General Fiction:
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. A minor Russian nobleman is sentenced to life in his hotel. For a book about a guy who can’t go outside (on pain of death), this book’s got everything: romance, intrigue, suspense, comedy, tragedy, and most of all, hope. Can’t recommend this highly enough. I can’t imagine anyone who loves to read not loving this book.
World’s End by Upton Sinclair. Lanny Budd lives with his mother (Beauty) in the south of France. His father is a married New England arms manufacturer. His best friends are British and German, and his stepfather is French. His world is hard enough to figure out, but when WWI shatters his world, it becomes exponentially harder to understand. A capital-G Great book about the build-up to, cost of, and aftermath of WWI. Not only extremely entertaining, but I learned soooo much. First of an 11-book series that follows Lanny from pre-WWI adolescence to Cold-War spy.
Cherokee America by Margaret Verble. Follows a mixed-blood Cherokee woman and her family in post-Civil War Indian Territory. Another great, great American novel told from a point of view that most of us never hear.
Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls. Intrigue, mystery, drama, suspense, and bootlegging in small-town Virginia. An action-packed and fun read, with a great female protagonist.
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead. A fantastic book about a furniture dealer/small time fence trying to survive and raise a family in 1960s Harlem. Exciting, suspenseful, and frequently hilarious. Good enough that it caused me to buy two or three more Whitehead books that I haven’t had a chance to read. Seriously, it is another capital-G Great book.
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. The story of a small town in the early 70s where immigrant Jews and black folks lived side-by-side on the poor side of the tracks. Very moving, very funny. A wonderful book (and wonderful is not a word I use to describe books very often). Also check out Deacon King Kong, and The Good Lord Bird.
Non-Fiction:
A Misplaced Massacre by Ari Kelman. Covers the controversy over, and difficulty of, establishing the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, as well as the massacre itself. Excellent, thought-provoking book.
Why Read Hannah Arendt Now by Richard J. Bernstein. This is definitely the thinkiest of the thinky-think books on this list, but it is a great introduction to Hannah Arendt, the philosopher who coined the phrase “the banality of evil” after her interview with Adolph Eichmann. Arendt is pretty critical reading for those of us trying to understand the world we’re living in, in order to prevent the world of Totalitarianism that she examined.
Nothing Daunted by Dorothy Wickenden. The adventures of two society girls who went to western Colorado in 1916 (which was still very much the Wild West) to teach in what was basically a remote one-room schoolhouse. A very entertaining, very lively account, written by the granddaughter of one of them.
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin. In the 1950s, Griffin, a white man, dyed himself black, and traveled through the south in an effort to understand the experience of black people in the south. A troubling, deeply moving, and hugely important book, which seems as relevant now as it did when originally published in 1960.
Gallipoli by Allan Moorehead. A great book about the Gallipoli campaign of WWI. A story of brave men led by wildly incompetent generals. Makes you wonder how the British ever won a war.
Thrillers:
The Huntress by Kate Quinn. A young American girl teams up with a formal journalist and a Russian Night Witch (WWII female Russian bomber pilot) to hunt a female Nazi war criminal. Excellent suspense by a great writer. Also check out Quinn’s other novels, including The Alice Network.
Forty Thieves by Thomas Perry. Cat-and-mouse thriller pitting a pair of married detectives against a pair of married assassins. Lots of great action. Perry is also the author of The Old Man, on which the FX series starring Jeff Bridges is based. Also, check out The Butcher’s Boy (a mob hit man goes rogue), Strip (more of a comic thriller), and Island (a con man builds his own island tax haven in the Caribbean). Honestly, you can’t go wrong with Perry.
My Darkest Prayer by S. A. Cosby. A former cop, turned funeral home employee, is hired to investigate the murder of a minister. Also, check out Razorblade Tears. Those are the only two of Cosby’s that I’ve read, but I loved both, and look forward to reading more.
Slow Horses by Mick Herron. Basis for the AppleTV series starring Gary Oldman. MI-5 losers have to save the day. Lots of action, complex plot, lots of (dark) humour. I’m not a big spy fan, but I love this series. I’m five or six books in, and not a dud yet.
Horror:
Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman. A WWI vet inherits a plantation in Georgia. Things start out weird and go horribly wrong. A great historical horror novel about family guilt coming home to roost. A really great, very suspenseful book.
My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones. Book 1 of the Indian Lake Trilogy. An outcast, half-white, half Blackfoot (I think) girl who’s obsessed with horror films discovers some very evil stuff going on in her home town. Can her encyclopedic knowledge of the genre save her? Jones’ style is unique, and takes a little getting used to, but well worth it. Also check out the others in the trilogy, along with The Only Good Indians, and I Was a Teenage Slasher.
Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian. Weird horror set in the Old West. A lot of fun. Also check out Grecian’s Scotland Yard Murder Squad series for Victorian Era mystery.
Anthem by Noah Hawley. In a not-too-distant dystopian America, teenagers begin killing themselves in epidemic numbers. A small group tries to find the source of the epidemic and stop it. An exciting, action-packed book with a lot to say.
Lone Women by Victor LaValle. Part historical fiction, part horror, all great. In the early 1900s, a black woman moves to a homestead in Montana, dragging an enormous trunk that holds a terrifying secret. LaValle is a new discovery for me, and one of my favorites. Also check out The Devil in Silver, soon to be the basis for season 3 of The Terror.
. . . and last but not least, My Book, and others like it.
Let’s face it, you didn’t think you were gonna get through this without a plug for my book, did ya?
A Rare and Dangerous Beast by Lloyd Mullins. A half-Russian, half-Buriat Mongol teenager in love with the idea of America comes to California during the Gold Rush, and embarks on a 40 year Odyssey through the Old West. Full of action, humor, and heartbreak, with a thread of dogged optimism running through it. As historically accurate as I could make it. An epic Western for people who don’t necessarily like westerns (as well as those who do).
A Good Man, The Englishman’s Boy, and The Last Crossing all by Guy Vanderhaeghe. Three stand-alone novels set in the Old West. Wonderful (there’s that word again) books that will be loved by Western fans and non-western readers alike. Vanderhaeghe is one of those guys whom I’m glad I didn’t discover until after I’d finished my book. I don’t know if I’d have had the nerve to try. A writer who makes me wish I could write.
The Color of Lightning by Paulette Jiles. Beautifully written and stirring tale of settlers on the Texas frontier, after the Civil War. Jiles is another of my new favorite authors (a list that just keeps growing).
Flashman by George Macdonald Fraser. A long-time favorite of mine, Flashman is one of literature’s great anti-heroes. A horrible, unapologetic human being who is also a delightful narrator, fully aware that he is a thorough-going villain. His adventures are hilarious and (like pretty much all good historically accurate military fiction frequently horrifying). Although some books in the series are better than others, I’ve read them all multiple times, and still can’t really decide on a favorite.
The Son by Philipp Meyer. A boy is kidnapped and raised by Comanches grows up to be a ruthless rancher and oil man. Another great book.
Monte Walsh by Jack Schaefer. The best book about the life of a cowboy that I’ve ever read. Exciting and frequently hilarious, it will stay with you long after you’ve finished it. For those of you who’ve seen the movie (which is great), starring Lee Marvin and Jack Palance (or the inferior remake with Tom Selleck), there’s so much more to Monte’s story than just the end of it. A great American Western, and one that should be loved by fans of Westerns, and people who normally don’t like westerns.
Well, I suppose that’s enough for now. Like most book lovers, I could go on (and on, and on, and on) about books I love, but I won’t. I hope this helps you find gifts for the book lovers in your life (or even for yourself).
Happy Holidays!
