Just so you know, the NYTimes Book Review did a podcast this week, giving some insider info on the “Ten Best Books.” I listened just for a bit; some juicy notes and some thoughts....
*It wasn’t always the ten best. It was sometimes eight, or nine. But people assumed ten, so eventually the editors just said: ten.
*There is always a split, now, between five works of fiction and five works of non-fiction. Even in a year when fiction seems especially strong (for example). No attention is given to thematic variety: The books with the most beautiful sentences and the most gripping stories and the smartest research are the winners. Always. Period.
*One that calls out to me is “No Visible Bruises,” because the title is brilliant. “NVB” is what cops say to address their own worries when they’re leaving the scene of a possible domestic assault. But “visible” is a word that raises questions. What if there are psychological bruises? What if there are actual, physical bruises, and one spouse has conspired with the other spouse to conceal the bruises (for a number of complex reasons)? And who decides what is visible and invisible? “NVB” is a term that means something different from what it seems to mean.
*Kids’ books don’t seem to make this list, but I’d love to see some attention given to Kevin Henkes’s “Sweeping up the Heart.” I don’t pay special attention to a kid/adult divide. A good book is a good book. “Sweeping up the Heart” is sensitive, surprising, and packed with memorable, plausible characters. I recommend it.
Happy reading!
*It wasn’t always the ten best. It was sometimes eight, or nine. But people assumed ten, so eventually the editors just said: ten.
*There is always a split, now, between five works of fiction and five works of non-fiction. Even in a year when fiction seems especially strong (for example). No attention is given to thematic variety: The books with the most beautiful sentences and the most gripping stories and the smartest research are the winners. Always. Period.
*One that calls out to me is “No Visible Bruises,” because the title is brilliant. “NVB” is what cops say to address their own worries when they’re leaving the scene of a possible domestic assault. But “visible” is a word that raises questions. What if there are psychological bruises? What if there are actual, physical bruises, and one spouse has conspired with the other spouse to conceal the bruises (for a number of complex reasons)? And who decides what is visible and invisible? “NVB” is a term that means something different from what it seems to mean.
*Kids’ books don’t seem to make this list, but I’d love to see some attention given to Kevin Henkes’s “Sweeping up the Heart.” I don’t pay special attention to a kid/adult divide. A good book is a good book. “Sweeping up the Heart” is sensitive, surprising, and packed with memorable, plausible characters. I recommend it.
Happy reading!
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