This is my community service to book bloggers – a list of the books that appear most frequently on all of the lists I listed on Best Books of 2016 – A List of Lists. So before I have to write the word ‘list’ again, here it is, the 2016 Commonly-Agreed-by-the-People-Who-Publish-Best-of-2016-Book-Lists-Before-December-31 top 36 books.
Books that made four lists –
01. What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell
02. Mischling by Affinity Konar
03. Pond by Claire Louise Bennett
04. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
05. Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
06. Moonglow by Michael Chabon
07. Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple
08. The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
09. The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
10. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
11. Evicted by Matthew Desmond
12. The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
Books that made five lists –
13. All That Man Is by David Szalay
14. Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn
15. The Nix by Nathan Hill
16. The Sport of Kings by C. E. Morgan
17. The Wangs vs the World by Jade Chang
18. Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer
Books that made six lists –
19. News of the World by Paulette Jiles
20. Zero K by Don DeLillo
21. The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
22. Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
23. Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
24. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
Books that made seven lists –
25. The Girls by Emma Cline
26. LaRose by Louise Erdrich
27. Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett
28. What is Not Yours is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi
Books that made eight or nine lists –
29. Barkskins by Annie Proulx
30. The Vegetarian by Han Kang
31. The Mothers by Brit Bennett
32. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
33. Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
Books that made ten or more lists –
34. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
35. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
36. Swing Time by Zadie Smith
I’ve only read five of these (Foer, Strout, Chang, Levy, Cline). I own another three (Konar, Smith, Barnes). I’m busting to read three in particular (Erdrich, Bennett, Patchett).
I do think it’s interesting that in a year when some big names published books (Russo, Shriver, Atwood…who else have I missed?) they don’t rate. Likewise, where was the Bailey’s Prize Winner? Swing Time was officially released mid-November and yet came in on top (fresh in the minds of critics?). The new Proulx garnered lots of attention although I don’t know anyone who has actually read it yet. Thoughts?
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