My Six Favorite Books of the Year So Far
- The Bossy Bookworm
- 3 hours ago
- 7 min read
My Favorite Bossy Reads
I've read about 70 books so far this year, and these are my six favorites. They vary in genre, in tone, in plot, and in style, but they all delighted me, made me want to keep reading, took me inside another place and time, and made me feel invested in what happened to the characters and their situations.
I love to look back and take stock of my reading, and I'm always curious about whether my year-end overall favorites will include the titles on my favorites list from halfway through the calendar year. Only time will tell! But for now, I hope you'll check out these great books if you haven't already.
If you've read any of these titles, I'd love to hear what you think! What are your favorite reads so far this year?
01 Wolvers by Taylor Brown
Taylor Brown offers up a suspenseful, adventure-filled story in Wolvers. Trace is an angry young man who sets out on an ill-advised, illegal revenge journey, but he's not the only wolf tracker in the New Mexico forest. He's starting to rethink his mission and be headed toward a fresh start--if he can survive that long.
Trace Temple is a disillusioned, angry young man whose family lost its ranch after hard times. Then Trace, a gifted tracker who knows the woods better than almost anyone around, is hired by a shadowy, powerful militia group to take out One-Eleven, the female leader of the most famous wolf pack in New Mexico, the Dark Canyons.
But One-Eleven is uncannily gifted in eluding human pursuit, and Trace is far from the only outdoorsman in these woods.
And the longer Trace tracks One-Eleven, the more he begins to second-guess everything about his life.
This is an outdoor adventure story that explores tensions between the preservation of nature and development, and between power and vulnerability. But it’s also layered with elements of redemption, love, unlikely loyalties, and character growth.
I'm a huge Taylor Brown fan.
Check out my Bossy reviews of his novels Rednecks, Wingwalkers, The Gods of Howl Mountain, and Fallen Land, a title I loved and included in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War.
02 The Once and Future Queen (Lives of Guinevere #1) by Paula Lafferty
A medieval setting, time travel, a quest, and intriguing complications--did Paula Lafferty write this book especially for me? She wrapped some of my favorite elements in funny banter, poignant (non-swooning) romance, and enough plot complexity to keep the whole thing chugging along and keep me riveted. I loved this.
Twenty-two-year-old Vera is feeling generally aimless and unseen. Then a strange man comes to town, telling Vera an unbelievable story of her true origins and her destiny. He says that she is actually from Camelot, in King Arthur's time, and that he himself is Merlin. Oh, and that her full name is Guinevere, as in "Queen."
He says that she was placed in her current time to grow up in safety into the woman she needed to be. The existence of the kingdom and magic itself are reliant upon Vera's time-travel back to Arthur's world, and only she can save them.
Upon her arrival, she must figure out how to help the kingdom. Meanwhile, she finds that the traditional thinking about a Guinevere-Lancelot romance is off base, but Vera builds a friendship for the ages with Lancelot. This funny, poignant, powerful connection is one of my favorite aspects of the novel.
I liked the injection of just enough modern feminism into a medieval setting (running! speaking her mind! wearing that modern underwear! jousting!). A newly imagined relationship with Arthur is hard-won and lovely.
For my full review, please see The Once and Future Queen.
03 Whistler by Ann Patchett
This may be my favorite Ann Patchett novel. It's a story of chosen family, a chance reunion, illuminating and poignant revelations about the past, and unexpected, reimagined relationships and treasured paths forward.
In Ann Patchett's newest novel, Daphne and her husband are visiting the Met Museum when they notice an older gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, Daphne's long-lost stepfather, the second of her mother's three husbands and a beloved figure from Daphne's childhood--whom she never saw nor heard from after a car accident that occurred when she was a young girl and Eddie and Daphne's mother divorced.
Their deep connection is immediately evident once again, and, at times with Daphne's sister Leda and Daphne's husband Jonathan, but most often alone, Eddie and Daphne revisit old memories, compare notes, and treasure their time together as a gift.
The structure of the story is wonderful, tracking back in time to Daphne's childhood and the pivotal events that led up to her cherished stepfather's departure, with revised memories and varied accounts revealing truths that change the tenor of the life-changing occurrences that follow.
This is lovely, poignant, and unexpected--and it's possibly my favorite Ann Patchett novel ever, certainly since The Magician's Assistant.
I received an audiobook version of this novel courtesy of Libro.fm and Harper.
Ann Patchett is also the author of Tom Lake, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, State of Wonder, Run, Bel Canto, The Dutch House, The Magician's Assistant, These Precious Days, and other books.
For my full review, please check out Whistler.
04 When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén
Ridzén's beautiful, poignant novel centers around Bo, an elderly Swedish man living out his last days in his woodland cabin as the past becomes more vivid to him than his present. This is lovely, heartbreaking, and practical while offering hope.
Bo is an elderly Swedish man living in the woodland cabin where he grew up.
He exists in somewhat of a haze between naps, frequent carer visits, calls and check-ins from his son Hans, short walks with his beloved elkhound Sixten, and vivid memories of his life--which sometimes feel more real than his reality.
His wife, who suffers from dementia, is in a care center, and his memories of her pop up in painful, poignant vibrancy.
When the Cranes Fly South is a beautiful, tragic, hopeful examination of end-of-life issues for an aging person as well as the loved ones who are trying their best to support their elderly person, keep them safe, and promote autonomy within a framework of care. In Ridzén's novel, while the past and Bo's many memories begin to become more vivid and realistic to Bo than the present-day or near-past, we watch Bo letting go, and from a distance we witness his son, grandson, best friend, dog, and carers as they see him slipping away.
I loved this lovely novel and the hope and practicality that overcomes heartbreak. Ridzén places us deeply in Bo's point of view, which was valuable to understanding his perspective on matters related to his own body and his pending death.
05 This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
This is gorgeous Niall Williams literary fiction, centering around an Irish country village, a young man searching for his path, and his unofficial mentor, zigzagging his way through life, embracing adventure, and bridging the gap between the old ways and modernity. Quiet connections and reflections make the story, with understated poignancy, humor, and heartbreaking moments that bring the book's world to life.
In the rural Irish village of Faha, in County Clare, the years-long rain (whether sprinkling, torrential, misting, steady dripping) is stopping, and electricity seems poised to finally move from "the notional" to "the actual," as Father Coffey proclaims.
Young Noe (short for "Noel") has abandoned the seminary but is unsure of his next steps, and he takes refuge at his beloved grandparents' cottage in the village.
A stranger, Christy, arrives to begin coordinating the installation of electricity in the area, and he boards with Noe at Ganga and Doady's home. He is older, kind, capable, yet somewhat lost, and he's bent on making amends for past mistakes. He and Noe become fast friends and in the span of a few months go through weighty moments with each other.
This Is Happiness explores the small moments that make up a life worth living as well as explorations of the meaning of existence, religion, spirituality, reconciliation, commitment, and facing death.
I adore this novel and its countless gorgeous passages, its understated, poignant, heartbreaking elements, and its unexpected moments of connection and beauty. When I was almost finished reading my (overdue) library copy, I bought a copy for a friend's birthday gift and ordered another for myself so I could finish reading it at my leisure and keep it forever.
For my full review of this book please see This Is Happiness. For my review of Niall Williams's lovely Time of the Child, please click this link.
06 Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser
This loose retelling of the Cinderella folk story offers the perspective of the "evil" stepmother, who is here actually a savvy, strong woman determined to provide for her household after being widowed in a patriarchal, 1700s-feeling society. I loved Hochhauser's turning the traditional tale on its head, the details, and the twists.
This is my favorite read of the spring so far.
Lady Tremaine is a loose retelling of the damsel-in-distress Cinderella folk tale, here from the perspective of the "evil" stepmother--who is shown to actually be a strong, determined, clever widow stuck in an era where men hold all of the property, power, and freedom.
Lady Tremaine is single-minded about protecting her daughters and trying to secure futures for them in a world where the safety and security of unmarried women is shaky.
A royal ball opens up the opportunity for Lady Tremaine to use the respectability of her deceased husband's title to secure invitations for her daughters (who are not, after all, shallow and greedy horrors of young women, as in the Disney story) and her standoffish but beautiful stepdaughter Elin. Elin is this novel’s version of Cinderella, and here she is a mostly insufferable girl, gloriously and willfully obtuse, dedicated to needlework and pious prayers while the rest of the househould is scrambling, hustling, and exhausting themselves to make ends meet.
There’s some gritty business, there are difficult choices, and there's a surprising shift of loyalties I loved. I adored the details of the late-1700s-feeling setting; the exploration of women’s struggles to carve out lives for themselves in a patriarchal society; and the creativity, strength, and resolve necessary to survive.
The story would have stood on its own for me, but the references to the Cinderella story were a fun added bonus.
I received a prepublication edition of Lady Tremaine courtesy of NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.
Click here for my full review of Lady Tremaine. You might also be interested in Bossy reviews of other retellings.