My local library has shelves featuring recently published books as well as several tables where books are grouped by themes. About 20% of the books I read this year were discovered while perusing these stacks. It wasn’t like I was looking for a book on housecleaning or a novel about a piece of lung which becomes a monster. I didn’t have an eye out for a sci-fi retelling of the legend of Orpheus or a reimagining of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim. But I was delighted to find them all.
As in prior years, I did reread a number of books: Jane Eyre, Bleak House, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Little Women, Never Let Me Go, and Wide Sargasso Sea. Always, I get new insights when revisiting these amazing works.
And there’s an honorable mention which I never expected to wind up on the list, but I stand by my decision.
The Top Ten (alphabetized by author)

Jayne Eyre, Charlotte Bronté
It feels odd to put an established classic on my list of favorites, but the truth is that after rereading Jane Eyre, I came away with admiration for how radical a character Jane is. Hired as a governess for the ward of the moody Rochester, Jane must navigate the growing attraction between her and her employer. What makes Jane so radical is her absolute conviction to her moral principles. In an age where women were expected to prescribe to social norms, Bronte’s Jane speaks her mind. Any time she is faced with a moral challenge, she always determines what is best for herself rather than what society dictates – even if that means relinquishing her own happiness. But Jane’s moral fortitude gives her the ability to face every challenge head-on. A breathtaking novel.

A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home: Housekeeping Hacks You Can’t Live Without, Melissa Dilkes Pateras
Melissa Dilkes Pateras garners plenty of followers with her housecleaning wisdom via Tik-Tok videos. Now she has compiled her prescriptions for how to clean and organize your home. A witty writer, she has a knack for explaining why keeping on top of simple cleaning tasks can make your life less hectic. Often, I am bogged down by the endless chores of dishes and laundry so that deeper cleaning only occurs when I can’t stand the mess anymore. What Dilkes Pateras proposes is that by scheduling regular cleaning tasks, the little problems don’t become big problems. Since reading her book, I have kept a biweekly and monthly schedule for tackling chores that I typically would have put off. And truthfully, keeping on top of stuff has made my life easier.

James, Percival Everett
A brilliant reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim. In Everett’s novel, Jim is not only literate but well versed in philosophy. He teaches enslaved children how to read while also warning them to maintain the illusion that they are unschooled. Enslaved people know that if their intellect is discovered by their white enslavers, there will be hell to pay. While the early part of the novel follows the basic plot of Huckleberry Finn, once Jim is separated from Huck, he proceeds on his own adventures, such as performing in a minstrel show as a Black man pretending to be white pretending to be Black. He also helps free other enslaved people, and ultimately, he leads a mass exodus and a burgeoning rebellion. Satiric when it needs to be, and heartrending when it must, Percival Everett’s novel is a must-read.

Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
I was eager to read Kingsolver’s reimagining of Dickens’ David Copperfield. Set in Appalachia, it follows the adventures of Demon as he is shuttled into foster care then finally finds a place as a high school football star. An injury sidelines his academic and athletic trajectory, but more so it is his addiction to opioids that undoes him. Whereas Dickens’ novel has its share of drama, there is always a fair amount of charm to the tale. Kingsolver opts for a gritty take on poverty, the foster care system, and especially the opioid crisis. Demon’s story goes from bad to worse, though it does land on a somewhat hopeful ending.

It Can’t Happen Here, Sinclair Lewis
Written in 1935, Lewis’s novel follows the rise of a fascist dictator on American soil. Duly elected, President Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip immediately initiates his plans to return the country to its patriotic values. If that means executing two-thirds of Congress, so be it. Soon, there are Minute Men, a paramilitary force akin to the Gestapo, rounding up any citizen deemed to be a threat to the nation. The tale centers on Doremus Jessup, a liberal newspaper editor who openly criticizes the presidential regime. He is thrown into a concentration camp with other dissenters. Eventually, he escapes to Canada, where he joins the resistance.
Given the divisiveness in our current society, I found it challenging to read this novel. While the author engages in some satire, the book is not comic and can be quite grueling. My biggest challenge was acclimating to Lewis’s writing style, which often required concentration to follow his syntax. In the end, it was worth it to read, and the story remains foremost in my mind.

The Most Fun We Ever Had, Claire Lombardo
A richly layered history of the Sorenson family: Marilyn and David and their four daughters. In her teens, Violet kept her pregnancy a secret, and she gave up her son to adoption. Sixteen years later, the teen shows up. His arrival triggers all manner of dysfunction between parents and children and between siblings. In particular, each daughter is facing some sort of identity trauma. What makes it harder for the daughters is that they live in the monumental shadow of their parents’ love. Via flashback, the author reveals that not everything was always rosy between Marilyn and David. I didn’t want this book to end.

Black No More, George S. Schuyler
Published in 1931, Schuyler’s novel speculates what would happen if the “race problem” was solved in the U.S. A scientist develops a process by which Black skin can be turned white. Wouldn’t that eliminate bigotry? Protagonist Max Disher, who undergoes the treatment, falls in love with the daughter of a White Supremacist whose organization, the Knights of Nordica, wants to end this race-reversal process. After all, if you can’t blame Blacks for all of society’s problems, how can you run an effective political campaign? Schuyler’s novel, thick with satire, addresses the dangerous absurdity of racism and even now spotlights how systemic racism remains woven into the fabric of society.

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau’s first published book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, is a precursor to his more famous work, Walden. Thoreau and his older brother, John, embark on a trek following the two rivers. Not really an adventure story; instead, Thoreau uses the journey to examine local wildlife and indigenous history, and sometimes he ruminates on religions. Everything is perceived through the philosophic lens of Transcendentalism. While lacking the thoughtful organization of Walden, this book shows the promise of a young writer wrestling with the Big Questions. I have read selections from A Week in a compendium of Thoreau’s writings, but sinking into the depth of this early work was an entirely different experience altogether. I will be revisiting this book in subsequent years.

Morgoth’s Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien
After completing The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien attempted to revise his earlier tales from The Silmarillion to bring them in line with Frodo’s history. Although he never completed these revisions, he did write several fascinating essays and stories exploring philosophic themes. The title, Morgoth’s Ring, does not refer to a physical object, such as Sauron’s One Ring, but rather the pervasive evil of Morgoth’s presence in the round, material world. Tolkien examines the nature of evil and how it must be combatted. Along the way, he delves into questions of mortality and immortality – Elves vs Men – and even wrangles with the Catholic notion that the marriage bond between one man and one woman is eternal. Morgoth’s Ring is the tenth book in the 12-volume The History of Middle-Earth, Christopher Tolkien’s compendium of his father’s work. I rank it as one of my favorites in the series.

When Brains Dream, Antonio Zadra & Robert Stickgold
How we dream is as fascinating as why we dream. According to the authors, the brain engages in a fair amount of problem-solving via dreams. So, why are dreams so absurd? It may be that literal thinking can’t make the necessary connections to resolve a problem, so the brain resorts to loose associations to provide insights. That’s why, after balancing your checkbook, you end up dreaming about your 2nd grade teacher who taught you to identify dimes, nickels, and quarters, and then you wake up determined to save every penny you can for retirement. Fascinating stuff.
Honorable Mention

Pollyanna, Eleanor H. Porter
Calling someone a “Pollyanna” suggests that they are excessively optimistic. And certainly, the main character in Porter’s novel has a favorable outlook on life. But to dismiss her as a naïve, chipper girl overlooks her sheer determination. An orphan, Pollyanna plays “the game” her father taught her: To find the best in any given situation. Now that she is living with her stern and aloof aunt, the girl must employ the game to face all sorts of challenges. While she does spread cheer throughout the town and changes many people’s lives, she is also wrestling with her own grief and limitations. There is depth to this child’s soul. The novel does take a surprisingly dark turn, but there remains hope at the very end.
The complete list of books is below:
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
The Release, Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew
Clydeo, Jennifer Aniston
Slender Man, Anonymous
Planet of the Apes, Pierre Boulle
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronté
Still Life, A.S. Byatt
Sleeping Murder, Agatha Christie
The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Monstrilio, Gerardo Sámano Córdova
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave
The Ghost and Mrs Muir, R.A. Dick
Bleak House, Charles Dickens
Some Short Christmas Stories, Charles Dickens
A Dirty Guide to a Clean Home, Melissa Dilkes Pateras
When Harry Met Sally…, Nora Ephron
James, Percival Everett
My Favorite Thing is Monsters, Vol. I, Emil Ferris
The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
Horrorstör, Grady Hendrix
A Knickerbocker’s History of New York, Washington Irving
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
We Are the Brennans, Tracey Lange
It Can’t Happen Here, Sinclair Lewis
A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War, Joseph Loconte
The Most Fun We Ever Had, Claire Lombardo
Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes
Secrets of the Octopus, Sy Montgomery
Monster, Walter Dean Myers
The Railway Children, E. Nesbit
Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell
The Lady from the Black Lagoon, Malory O’Meara
More Perfect, Temi Oh
Dream Work, Mary Oliver
Pay Dirt, Sara Paretsky
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager, Ben Philippe
Pollyanna, Eleanor H. Porter
Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys
The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
The Light We Lost, Jill Santopolo
Black No More, George S. Schuyler
The Two Gentlemen of Verona, William Shakespeare
Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw
The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries, Michael Sims, ed.
101 Great American Poems, The American Poetry and Literacy Project
A Week on the Concord and the Merrimack Rivers, Henry David Thoreau
Morgoth’s Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien
No Gods, No Monsters, Cadwell Turnbull
Thoreau: A Life, Laura Dassow Walls
When Brains Dream, Antonio Zadra & Robert Stickgold
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