Having to undergo major surgery can leave you with a lot of time to read but, speaking from experience, there are definitely some downsides. A relaxed vacation lying on the beach soaking up the sun and the latest bestseller is probably a better option, but sometimes you just don't have a choice.
My absence from the Northshire encompassed the last days of 2022, so I will have to offer a slightly late opinion of the best books of the past year. I had two favorites, neither of which, at least to my knowledge, appeared on lists submitted by more celebrated critics but, at a time when the Motion Picture Academy's best picture nominees includes Top Gun: Maverick, I make no apologies.
I don't evaluate Geraldine Brooks' novels on a like/don't like scale. They are measured in degrees of admiration. My favorite book by Ms. Brooks had been Year of Wonders, her first novel. It was bumped in 2022 by the publication of Horse, a centuries-spanning, enthralling story of Lexington, often regarded as the greatest racehorse in American history.
I will remember Emily St. John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility as both my co-favorite novel of 2022 and as an example of how it is a mistake to arbitrarily dismiss books that you have consigned to a genre that you don't particularly like. I have done that with sci-fi, which I find too fanciful, time travel, which I find too confusing, and children, whose participation, I feel, should be kept to a minimum, with the possible exception of To Kill a Mockingbird. Those three disdained elements are all integral parts of Sea of Tranquility. I have never read anything quite like it and that, I suspect, is my own fault.
I have been away from the wonderland of books at the Northshire for over two months, but my colleagues (read friends) made sure I was well-stocked with reading material to pass my recovery time. The tally included Ms. Mandel's engrossing dystopian novel, Station Eleven, Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson, a convincing claim that the film version of Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's was much more than an enchanting actress in a black dress and a catchy song and The Wintering Place by Kevin McCarthy, a tough and icy survival tale set in the Dakota territory after the Civil War. The Angel Makers by Patti McCracken, a horrifying and true account of a ring of women who expedited their status as widows in Eastern Europe at the beginning of the previous century, will be released in March. Isabel Allende's emotionally potent new novel, The Wind Knows My Name, will be published in June.
Hopefully, I will be released from home confinement in early February.
Alden Graves, master bookseller
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A progressive takedown of the uber-capitalist status quo that has enriched millionaires and billionaires at the expense of the working class, and a blueprint for what transformational change would actually look like
It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism presents a vision that extends beyond the promises of past campaigns to reveal what would be possible if the political revolution took place, if we would finally recognize that economic rights are human rights, and if we would work to create a society that provides a decent standard of living for all. This isn’t some utopian fantasy; this is democracy as we should know it.
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“A magnificent, sweeping epic. Shannon has created a world rich in intricate mythology, beautifully realized and complex.” Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Ariadne
"Shannon has done it again. The NYT best-selling author has an uncanny ability to bring her readers into a world so realistic that it will put the reader on the ground right alongside the characters. Her usage of imagery and incredibly in-depth characters creates an experience for the reader. It is so much more than a book, it's an adventure so unlike anything else.
I highly recommend it to all fans of fantasy. It follows four kingdoms as they try to keep The Nameless One at bay through centuries old traditions. This over 800 page monster will have you flying through wishing for more. I stayed up all night to finish it, it's truly a masterpiece." — Reviewed by Kylie Thalheimer
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