This beautiful block print was done by my granddaughter and given to us as a Christmas gift. If you look at it, you can see both a positive and negative rose. This is just like life. Sometimes the roses shine bright and are easy to see. Other times they may be dark and harder to […]

Seeing Positive and Negative

2022 Book List

I read 64 books in 2022. My lowest total in many years. These are my (highly subjective) 22 favorite books, in order, for 2022.

No.	Book Title	Author	Year	Publisher	Comments
22	Reckless	Craig Lucas	1989	Theatre Communications Group	I did not read very many plays in 2022. This was the best of the lot.
21	Of Whimsies & Noubles	Matthew Hughes	2014	PS Publishing	Apparently, Matt is “the heir apparent to Jack Vance.” Very high praise indeed and I would agree. His dying Earth stories are always a delight.
20	The Best American Essays: 2022	Alexander Chee (Ed.)	2022	Mariner Books	These collections of essays are always well-worth reading. Here are my favorites (in no particular order) from this collection: Melissa Febos, The Wild, Sublime Body; Naomi Jackson, Her Kind; Angelique Stevens, Ghost Bread; Jason Brown, The Wrong Jason Brown
19	Class: A Guide Through the American Status System	Paul Fussel	1983	Summit Books	Everything Fussel does is well-written. I found this particularly interesting to compare and contrast the current status system with the one he describes from forty years ago.
18	Hummingbird Salamander	Jeff Vandermeer	2021	MCD Farrar, Straus and Giroux	Intricate and well-plotted with strong characters and plenty of action. JV is a pro.
17	The Snake Pit	Mary Jane Ward	1946	Random House	A ground-breaking work providing insight into the nightmarish world of 1940’s psychiatric hospitals from a talented writer with first-hand knowledge.
16	Pastoralia	George Saunders	2000	Riverhead Books	Another superb collection of stories from a master of the short form.
15	The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Ninth Annual Collection	Gardner Dozois (Ed.)	2012	St. Martins Griffin	Another excellent collection of science fiction short stories and novellas from arguably the greatest series of best of anthologies.
14	Lord of Chaos	Robert Jordan	1994	TOR Fantasy	Book Six of The Wheel of Time series. This was the best of the several novels I read in 2022 from WoT. I consider WoT to be the fourth best epic fantasy series of all time. You’ll have to guess the first three.
13	The Women of Copper Country	Mary Doria Russell	2019	Atria Paperback	This is a very good piece of historical fiction set in the Keewenaw Peninsula of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula which makes it of particular interest to me. Everything MDR writes is good. I did a Zoom Q&A, arranged through UPPAA, with her about this book. She was charming and informative and at the end of the session announced she was retiring and that would be her final public appearance.
12	The Ocean at the End of the Lane	Neil Gaiman	2013	William Morrow	Another well-written fantasy novel by this writing superstar. This particular edition (2019) was beautifully illustrated by Elise Hurst.
11	Consider This: Moments in my Writing Life after which Everything was Different	Chuck Palahniuk	2021	Grand Central Publishing	A how to that is well-organized and filled with pragmatic advice for the would-be writer. It is also a fun read as he intersperses the advice with brief, improbable tales of the writer’s life on the road.
10	Telegraph Avenue	Michael Chabon	2012	Harper	A sterling effort from one of America’s premier novelists that is, once again, replete with fascinating popular culture references.
9	In Search of Snow	Luis Alberto Urrea	1994	Harper Perennial	My wife saw him speak and then introduced his work to me. He quickly became a favorite. He is a natural-born story-teller.
8	Strange Weather: Four Short Novels	Joe Hill	2017	William Morrow	The oldest son of Stephen King seems, like the old man, to have writing chops. I particularly liked Aloft.
7	The North Water	Ian McGuire	2016	Picador Henry Holt & Co.	A driving, relentless, force of nature novel. Gritty and brutal, it gets a hold of you and doesn’t let go.
6	Stories of Your Life and Others	Ted Chiang	2002	Vintage Books	Another superb collection of speculative tales by TC. He is one of our best short story writers.
5	Magic Hours: Essays on Creators and Creation	Tom Bissell	2018	Vintage Books	TB was born and raised in Escanaba. He is a hometown boy that’s made it big. So I had to try this book and was blown away by his writing. I’ll be looking for more of his work.
4	The Marriage Plot	Jeffrey Eugenides	2011	Farrar, Straus and Giroux	Another brilliant novel by this native Detroiter. He does not seem to write much but whatever he produces is well worth the wait.
3	Peter Watts is an Angry Sentient Tumor: Revenge Fantasies and Essays	Peter Watts	2019	Tachyon Publications	Picked up this book mostly because of the intriguing title. He writes with an arc welder so don’t get too close and be careful of your eyesight. I will have to read some of his novels probably starting with Blindsight.
2	Early Morning Riser	Katherine Heiny	2021	Alfred A. Knopf	I adored this book. Partly because of the northern Michigan setting but mostly because of its heart and humor.
1	The Sympathizer	Viet Thanh Nguyen	2015	Grove Press	Debut novels have no business being this good. It deserves, without question, its accolades and awards including a Pulitzer and Andrew Carnegie Medal.

2023 Book List

I read 73 books in 2023. This is more than the total from 2022 but is still a low number for me. Subjectively and in order, these are my 23 favorite books of 2023.

No.	Book Title	Author	Year	Publisher	Comments
23	These Precious Days	Ann Patchett	2021	Harper Perennial	Written lucidly and effortlessly (so we know how hard she worked on them), these autobiographical essays are a delight to read.
22	The Best American Essays 2023	Vivian Gornick, Editor	2023	Mariner	These annual volumes usually make it into my list of favorites for the year. Robert Atwan’s Introductory essay, his last one as he’s retiring, is a gem. All of the essays are good but my three best are Laura Kipnis – Gender: A Melee; Robert Anthony Siegel – Thirteen Ways of Listening to the Rain; Chris Dennis – We Were Hungry
21	Who is Teddy Villanova?	Thomas Berger	1977	Delacorte Press	A slick crime thriller. I have a question of my own: Is there anything Berger can’t write?
20	The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East	Eugene Rogan	2015	Basic Books	A thorough history of the Ottomans and the rest of the region before and during WWI. A timely read as it gave me background and perspective for the Israeli-Hamas War that started soon after I finished it.
19	Unknown Man No. 89	Elmore Leonard	1977	The Library of America	I probably could have put all four of the books chosen for the Novels of the 1970’s volume but I wanted to leave room for other writers. I love all of the references to the Detroit area.
18	The Miracle Worker	William Gibson	1956, 1957	Atheneum	This is how good the play is: it is every bit as good as the movie. High praise indeed.
17	The Best American Short Stories 2021	Jesmyn Ward, Editor	2021	Mariner	This is the second book in this series I’ve gotten from my cousin Don. Am I going to have to start collecting the entire series like I have with the essays? The two best stories for my money are Christa Romanosky – In This Sort of World, the Asshole Wins; George Saunders – Love Letter
16	When the Five Moons Rise	Jack Vance	1992	Underwood-Miller	Vance is that rare combination of both master stylist and storyteller. He is probably the most under-rated writer in Science Fiction/Fantasy. All the stories in here are strong.
15	The Gathering Storm	Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson	2009	TOR Fantasy	Having Brandon Sanderson finish out The Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan’s death was an inspired choice. He doesn’t miss a beat as the epic tale, based on Jordan’s extensive notes, continues on.
14	In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex	Nathaniel Philbrick	2000	Penguin Books	An enthralling account of the huge whale and doomed whaleship that was the basis for Moby Dick. This true story won the National Book Award and it is well-deserved.
13	Grand Union	Zadie Smith	2019	Penguin Press	Nineteen stories, all of them in her inimitable style, are in this collection. I suppose anything I read from Zadie Smith in a given year will make it on to my favorites list. She’s just that good.
12	Fargo Rock City	Chuck Klosterman	2001	Scribner	Klosterman’s writing is clear and intense. In terms of his opinions, he seems to have no self-doubts. He is funny and insightful and a joy to read.
11	Grimscribe	Thomas Ligotti	1991	Penguin Classics	Another Detroit-born writer, he is a superb stylist. One of those authors who you read and say to yourself, “Gosh, wish I’d written that.”
10	The Switch	Elmore Leonard	1978	The Library of America	Another clever and engrossing crime thriller from the master of dialogue.
9	The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirtieth Annual Collection	Gardner Dozois, Editor	2013	St. Martins Griffin	Simply the best of the best of the year science fiction anthologies available. His collections are a staple of my annual book lists.
8	5th of July	Lanford Wilson	978	Mermaid Dramabook, Hill & Wang	The best play I read in 2023.
7	Crossroads	Jonathan Franzen	2021	Picador	His muscular prose and imaginative storytelling haven’t disappointed me so far.
6	Eileen	Ottessa Moshfegh	2015	Penguin Books	By turns caustic and poignant, this is a marvelous debut novel that earns its Pen Hemingway Prize. I think I might have to read more of her stuff.
5	The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek	Kim Michele Richardson	2019	Sourcebooks Landmark	A lovely and heartwarming story about the Kentucky Blue People and the power of love and books.
4	Varina	Charles Frazier	2018	Ecco	Another wonderful Civil War story from CF. His heroine is more compelling than her much more famous husband Jefferson Davis.
3	Songs of a Dead Dreamer	Thomas Ligotti	1986	Penguin Classics	I don’t usually place two works by an author on this list but I had to with Mr. Ligotti. His dreamy, ethereal, macabre prose is unmatched. The fact that his two genre books are in one volume for Penguin Classics(!) says it all.
2	Burning Bright	Ron Rash	2010	Ecco	Brilliant collection of stories. Where has he been hiding? I will now be looking for more of his work to devour.
1	A Harp in the Stars: An Anthology of Lyric Essays	Randon Billings Noble, Editor	2021	University of Nebraska Press	Probably the best collection of essays I have ever read. I’m hoping RBN is already working on a follow-up volume of lyric essays because her selections are impeccable.