Well, 2019 has been a slow reading year than recent I just managed 90 reviews so I’ve chosen my ten books of the year in no particular order here are my top ten books of the year.
- Die, my love by Ariana Harwicz I was sent three books by Charco press all could have been on the list but this fits the rest of the list as it is fragment glimpse of a wifes world falling apart in rural france a strong female voice.
- Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Doblin I had the first chance to double review a book in a new translation. Hofmann version brought to life the world of Franz Biberkopf as I said if John dos Passos Tom Waits and Charles Bukowski has a bastard child it would be Biberkopf and his world.
- One clear ice-cold January morning at the beginning of the twenty-first century by Roland Schimmelpfennig Germany leading playwright writes a debut novel that is a state of the nation glimpse of modern Germany from those who have come to the city from around the world.
- Fleeting snow by Pavel Vilikovsky, a novel about memory and how it works in interlinking stories that twist around each other as the five tales in this book can and may not be linked it is a wonderful fluid book that is a unique book.
- The blind spot by Javier Cercas a collection of essay around fiction but the title piece about the blind spot we never see in books mainly around Moby dick is an interesting essay.
- Zero by Gine Cornelia Pedersen I have a soft spot for books that chart the decline in peoples lives and this is a wonderful female voice we follow fragments of her life from her teens to his twenties in modern Norway.
- In every wave by Charles Quimper if I had a book of the year this is it and a theme in these books it is fragment narrative this is the story that follows a family break down following the loss of there daughter by drowning.
- Tell them of battles, kings, and elephants by Mathias Enard a wonderful meeting of east and west in old Constantinople we follow Michelangelo on an imagined journey there.
- River by Ester Kinsky One German woman’s time in London walking along a river leads her into the past and other rivers another book of fluid and fragment proses.
- The Last days by Jaroslavas Melinkas A collection of stories that echo a Soviet past. Where in the tales rooms disappearing, a woman aging the wrong way an interesting discovery
Tony
Dec 31, 2018 @ 11:00:00
Some good ones there 🙂 Here’s hoping 2019 is an even better year – both for reading and everything else 🙂
winstonsdad
Jan 01, 2019 @ 06:18:23
Thanks Tony and too yourself
Melissa Beck
Dec 31, 2018 @ 16:18:52
Excellent list, Stu. Happy new year and happy reading in 2019!
winstonsdad
Jan 01, 2019 @ 06:17:52
Thanks Melissa happy new year as well
kaggsysbookishramblings
Dec 31, 2018 @ 19:18:49
Great list Stu – lots of Fitzcarraldo, a publisher I want to explore more. Happy new year! 😀
winstonsdad
Jan 01, 2019 @ 06:17:25
Yes lots of there’s too read as well happy New Years as well Karen
Lisa Hill
Dec 31, 2018 @ 23:34:35
Happy new year, Stu, and thank you for another year of enticing reviews!
winstonsdad
Jan 01, 2019 @ 06:16:54
And to you too Lisa
Bellezza
Dec 31, 2018 @ 23:43:36
Die, My Love and Flights are two of my favorites as well. There is nothing like translated literature, is there, Stu. Everything else pales in comparison.
winstonsdad
Jan 01, 2019 @ 06:16:35
Yes they seem to tackle big ideas and subjects than us and uk fiction does
MarinaSofia
Jan 01, 2019 @ 10:55:56
You do mean 2018, don’t you? For a moment there, I thought I had a Rip Van Winkle moment and fell asleep for a year…
winstonsdad
Jan 01, 2019 @ 13:06:31
Yes will change it later at work for two long days today and tomorrow
kimbofo
Jan 01, 2019 @ 11:42:44
A great list, Stu. I didn’t read as much translated fiction as I would have liked this year, so this list will come in handy for ideas of what to try in 2029. I’m most intrigued by Fleeting Snow and One Clear ice-cold January Morning at the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century!
Michael @ Knowledge Lost
Jan 01, 2019 @ 12:00:05
Great list, so many books I would love to read…if only I had the time to read everything I want
winstonsdad
Jan 01, 2019 @ 13:07:27
Yes so much out there these last few years to read
Caroline
Jan 01, 2019 @ 18:54:46
I’m glad you ,iced Schimmelpfenning because I bought that recently.
Great list. So much to discover.
winstonsdad
Jan 01, 2019 @ 19:24:42
Thanks
whisperinggums
Jan 01, 2019 @ 23:59:45
As always, a really interesting collection of books Stu, most of which I don’t know. If only I could carve some time for some more translated fiction. The Quimper and Pedersen sound particularly interesting to me.
juliana brina
Jan 03, 2019 @ 10:35:54
Excellent list, Stu! Happy New Year 🙂
1streading
Jan 03, 2019 @ 19:20:40
Great to see Die, My Love there – my introduction to Charco Press. Last year I particularly loved Fish Soup.
River is one that’s been recommended to me by more than one person.