Just Giblets

I could never resist a good year-end list, and even though we’re over half-way through January, I thought I would share my list of the Top 10 books I read in 2006. Most of these books were also published in 2006, but since I read a lot of advanced reader’s copies, and a couple of the books I read were actually released earlier, I’m using books I read in 2006 as my determining factor for inclusion.

I was mildly surprised to find that a graphic novel topped my list, but when the novel in question is Alison Bechdel’s powerful and literary work, Fun Home: a Family Tragicomic that skillfully combines the best elements of the personal memoir and the graphic novel it’s not so surprising. I was pleased to see such a varied list; a little non-fiction, a little genre, a newcomer placing quite high, a collection of short stories, and some favorite authors making an appearance. So, with no further ado:

The Best Books I Read in 2006

1. Fun Home: a Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
2. Save Your Own by Elisabeth Brink
3. A Killer Life: How an Independent Film Producer Survives Deals and Disasters in Hollywood and Beyond by Christine Vachon
4. Solstice Wood by Patricia A. McKillip
5. My Latest Grievance by Elinor Lipman
6. Banishing Verona by Margot Livesey
7. Call Me By Your Name by Andr? Aciman
8. How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life by Mameve Medwed
9. A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation by Catherine Allgor
10. The Twilight of the Superheroes by Deborah Eisenberg

There were several books not appearing on the list that I wanted to point out. Kenneth J. Harvey’s The Town That Forgot How to Breathe held the anchoring spot on the list for quite a while until I suddently remember Deborah Eisenberg’s magnificent collection of short stories reminiscent of the master, Alice Munro. Harvey’s novel blending dark fantasy, magical realism, gothic horror and contemporary fiction was alternatively atmospheric and suspenseful, with well-drawn characters, a powerful sense of place, and a complex, interweaving story. Marilyn Robinson’s Gilead was so deserving of this list, but it lacked the emotional resonance to knock something else off. Beautifully written, exploring powerful issues, Robinson is a skilled writer who does so to infrequently. I was quite taken by Deborah J. Miller’s Swarmthief’s Dance an imaginative fantasy novel that kicks off a new trilogy. I tried to squeeze Douglas Coupland’s JPod onto the list. In this hilarious look at the cubicle culture of a hip faming company skewers his own persona, as well as a generation that has grown up online. Colson Whitehead’s Apex Hides the Hurt is a fascinating meditation on identity and branding that moves this talented author’s career forward another step. Finally, I just have to mention Shannon McKelden’s Venus Envy, a book that quite honestly, shouldn’t even have been considered for a list like this, but it was just so darn entertaining. Blending chick-lit with fantasy seems like a bold move to me, but McKelden handles the trials and tribulations of the goddes Aphrodite trapped in the myth of the Fairy Godmother with such humor that it’s nearly irresistible.

Our friend Rob is a cartoonist living in Minneapolis (he turned us on to that delights of that city). He’s got a great partner and an adorable puppy dog, and they’re just about the nicest boys you could know. His comic strip, Curbside, is syndicated throughout the country in gay magazines and newspapers. Now Rob has edited a graphic novel anthology of gay boy comics called The Book of Boy Trouble.

He was recently interviewed by “Lavender: Minnesota’s GLBT magazine,” in what I think is slightly hilarious, the sports and leisure section. He also gets a nice photo (pictured right, credited to Hubert Bonnet) which fails to do justice to how cute he is. Check out the article.