Books I've Loved This Year

This fantastic painting "Woman Reading" is by Peter Worsley

I read a lot and in the spirit of posts of favorite things, here's a list of some of the best books I've read this year -

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  One of my Twitter friends @BatteryHillLive recommended this one to me and I am in her debt.  It's the story of a young German girl growing up during the Second World War.  Try it, it won't be what you expect!

The Swan Thieves: A Novel by Elizabeth Kostova.  I thoroughly enjoyed Kostova's earlier work ,HISTORIAN / A NOVEL so when I saw Swan Thieves on the shelf at the grocery store I was anxious to read it.  Like The Historian, Swan Thieves goes back and forward in time without missing a beat.  It's an interesting, well-written story.

Agincourt: A Novel by Bernard Cornwell is one of the best books I've read in a long time.  It's the story of the battle of Agincourt, one of the most dramatic battles in English history, which took place in 1415.  The story is told from the point of view of an archer.  He's a poor guy who went into the army to avoid punishment.  I actually listened to this as an audio book.  I listen to audio books as I walk my 5 miles every morning and this book was so good it made me anxious to get out there!  If you've not read Cornwell, this one is a good place to start.  Even if you're not interested in military history, you'll be drawn in by the story.

Island Beneath the Sea: A Novel by Isabel Allende.  I'm a big fan of Allende's and I just finished this one.  Set in Haiti (or is the Dominican Republic?  The story left me a little confused on this point.) during the English occupation, the story is voiced by a slave.  They go through the rebellion, eventually escaping to New Orleans prior to the Louisiana Purchase.  I love historical novels for the little snapshots they present of a moment in time.  At least according to Allende, the residents of New Orleans weren't too happy about being taken over by Americans!  Another good one by an author I like.

(What is it with putting "A Novel" in the title of the book?  Is it really that hard to tell?)

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig.  One of my sisters turned me on to Doig.  I really enjoyed this story set around a one-room country school house filled with the agricultural families of rural Montana in the late 1950's.  It's a gem.

Another one of my perennial favorites, Elizabeth Berg (her Joy School is one of my all-time favorites) has an excellent story in Home Safe: A Novel.  It's a wonderful little tale of a newly widowed, middle-aged woman adjusting to life.  Sound familiar?  Berg is an incredible storyteller.

I'd be remiss if I didn't include Stieg Larsson.  If you've not jumped onboard yet, his three complex, well written mysteries - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest are incredible.  Larsson, a Swedish author who died of a sudden heart attack in 2004, truly knew how to spin a yarn.  You think he's never going to be able to tie up all his plot points and yet he does.  I'm sorry there will be no more of this masterful, intense, and now incredibly popular, series.

Finally, two authors who write medieval mysteries attracted my notice this year, Michael Jecks and Margaret Frazer, and I'm hungrily working my way through everything they've written.  Jecks' protagonist is an ex-Knight Templar who is the Keeper of the King's Peace in a small English village.  Frazer's is a 15th century nun.  If you wonder how far the authors can go with these people, both have a long series of books featuring their main characters and so far each story is as captivating as the last!

In case you're wondering, yes I do read and love non-fiction.  I just haven't read much of it that I loved this year!

Looking for more?  Here's a great list from KindlePost.