A Year in Reading: Conversational Reading

December 5, 2006 | 10 books mentioned

Scott Esposito’s excellent literature and culture blog Conversational Reading likely needs no introduction here (don’t forget his Quarterly Conversation either). Lucky for us, Scott has kindly pitched in with his best reads of 2006 for our year end extravaganza at The Millions:

coverLooking over the books I read in 2006, it seems like a banner year. I see a lot of novels that amazed me, and many that have expanded my view of what literature is and what it can be in the future.

Still, one novel towers above all the rest: Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar. This is a book that is experimental is the very best ways while also providing more traditional literary pleasures like well-defined characters and beautiful prose. Anyone who hasn’t read it should make an effort to tackle this masterpiece.

A very close second (and it’s very difficult to choose which of these two I enjoyed more) is Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry.

Other books:

Thanks Scott!

is the author of The End of Oulipo? (with Lauren Elkin), forthcoming from Zero Books in January 2013. His criticism has appeared in The Paris Review Daily, Tin House, The Washington Post, Bookforum, the Los Angeles Times, The Barnes & Noble Review, and Publishers Weekly, among many others. He blogs at Conversational Reading and edits The Quarterly Conversation, an online magazine of book reviews and essays.