In today’s issue, we are celebrating the books we loved this year–the 30 Best Books of 2013. It was an arduous process in which cutting the initial list down to a mere 87 titles was considered a triumph. So we’re going to cheat and add a few more to our 30 Best: Ron Carlson continues to amaze with his lyricism in Return to Oakpine, a novel about work and friendship. Nathan Filer’s haunting Where the Moon Isn’t is “equal parts family drama, mystery, coming-of-age and meditation on mental illness.” In Harvest, an English tenant farm collapses under a new landlord; one of our reviewers said it is author Jim Crace’s masterpiece. In Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites, a young woman in 19th-century Iceland is accused of murder, in a tale uplifting and overpowering in its telling. Ken Bruen’s extremely noir Purgatory, the latest Jack Taylor story, sees the Irish mystery writer at the top of his always brilliant craft.
Shelf Awareness for Readers for Friday, December 13, 2013 | Shelf Awareness.