The Millions: Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

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2016 was a year of great joy and promise dotted with the specter and the results of the most poisonous news cycle in my entire memory. My family and I moved to Oxford, Miss., so I could begin my appointment as the Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi. With that came the gift of time to write and read in a town so steeped in an almost mythic love for writing and literature — so that, in times of despair, I often felt buoyed by books.

This year also marked the first time in more than a decade where I lived in the same town as an independent bookstore — the mighty and marvelous Square Books (and Square Books Jr. for kids) — and never before have I been so perfectly happy to make my wallet just a bit lighter these days. Here then, is a sampling of the books I turned to and marveled over, often in more than one read-through, and thoroughly dog-eared to bits:

The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature by J. Drew Lanham

Thunder & Lightning: Weather Past, Present, Future by Lauren Redniss

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

A Bestiary by Lily Hoang

The Art of Waiting: On Fertility, Medicine, and Motherhood by Belle Boggs

Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life by Kim Addonizio

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Bestiary by Donika Kelly

Four Reincarnations by Max Ritvo

The Halo by C. Dale Young

Brooklyn Antediluvian by Patrick Rosal

Look by Solmaz Sharif

Third Voice by Ruth Ellen Kocher

No More Milk by Karen Craigo

ShallCross by C.D. Wright

Cannibal by Safiya Sinclair

Ropes by Derrick Harriell

Eternity & Oranges by Christopher Bakken

Field Guide to the End of the World by Jeannine Hall Gailey

Chord by Rick Barot

play dead by francine j. harris

The Ladder by Alan Michael Parker

The Bees Make Money in the Lion by Lo Kwa Mei-en

The Crown Ain’t Worth Much by Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib

Family Resemblance: An Anthology and Exploration of 8 Hybrid Literary Genres edited by Marcela Sulak and Jacqueline Kolosov

Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty

And finally, very much in the spirit of how I gifted Matt de la Peña’s Last Stop on Market Street for its music and ebullient spirit to every parent I knew with young children, my favorite picture book of the year (resoundingly endorsed by my six- and nine-year-old boys): We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen. You will simply, never forget this wily pair of turtles. I promise you. The sparse storyline and hilariously evocative illustrations showcase more empathy and kindness in a few pages than many grown-ups have these days. The sheer beauty of this picture book will leave you clutching your heart.

2016 National Book Award Finalists Announced

Editor | 3

Book award season enters high gear as the National Book Award finalists have been released. Winners will be announced in New York City on November 16.

The short list includes the big fall book by Colson Whitehead and Jacqueline Woodson’s first novel for adults in 20 years. It’s a great time to be a reader.

You read about nearly all of the books on the Fiction list here first, of course, as they appeared in our indispensable first-half and second-half previews.

Here’s a list of the finalists in all four categories with bonus links and excerpts where available:

Fiction:

The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder (“Men in Tights Crammed into Confined Spaces“)
News of the World by Paulette Jiles (excerpt (pdf))
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan (I Want Complete Freedom When I Write: The Millions Interviews Karan Mahajan)
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (“Scars That Never Fade“)
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson (A Most Anticipated book)

Nonfiction:

Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild (Most Anticipated)
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi (excerpt)
Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Year in Reading)
The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America by Andrés Reséndez (excerpt)
Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy by Heather Ann Thompson (Most Anticipated)

Poetry:

Young People’s Literature:

Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo (Susan Orlean on Kate DiCamillo)
March: Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (our review of Book One in the series)
When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin (excerpt)
Ghost by Jason Reynolds
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Prizes

2016 National Book Award Longlists Unveiled

Editor | 1

Book award season enters high gear as the National Book Award finalists have been released in a series of four longlists consisting of ten books apiece. Five finalists in each category will be announced on October 13, and winners will be announced in New York City on November 16.

The fiction list seems well balanced but also includes many familiar names. Alongside highly touted books by Colson Whitehead and Garth Greenwell are critical darlings like Lydia Millet and Karan Mahajan. It’s a great time to be a reader.

You read about nearly all of the books on the Fiction longlist here first, of course, as they appeared in our indispensable first-half and second-half previews.

Here’s a list of the finalists in all four categories with bonus links and excerpts where available:

Fiction:

The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder (“Men in Tights Crammed into Confined Spaces“)
What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell (“ISO the Next Great Gay Novel“)
Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett (A Most Anticipated book)
News of the World by Paulette Jiles (excerpt (pdf))
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan (I Want Complete Freedom When I Write: The Millions Interviews Karan Mahajan)
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie (excerpt)
Sweet Lamb of Heaven by Lydia Millet (Lydia Millet, writing at The Millions)
Miss Jane by Brad Watson (Brad Watson’s Year in Reading)
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (“Scars That Never Fade“)
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson (A Most Anticipated book)