2019 HITS & MISSES

Almost the end of another reading year. Here’s a short list, by category. Perhaps you’ll find some new ideas for your own reading.
Books marked * were loaned from the excellent Milnerton Public Library. I heartily recommend it!

TWO TOP READS FOR 2019
The Overstory – Richard Powers
The Shepherd’s Hut – Tim Winton *

BEST LITERARY NOVEL
The Friend – Sigrid Nunez

MOST ORIGINAL NOVEL
The Pine Islands – Marion Poschmann

BEST FUN READ
Happiness for Humans – P Z Reizin. *

THE MOST ROMANTIC NOVEL
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats – J P Sedker*

STRANGEST READ
Convenience Store Woman – Sayaka Murata

WEIRD & WONDERFUL
The Puttermesser Papers – Cynthia Ozick *

BEST CRIME
Scrublands – Chris Hammer*
The Marsh King’s Daughter – Karen Dionne *

BEST TRANSLATED NOVEL
The Master & Margarita – Mikhail Buylgakov

BEST HISTORICAL
The Essex Serpent – Sarah Perry *

BEST AMERICAN NOVEL
Here I am – Jonathan Safan Foer*

BEST RE-READ
The Reader on the 6.27 – Jean-Paul Didier Laurent*

WONDERFUL SHORT STORIES
Her Body & other Parties – Carmen Maria Machado
The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth – William Boyd*

MOST DIFFICULT READ
The Plains – Gerald Murnane

NON-FICTION

MEMOIR
Educated – Tara Westover
Land’s Edge -: A Coastal Memoir – Tim Winton*

WHACKIEST
Self-helpless – Rebecca Davis
My Experimental Life – A J Jacobs

ABANDONED READS
Conversations with Friends – Sally Rooney *
Sex, Lies & Stellenbosch – Eve Mazza *
The Passion according to G.H. – Clarice Lispector

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