In the first draft of this list, I used standard cheatery to cram in as much as possible, with themed doublings for almost all of the 11 slots (of an ostensible Top 10 list). But so many of the doublings were grasping or frankly non-existent that I pared it down into this more reasonable form, moving the remainders to the honorable mentions list. You'll see a few doublings still exist, but at least they make sense (to me anyway).
- The Innocence of Father Brown/Ghost Stories of an Antiquary Exquisitely wrought genre tales. Each formulaic in the best sense of the term.
- Locke & Key/MINDMGMT. Two extended runs with satisfying wholeness when you're done. I will probably reread both series.
- The Bride of Innisfallen/Delta Wedding. It turns out the great revelation this year was Miss Welty of the Jackson Garden Club.
- All Systems Red. I love all of the novellas in this series narrated by my new favorite autistic machine-designed-only-for-killing, Murderbot.
- Ashenden. One of the first spy novels, but also a diatribe against Modernism.
- A Room of One's Own. ("But, you may say, we asked you to speak about women and fiction--what has that got to do with a room of one's own? I will try to explain.")/The Dud Avocado. "It was a hot, peaceful, optimistic sort of day in September. It was around eleven in the morning, I remember, and I was drifting down the boulevard St. Michel, thoughts rising in my head like little puffs of smoke, when suddenly a voice bellowed into my ear" 'Sally Jay Gorce!'"
- Rivers & Mountains by John Ashbery. I spent April reading numerous Ashbery tomes, but this strikes the right balance between radical experimentalism and affable
- The Ill-Made Knight. From the first scene, with the ugly reflection in the polished helm, to the last scene, with the miracle of the miracle.
- Dandelion Wine. I think Bradbury was almost always trying to evoke the magic of boyhood. This time he nailed it.
- In Cold Blood. The first best true crime book.
Honorable Mentions: Trafalgar, The Garden Party, Stoner, Slouching Toward Bethlehem, Peasants and Other Stories.
