I read a boatload of nonfiction, especially memoirs, from 2005 to 2012 as I was writing a memoir, but I’m reading more fiction again. And when I come across novels and short story collections that please and amaze me—or when I recall beloved ones—I’m adding them to this list.
Berry, Wendell. Jayber Crow. (Slow at first but intensely rewarding.)
Black, Alethea. I Knew You’d Be Lovely (Stories. Review & Q&A.)
Blackburn-Smith, Jefferson. Forgiveness
Coetzee, J. M. Disgrace
Chabon, Michael. Wonder Boys
Conrad, Joseph. Lord Jim
Dexter, Pete. Paris Trout
Diaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Noted.)
Dickey, James. Deliverance
Dillard, Annie. The Maytrees. (A shimmering work of art. Reviewed.)
Doctorow, E.L. Ragtime
Dubus III, Andre. Gone So Long
Egan, Jennifer. A Visit From the Goon Squad
Erdrich, Louise. The Round House
Faulkner, William. Light in August (Reviewed.)
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby (Discussed and Discussed.)
Ford, Richard. Canada. (Mesmerizing. Reviewed.)
Franzen, Jonathan. Freedom. (Truly a great novel; amazing.)
——. Purity (Reviewed.)
Gardner, John. Nickel Mountain
Guest, Judith. Ordinary People
Hamilton, Jane. A Map of the World
Heller, Joseph. Catch-22
Irving, John. A Prayer for Owen Meany
——. The World According to Garp
Joyce, James. The Dubliners
Klinkenborg, Verlyn. Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile
Krauss, Chris. I Love Dick
Marchart, Bruce. The Wake of Forgiveness
Martel, Yann. Life of Pi
Melville, Herman. Moby-Dick
McCarthy, Cormac. Blood Meredian. (Astonishing, prose, story.)
——No Country for Old Men.
Meloy, Maile. Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It: Stories
Morrison, Toni. Beloved (Harrowing insight into people traumatized by slavery.)
Oates, Joyce Carol. Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars. (Absorbing story of a marriage, sibling dynamics, grief, racism.)
——. Wonderland (The long shadow cast by trauma. Riveting.)
Percy, Walker. The Last Gentleman
Perrotta, Tom. Mrs. Fletcher
Persig, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
Piazza, Tom. City of Refuge
Potok, Chaim. My Name is Asher Lev (Spooky great on artistry.)
Powers, Kevin. The Yellow Birds (Reviewed.)
Powers, Richard. The Overstory
Proulx, Annie. The Shipping News
Rash, Ron. Something Rich and Strange (short stories)
Roth, Philip. The Human Stain
—,—. The Plot Against America
Styron, William. The Confessions of Nat Turner. (Reviewed & Reviewed.)
Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina. (Discussed and Reviewed.)
Updike, John. Rabbit, Run
Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse Five
Wallace, David Foster. Infinite Jest (Review 1, Review 2.)
Welty, Eudora. A Curtain of Green (Reviewed.)
Williams, John. Butcher’s Crossing
——. Stoner
Woolf, Virginia. To the Lighthouse