An Unadvertised Special

So this is completely off topic for this blog, but in point of fact, there actually is life beyond Lowry. And, since it tis the season for the "Best of " lists,  I give you my best fiction of 2014.  Disclaimer: These books were not published in 2014, rather I read them in 2014, but contrary to most book list purveyors, I really have read these books.  And there's nothing sacred about the number 10.

1) Deafening by Frances Itani
An amazing depiction of being deaf coupled with a stretcher bearer's depiction of the horror of World War I makes this my top pick for 2014.

2) The Garden of the Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng
A close 2nd.  The story of a Malaysian supreme court judge, the sole survivor of a WWII Japanese prison camp with a visceral hatred of the Japanese who apprentices herself to the former gardener of Emperor Hirohito to create a Japanese garden memorial to her sister who died in the camp.  Incredible writing.

3) Flight Behavior - Barbara Kingsolver
The premise of the novel is global warming changing the habits of the Monarch butterfly, so rather than collecting by the millions in Mexico, they arrive in North Carolina mountains on a hardscrabble farm. Scientists gather to study the phenomenon and the back country mother sees a different life



4) Telex From Cuba - Rachel Kushner
Timely.  A story of the American community on the 300,000 acre American Fruit Co land in Cuba in the years leading up to the Castro revolution.

5) The Little Friend - Donna Tartt
Set in Alexandria Mississippi, a young boy found hanged in his front yard. 12 years later, Harriet, his precocious sister, is determined to uncover what happened.




6) Claire of the Sea Light - Edwidge Danticat
Just as the poor, widowed Haitian fisherman has decided to give his daughter away to gain a better life, she disappears. The search for her relates a myriad of stories.

7) A Soldier of the Great War - Mark Helprin
In 1964, an aging Italian professor meets an illiterate worker walking the road to Monte Prato.  The professor relates his fascinating story as hero and deserter in the Italian Alps of WWI

8) The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton
A story of murder, intrigue and survival in the gold rush days of 1860's New Zealand.

9) The Sportswriter - Richard Ford
American Everyman, Ralph Bascombe, a sportswriter in midlife crisis and careful observer of his fellow man. Book 1 of the Bascombe trilogy

10) Ordinary Grace - William Kent-Krueger
The Minnesota mystery writer departs from his Cork O'Connor stories (also highly recommended) to tell the story of 4 deaths in New Bremen, MN and the impact on a Methodist minister's family.

11) the curious incident of the dog in the night-time - Mark Haddon
Fascinating story from the perspective of a teen-age autistic boy.

12) How the Light Gets In - Louise Penney
Sophisticated, erudite Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of Montreal investigates yet another death in the idyllic village of Three Pines, Quebec.  9th in the Gamache series - you should read the first 8 first. My favorite mystery writer.



And one non-fiction
Wind, Sand & Stars - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Poetical, fascinating early aviation story in post WWI France