2016 was an entirely adequate year for me. I earned my first professional designation after three years of hard work and study, went on some great trips (though, having stayed in North America all year, I really did miss my usual visit to Europe), and, the crucial difference from 2015, none of my loved ones died or seriously injured themselves. Well done us!
And, of course, there were lots of books. Here are the best of the best:
10. The Lark (1922) – E. Nesbit
This charming story of two young women and their attempts to support themselves is featuring on a lot of “Best of” lists this year and rightly so. And the best news is that it will be reprinted and easily available as of March 2017, thanks to Scott!
9. More Was Lost (1946) – Eleanor Perényi
An interesting and entertaining memoir about life in Central Europe in the late 1930s from a young American woman married to a Hungarian nobleman.
8. Classic German Baking (2016) – Luisa Weiss
Simply put, this is the cookbook I have been longing for all my life. The Christmas chapter alone – heck, just the recipe for Basler Brunsli cookies – would have been enough to earn it a spot on this list. As it is, the other chapters are equally wonderful.
7. Lassoing the Sun (2016) – Mark Woods
I feel rather guilty that I didn’t get around to writing about this wonderful book. A journalist based in Florida, Woods set out to spend a year visiting twelve of America’s national parks. Not the necessarily most beautiful or the most popular ones, but “each symbolizing a different issue facing the national parks in the next hundred years.” A fascinating project, but not the heart of what the year evolved into, as Woods’ mother passed away after a short and fierce illness. His travels are tied up with his mourning for his mother, his lifelong memories of visiting the parks with his family, and the urge to share that same sense of wonder and discovery with his own daughter. Really very wonderful and touching.
6. The House by the Dvina (1984) – Eugenie Fraser
This memoir of Fraser’s childhood in Russia (before, during and immediately after the Revolution) is richly and wonderfully told, taking you deep into a close-knit family and a vanished world. It feels very Slightly Foxed-esque and I can only hope it’s on their radar for possible reissue.
5. Terms and Conditions (2016) – Ysenda Maxtone Graham
Speaking of Slightly Foxed, this wonderful history of girls’ boarding schools is one of the most amusing and original books I’ve read in years.
4. Saturday’s Child (1914) – Kathleen Thompson Norris
I first read this novel in 2015 and loved it then too but I think it made an even bigger impact on rereading. The perfect dose of both commiseration and inspiration at a time when I was feeling overwhelmed and indulging, like the heroine, in a bit too much “woe is me”-ing and not enough productive action. It’s deeply reassuring to know that a hundred years ago young working women felt exactly the same way I do in 2016.
3. Children of Earth and Sky (2016) – Guy Gavriel Kay
The newest release from the master of historical fantasy, I loved this so much I read it twice this year.
2. To the Bright Edge of the World (2016) – Eowyn Ivey
A magical, enthralling tale of an 1880s expedition into the remote Alaskan wilderness. Beautifully told and deeply satisfying to read, I keep pressing everyone I know to try it.
1. I Was a Stranger (1977) – General Sir John Hackett
In a year when the world was doing its best to show how cruel and petty man can be, this memoir of the courage and friendship showed by a Dutch family in occupied Holland to the British officer they hid reminded me that, even in the worst of times, kindness, trust, and love can still flourish. A real gem that I am entirely indebted to Slightly Foxed for reissuing.
Saturday’s Child made my top-ten list this year too—Norris has been a favorite of mine for a while, but I believe it was your review that made me pick that one up! (You’ll be glad to hear Anthony Trollope’s on my list too.) I’m looking forward to tracking down The Lark at some point, and I Was a Stranger sounds wonderful too.
I love your list! I’m having fun looking through your lists from past years too – lots of reading inspiration for 2017. I think you’ll really, really like The Lark.
Wonderful list and descriptions.
Do you think Lassoing the Sun would be a good book for a group discussion?
I do want to thank you for all your posts, Claire, and to wish you the happiest, healthiest of New Years. Penny
Thanks, Penny! I do think Lassoing the Sun would make for an interesting discussion. I read it not long after rewatching Ken Burns’ documentary about the National Parks and they were a perfect combination.
Thank you for getting back to me, Claire. I will be looking into to Lassoing the Sun. I was initially thinking of it for my book group, but, it might be a good one for a discussion for the garden club. I loved Ken Burns’ documentary, and like you have seen it again.
Terms and conditions sounds interesting as I getting ready to teach Jane Eyre and read Villette this year. Gentleman and Players is on my TBR.
It is SO interesting, though far removed from anything the Brontes might have dreamed of (it focused on the period from 1939 to 1979).
Boarding school is fascinating to me as a teacher, but I’m not sure in practice if I would want to be around my students in that close capacity. I’ve added it to my list.
Wow, I really need that baking book. Several of your others were already on my radar — I Was a Stranger and The Lark in particular. And more Guy Gavriel Kay, of course. And I’m definitely attracted to On the Bright Edge of the World on your recommendation — my husband keeps wanting me to go to Alaska, so maybe he would like it too.
You really do! It may just have been released but it deserved classic status already.
Glad to hear some of these books are already on your list. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
I love all end of year book lists, but yours is the one I look forward to most! I’ve read and loved four of these, but I am most excited to see Eowyn Ivey’s so high up the list, as it is on my bedside table…
I think the Ivey was the most absorbing book I read all year. I’ll look forward to hearing what you make of it!
House by the Dvina sounds intriguing – my interest is piqued by books that describe “vanished worlds”.
It’s absolutely fascinating. Fraser wrote two other books – one about her life in India and another about her return to Russia in later life. I’m looking forward to reading them both.
More was lost is on my wishlist – but I am trying to hold off buying books for the whole of January. I think I would love To The Bright Edge of the World too. I read The House by the Divina some years ago – I loved it. Happy reading in 2o17. I also read and loved The Lark, good to see it appearing on a few best of lists – though it didn’t make mine I did love it.
I am going to be predictable and suggest the library for More Was Lost – the best friend of people on book buying bans! However you track it down, I hope you enjoy it.
What a lovely list of books. Eowyn Ivey made my own year-end selection, and my Virago Secret Santa sent me a copy of ‘More Was Lost’. I hope you find even ore lovely books in 2017.
What an excellent Secret Santa present! I hope you enjoy it and everything else you read in 2017.
More was Lost and The House of the Dvina look very good and must be added to my TBR! I Was a Stranger also looks promising!
I Was a Stranger is (clearly) my favourite but I loved them all. More Was Lost was great because it offers a uniquely domestic, female perspective on a region and era that is otherwise dominated by political and military accounts.
Great list. I have Ysenda’s book on TBR. I am glad that Lark will be reprinted. I have looked for the book for a long time in several second hand shops
I didn’t even try to track down a hardcopy of The Lark and went with the e-book instead. It will be great to be able to add a physical copy to my library later this year!
[…] Child (2012) – Eowyn Ivey Ivey’s second novel, To the Bright Edge of the World, was one of my favourite books of 2016. This year, I finally picked up her first novel and found it just as wonderful and captivating. […]