty by Leo Benedictus (original, clever book about celebrity culture)
I highly recommend them all!
I don’t usually read biographies but I was utterly absorbed by Farangi Girl by Ashley Dartnell, as was everyone I lent it to. It’s her story of growing up in Iran and the U. S. with fascinating but feckless parents. Not a misery memoir, it shows how children can adapt and even thrive in adverse circumstances.
There also should be in that list… Ice cream girls Dorothy Koomson…That book shoudl get millions of awards
Totally agree, Jojo – annoying to have everyone choosing the books you know they’re going to choose.
My favourite books of 2011, (not all of which were published in 2011):
Mice by Gordon Reece (Macmillan) – a superb, simple, perfect thriller
In Office Hours by Lucy Kellaway – a razor-sharp dissection of work-place relationships.
Faithful Place by Tana French – psychological crime, beautifully written, all about dysfunctional families
Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton – unputdownable heart wrenching thriller
I agree with Chris Manby about the Jeanette Winterson memoir – stunning
Teach Us to Sit Still by Tim Parks – brilliant memoir about his battle with chronic illness and how meditation eventually cured it
Small Talk by Nic Aubury (published by Nasty Little Press) – funny, clever poems that rhyme, scan and make sense, including this one:
THE SOMELIER AND SOME LIAR
Knowledgeable-nonchalant
I tell the waiter, ‘Fine’,
When really what I’m thinking is,
‘I’m fairly sure it’s wine.’
I loved Caitlin Moran’s How to be a Woman and have bought it for several friends. A Tiny Bit Marvellous by Dawn French made me laugh out loud, while Syd Moore‘s creepy tale of witches, The Drowning Pool, made me scared to go to the loo in the night! I also enjoyed Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson and The Death of Eli Gold by David Baddiel. And I don’t mean to suck up, but Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan was a great read. I gobbled it up and then regretted reading it so fast because I missed it when it was finished. I also sneaked a review copy of Me Before You by Jojo Moyes from work and loved it. I want to send a copy to everyone who has ever been rude about or dismissed ‘chick lit’. It was heart-breaking and life-affirming at the same time, which is quite a neat trick.
Oops, sorry, forgot a crucial one: The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh – wonderful in every way – a timeless classic, I reckon, in the way that The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield also was.
And I’ve just finished bound proof of Tana French’s new one: Broken Harbour – absolute genius. I believe TF is best living crime writer.
Should add that various tweeters have sent me theirs , including:
Hurry Up and Wait by Isabel Ashdown
The Courtesan’s Lover by Gabrielle Kimm
Cold Light by Jenn Ashworth
Sisterwives by Rachel Connor (all via @scorpioscribble)
The Possessed by Elif Batuman (via @judithflanders)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (@glitteringbug)
The Devil’s Tickets by Gary M.Pomerantz (@lucyabelson)
Sophie – I LOVED Mice – such a close, clever thriller. Stuck with me a long time. And Chris – I can’t wait to read the Jeannette Winterson. I have rarely heard such amazing reviews.
OOH am off to buy Mice immediately. Afterwards is brill too I forgot about that. AND I forgot Beautiful Thing, Inside the World of Bombay’s Dance Bars which is stunning and a real eye opener. And People Who Eat Darkness is upsetting but amazing. And thanks Kerry! I agree about Me Before You too xxxx
This is brilliant – just what I was looking for – especially as we are hunting for a great book club read. I adored The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – truly stunning and beautiful other-worldly descriptions. An amazing Victorian flight of fancy.
Great article Jojo – often there seems so little imagination in these lists. One of my favourite gems this year has been ‘The Novel in the Viola’ by Natasha Solomon. It’s so gorgeous and witty. C
I’m going to recommend a wonderful and timely book – Comfort and Joy by India Knight. If you haven’t read it, please do – it’s beautifully written and such a warm, joyful celebration of family and Christmas. Gorgeous cover too.
Louisa Young’s My Dear I Wanted to Tell You
A novel which pulses with feeling and truth.
If I could be so bold as to add my own title – “Diary of a Mummy Misfit” by Amanda Egan on Kindle and at Lulu. “The Darker Side of Mummy Misfit” will be out mid-December. Reviews on Amazon.
Comfort & Joy by India Knight
How to leave twitter by Grace Dent
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes
How to be a woman by Caitlin Moran
(not sure I should let you include mine, Nicola, but thank you! – Jojo)
So many great suggestions. I’m filling up my Christmas wishlist. Can I add ‘Dark Matter’ by Michelle Paver, which is a fabulously wintry ghost story, as is Serena Mackesy’s ‘Hold My Hand‘. Also I really enjoyed ‘The House in France: A Memoir’ by Gully Wells.
Agree wholeheartedly with Jenny Colgan about Boomerang by Michael Lewis and would also suggest Pure by Andrew Miller. Have now added Mice and Faithful Place to my shopping list – thanks!
How cool to have so many lovely suggestions of books one actually wants to read. May I add two more: Ghastly Business by Louise Levene which has smart one-liners and crisp characterisation; and Marilyn’s Last Sessions by Michel Schneider – which doesn’t quite work as a novel, but has brilliant insights about the emotional cost to actresses of making movies.
Forgot to add Ned Boulting‘s hilarious How I Won the Yellow Jumper – just in case there are any other cycling fans out there…
I would add The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman. Beautiful writing.
Could I add Jane Harris: Gillespie and I
Rosie Thomas: The Kashmir Shawl
Louisa Young: My Dear I Wanted To Tell You. and Started early Took My Dog. Kate Atkinson.
Gosh, so many great recommendations. My Christmas list is getting longer.
A few books which stood out for me this year were:
The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright
J. D. Salinger, A Life by Kenneth Slawenski
The Empty Family Stories by Colm Toibin
All the Time in the World – New & Selected Stories by E. L. Doctorow
Not very adventurous with regard to new authors I’m afraid, sometimes the old comforting voices are just what’s needed.
Agree with Chris Manby re: Dark Matter – it’s a wonderfully chilling ghost-story set on a Polar expedition in the 1930′s. Also Elizabeth Jenkins’ ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’ – about a marriage in the 1950′s – a perfectly satisfying novel.
Those lists in the paper are always a hoot to me – particularly summer ones, with snooty authors trying to get us to believe they are re-reading Proust on the beach. Yeah, right.
Here are mine:
The Stranger’s Child by Alan Hollinghurst: sadly unBookered
Lizzy Harrison Loses Control by Pippa Wright: witty and romantic
The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffé: for women working in New York in the 1950s, republished by Penguin Classics
(look out for Happily Ever After by Harriet Evans: an updated version of the Jaffé)
The Second Coming by John Niven: hilarious pastiche of Pop Idol-type show in the US
Fall Girl by Toni Jordan: grifter girl sets up a big sting but falls in love
The Mistress’ Revenge by Tamar Cohen: dark portrait of a woman scorned
And never mind that this is your blog, Jojo: I absolutely loved Me Before You (cheating as it’s not published till Feb): I wept copiously
Such a great idea as I also haven’t found any of my best books of the year on this list. Below are just some of my favourite books of the year.
Afterwards – Rosamund Lupton
Harvesting the Heart – Jodi Picoult
Legend – Marie Lu
And my absolute favourite book of the year has to be:
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
This is costing me a fortune
So many of the books already mentioned have a place on my favourites of 2011 list too. Jojo, you are very modest, your wonderful Me Before You has to be on it, although I don’t think it’s actually published until next year?
I agree with Before I Go To Sleep and The Language of Flowers too – both of them were totally compelling reads.
I really enjoyed Hotel On The Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford and My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece by Annabel Pitcher, the latter is a Young Adult novel but is stunning and should be read by adults too.
I was totally blown away by Into The Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes – such a very very clever book.
There are many more books that I’ve enjoyed this year, most of them will never make any of the ‘lists’ though – I’ve recently finished Victoria Hislop’s The Thread which I adored.
Great idea Jojo.
My most-anticipated book of 2011 and the one that gives me the most continual enjoyment is Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton. Intelligent, hilarious comics about literature, history, Nancy Drew and Canadians.