new york times 10 best books

The New York Times just released it’s 10 Best Books List – You can check out the top 100 here. I’ll just touch on the fiction selections because there’s bound to be something political on that other ‘non’ one and to be quite honest, I don’t have the stomach for it today – am fighting nausea as we speak, bit of a bug and all.

The five authors lucky enough to find themselves in this enviable position? The lovely Marisha Pessl for one. Her freshman effort, the hefty Nabokovian construction “Special Topics in Calamity Physics” finds itself alongside Richard Ford and “The Lay of the Land”. No surprise Amy Hempel is there with her short story collection – The Times loves her. Then there’s Gary Shteyngart and “Absurdistan” which I wont be picking up – I’ve had enough of Borat this year. (Still funny though.)

New York Times 10 Best Books of 2006

11 Responses to “new york times 10 best books”

1. Word Nerd says:

   6 December, 2006 at 14:27

   Thanks for the recommendation of Calamity Physics. I’ll have to see if I can rustle up a copy from the library and read one of the books on this list.
2. LisaBinDaCity says:

   6 December, 2006 at 14:49

   I may have to pick one or two of them up…
3. Buffy says:

   6 December, 2006 at 14:50

   Lisa…pick up Physics. It’s good fun.
4. Rene says:

   6 December, 2006 at 17:32

   Good Lord, I don’t think I’m smart enough for these books! But they do look fascinating.
5. Katherine says:

   6 December, 2006 at 17:35

   “Falling Through The Earth” sounds really good to me. I have to admit I’ve never heard of any of these books – and I love to read! Shameful.
6. holly hodder says:

   6 December, 2006 at 19:03

   I read Richard Ford’s The Sportswriter forever ago. And for some unknown reason I returned to his work, and just finished his three-novela collection, Women with Men. The first story felt like Henry James, the second like Hemmingway, and the third like, maybe, Michael Cunningham. So I went backwards and picked up the second of the Frank Bascombe books, Independence Day. Damn, that man can write.
7. Buffy says:

   6 December, 2006 at 19:58

   Holly, you just sold me on Ford. Am going to pick up Independence Day this week.
8. ldbug says:

   6 December, 2006 at 21:14

   Hope you feel better. I’m fighting a killer headache right now. Hoping my stomach doesn’t follow….
9. Marina says:

   6 December, 2006 at 22:22

   I’m sad to say I haven’t read any of the books on the list this year.

   Hope you’re taking a bit of a rest and getting yourself back up to par!
10. Bre says:

    7 December, 2006 at 1:16

    Thoughts on Anne Tyler? Sometimes I adore her and other times I can barely stomach her… but the adoption angle tickles my fancy…
11. Kelly Parra says:

    7 December, 2006 at 6:01

    It’s the flu, isn’t it? It’s coming around!