“Why can't people just sit and read books and be nice to each other?”
November 27, 2015 2:54 PM Subscribe
The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2015 The year’s notable fiction, poetry and nonfiction, selected by the editors of The New York Times Book Review.
I'm just about to finish A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara and it's the kind of book I want to recommend people to read but is difficult to do so for two reasons: a) the book is 800+ pages which is daunting for even the most regular of readers and b) the book touches on subjects that are difficult: physical/sexual abuse, cutting, depression, violence, suicide, sickness, etc.
The book is beautifully written and there's a romance at the heart of this book that I already know will stay with me for years. But, it's not for everyone. But I still want you all to read it!!
posted by Fizz at 3:18 PM on November 27, 2015 [7 favorites]
The book is beautifully written and there's a romance at the heart of this book that I already know will stay with me for years. But, it's not for everyone. But I still want you all to read it!!
posted by Fizz at 3:18 PM on November 27, 2015 [7 favorites]
Oh man, I found A Little Life to be engrossing and profoundly affecting. Although there are elements of it that, as someone who works with children who have survived severe abuse, struck a false note to me.
posted by bookish at 3:45 PM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by bookish at 3:45 PM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
Capital in the 21st Century didn't make the list?
posted by MarvinTheCat at 3:48 PM on November 27, 2015
posted by MarvinTheCat at 3:48 PM on November 27, 2015
I have only read a couple of the books on the list but they were good.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:50 PM on November 27, 2015
posted by Dip Flash at 3:50 PM on November 27, 2015
"NEUROTRIBES: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity. By Steve Silberman. (Avery/Penguin Random House, $29.95.) Silberman’s is a broader view of autism, beautifully presented." Woohoo, way to go, Our Own digaman!
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:52 PM on November 27, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:52 PM on November 27, 2015 [9 favorites]
Capital in the 21st Century didn't make the list?
The English translation came out in 2014, so it wouldn't qualify.
posted by bookish at 4:01 PM on November 27, 2015
The English translation came out in 2014, so it wouldn't qualify.
posted by bookish at 4:01 PM on November 27, 2015
One added to my wish list: Letters to Véra, by Vladimir Nabokov...
posted by jim in austin at 4:03 PM on November 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by jim in austin at 4:03 PM on November 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Well perhaps Otter Chaos was just published too recently to make the list.
posted by Wolfdog at 4:04 PM on November 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Wolfdog at 4:04 PM on November 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
One added to my wish list: Letters to Véra, by Vladimir Nabokov...
Jim, you won't regret this purchase at all. It's a beautiful collection and Brian Boyd has written a wonderful essay at the start that is almost worth the purchase alone. Lots of fascinating Nabokovian history to tear into.
posted by Fizz at 4:06 PM on November 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
Jim, you won't regret this purchase at all. It's a beautiful collection and Brian Boyd has written a wonderful essay at the start that is almost worth the purchase alone. Lots of fascinating Nabokovian history to tear into.
posted by Fizz at 4:06 PM on November 27, 2015 [3 favorites]
Delighted to see Citizen on that list. I got more out of reading Rankine than anything else I read this year.
Lists like this make me wish someone would pay me to lie around in bed all day and read.
posted by frumiousb at 4:53 PM on November 27, 2015 [5 favorites]
Lists like this make me wish someone would pay me to lie around in bed all day and read.
posted by frumiousb at 4:53 PM on November 27, 2015 [5 favorites]
Can someone please recommend some well-written contemporary fiction that isn't depressing? I need some new books, but I've been kinda down lately. I don't necessary need something inspiring, just something that isn't depressing.
posted by panama joe at 8:24 PM on November 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by panama joe at 8:24 PM on November 27, 2015 [2 favorites]
Mislaid (Nell Zink) and Loving Day (Mat Johnson) (both mentioned on the list) are largely not-at-all depressing. Additionally they are two of my favorite books from this year.
posted by thivaia at 9:06 PM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by thivaia at 9:06 PM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]
100 notable books, New York Times, and only one of them is speculative fiction. Exactly the same as last year. Gee, don't stretch yourself or anything.
posted by newdaddy at 2:53 AM on November 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by newdaddy at 2:53 AM on November 28, 2015 [3 favorites]
Maybe all the really great spec fic always comes out in December, so they can't make this year's list and don't qualify for next year's.
posted by ardgedee at 3:46 AM on November 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 3:46 AM on November 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
The most depressing thing to me about this list is the lack of a single book on climate change.
posted by Pararrayos at 3:53 AM on November 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Pararrayos at 3:53 AM on November 28, 2015 [2 favorites]
Maybe all the really great spec fic always comes out in December, so they can't make this year's list and don't qualify for next year's.
Not only could that sentence be described as speculative fiction, but I liked it so much I could even see the New York Times neglecting to mention it.
posted by teponaztli at 3:57 AM on November 28, 2015 [5 favorites]
Not only could that sentence be described as speculative fiction, but I liked it so much I could even see the New York Times neglecting to mention it.
posted by teponaztli at 3:57 AM on November 28, 2015 [5 favorites]
Left out The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government
posted by bukvich at 5:24 AM on November 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by bukvich at 5:24 AM on November 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Huh. No Seveneves...
posted by Navelgazer at 6:18 AM on November 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Navelgazer at 6:18 AM on November 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, this list is "literary" fiction (which is a genre like any other) and pop nonfiction heavy. Most of my favourite books in any given year are poetry and philosophy, and when it's fiction, it's usually sci-fi, so my tastes are rarely reflected on this list. I bought "City On Fire" and I read and loved "Citizen," but that's about it.
posted by eustacescrubb at 8:01 AM on November 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by eustacescrubb at 8:01 AM on November 28, 2015 [1 favorite]
I will say that the books I have read on this list -- The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin, The First Bad Man by Miranda July, and How To Be Both by Ali Smith -- ranged from great to jaw-droppingly fantastic. So, there's that.
posted by kyrademon at 11:54 AM on November 28, 2015
posted by kyrademon at 11:54 AM on November 28, 2015
Just finished reading The Invention if Wings - highly recommend it
posted by Debra Hudasko at 12:03 PM on November 28, 2015
posted by Debra Hudasko at 12:03 PM on November 28, 2015
The most depressing thing to me about this list is the lack of a single book on climate change.
It's only the most important issue in the world.
posted by pracowity at 3:31 PM on November 28, 2015
It's only the most important issue in the world.
posted by pracowity at 3:31 PM on November 28, 2015
The most depressing thing to me about this list is the lack of a single book on climate change.
It's only the most important issue in the world.
Was trying to figure out why This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein was not on the list but then realized it was released in 2014. Still worth reading.
posted by Fizz at 8:25 AM on November 29, 2015
I will say, "The Fifth Season, the First Bad Man, and How to Be Both," would be an interesting, if difficult, tome.
posted by Navelgazer at 1:29 PM on November 30, 2015
posted by Navelgazer at 1:29 PM on November 30, 2015
I like to read "vicarious" nonfiction in the vein of "Well, I don't ever see myself climbing Mount Everest." Barbarian Days : a Surfing Life (William Finnegan) filled the bill nicely for the never-surfer in me. Contains three essays previously posted here:
Playing Doc's Games, Parts I and II
Off Diamond Head
posted by initapplette at 1:45 PM on November 30, 2015
Playing Doc's Games, Parts I and II
Off Diamond Head
posted by initapplette at 1:45 PM on November 30, 2015
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posted by shakespeherian at 3:04 PM on November 27, 2015