Litwit Lounge discussion

Here's our annual thread where we invite you to look back on the year just past, and single out a few of your top reads for special mention. Personally, I try to pick my top five. That's usually a challenge. This past year, though, there were five that really stood out!

The top honor goes to George Eliot's Middlemarch, with Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens a close second. Two historical novels by evangelical Christian female authors (and both books focusing on racial relations in American history), Passing by Samaria by Sharon Ewell Foster and Candle in the Darkness by Lynn Austin, easily earned the next slots. Rounding out the list is Operation Chaos by Poul Anderson. Three of these (the latter, and the two Victorian classics) were rereads.

Gosh, 5 ... so I'm picking ones that I really enjoyed this year :)

The top has to be Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens always wins hands down for me in totally absorbing reading pleasure, and this reread was of the first book where he really excelled as a literary novelist (rather than "just" telling really good stories) - it's an amazing read (a reread for me). There were many short reads by him too ... but I'll stick to that one :)

Next I'd put The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë (another reread). Easily my favourite - and in my opinion the greatest - of "the Bronte novels"; though they should not be lumped together. Pioneering and audacious; a savage indictment of brutality and the lot of women at the time - and hidden from the public by her sister Charlotte Brontë for many years. Make sure you read the full version!

Number three is a nonfiction book A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr, which was far more interesting than I had expected - I had bought it as an audio book for Chris, not me! Andrew Marr has a talent for putting events (many, but not all of which were in my lifetime) in historical perspective, and a lucid, entertaining style while keeping his objectivity.

Number four is The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. I knew this would be a great novel, in its proper sense, and had been meaning to read it for years. Hard to define, as this author usually is! A invented world, a journey in every sense, a fantasy, an exploration into gender, culture and race - all this and more.

Number five ... well, I have a 3 way tie really :( but will stick to two.

a) Christopher Priest's romp of a read The Space Machine - a sequel to H.G. Wells's The Time Machine. I always love Christopher Priest's writing style, and here he captures the voice of H.G. Wells perfectly, adding a little respectful humour to his Edwardian characters, and writing a brand new jolly good SF story too.

b) The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai - a new book (which is rare for me)! You might expect this to be a work in translation but it's not. It is Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai's first novel in English; she is a Vietnamese poet. And oh my goodness you can tell this by the beautiful, lyrical writing. It is an historical novel, covering three generations of Vietnam's troubled history, from many perspectives. Parts are harrowing, but never exploitative; usually mentioned or left to us to imagine, rather than described in detail. What really shines through here, is people's courage in the face of almost unimaginable ongoing adversity.

(Yes, I cheated a bit ;) )

Werner, I've added Operation Chaos by Poul Anderson to my to-read list, thanks! I read some by him years ago (as well as the Conan books) but can't remember what! I don't add many books, but your review makes this one sound tempting, and if it makes your top 5 ...

Bionic Jean wrote: "Werner, I've added Operation Chaos by Poul Anderson to my to-read list, thanks! I read some by him years ago (as well as the Conan books) but can't remember what! I don..."

Hope you like it, Jean!

Thanks!

Most of my reading is rereading, but in many cases they are books I read in my college days which I am now rereading in retirement and getting a lot more out of. I'm also reading mostly philosophy and religion, so my favorite reads probably won't jibe with the interests of other readers. But here's my attempt at the best 5:
1) Paradise Lost by John Milton: A masterpiece, one of the greatest works of poetry in the English language. Milton's cadences stick in the mind long after reading.
2) Physics by Aristotle: Deals with the most general philosophical principles of natural (unliving, including the cosmos) things and moving (living) things. Discusses the principles and causes of change, movement and motion. The arguments in this work are the basis of all later physical, cosmological and biological thought.
3) A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge by George Berkeley: Deals with the nature of human perception and attempts to prove that the outside world consists entirely of ideas. Berkeley goes on to argue that the logic and regularity we perceive in the outside world is given to us by God.
4) Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant: A study of reason itself independent of experience. Ultimately attempts to determine if metaphysics can possibly be comprehended by human reason. Contains a discussion of what Kant considers the a priori notions of space and time. And that just scratches the surface of this monumental book.
5) Gorgias by Plato: A definition of rhetoric. Contains many keen insights into the nature of eloquence and truth.
And I also feel I have to mention Metaphysics by Aristotle; Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville -- a work much needed at this critical time in our domestic politics; The Essays of Montaigne, which I am slowly working my way through; The Almagest by Ptolemy -- a work that requires much detailed attention, it is the description of the earth-centric philosophy which dominated Western cosmology until the time of Copernicus, complete with eccentric circles and epicycles; and two more I'm slowly working my way through: Discourses of Epictetus and The Old Testament in the King James Version.
OK, I squeezed in more than five. But I must say I am finding the reading (and rereading) of these great books to be intellectually and artistically stimulating. I find I have no time for current commercial fiction anymore.

Donnally - Some of these were a blast from the past for me! I've only read a couple of (academic Western) Philosophy books since joining Goodreads. I do find them tough, and demanding of careful, focused attention, often with reference to arguments in the particular philosophical area which are already established. Usually I need to read a passage over and over again, to make sure of its meaning.

But Chris (my husband) read Philosophy at Oxford and I remember many nights with him (not me!) poring over Immanuel Kant until the wee small hours ...

Mostly now he too reads and writes something less challenging - although he misses it, and does have spells where he reads and does academic Philosophy :)

But I'm with you as to commercial modern fiction; you have to sift through to find the gold among the corn. There is some though. But why stop there, when there is a whole world of books to explore? My comfort zone is the fiction of the 19th century, but I do have other favourite areas too :)

My favourites actually surprised me this time: 2 non-English authors; a straight non-fiction read; 4 male, 2 female authors; 2 19th century classics, one modern classic, one destined to be so; 2 Sci- Fi/Fantasy ... but no children's books and no poetry or plays. A reasonable spread I guess.

I'm impressed by your rigorously intellectual approach, but fear it's not for me :) My thoughtful books this year have been the speculative fiction of John Wyndham and Philip K. Dick! I find that the ideas in good fiction often make me think outside the box; opening up possibilities as the other side of the coin to analytical thought.

It’s so hard to pick just 5 books, but here’s my selection in no particular order -

The Word of Promise Christmas Story - a superb audio dramatisation of the Christmas story from the New King James Bible.

Tomodachi: Yesterday's Enemy - young adult story about reconciliation and forgiveness between Japanese and Australians post World War II.

California Coast Trails; A Horseback Ride from Mexico to Oregon - I read two books by this author but this was my favourite. It’s a travelogue of the author’s journey across California on horseback from California’s southern border to the northern border. It was written in 1911 when the state was still undeveloped. The author had quite a companionable style of writing, and as a bonus I followed his journey on google maps.

Remodeled Farmhouses - This was a surprisingly good read. Written in the early 20th century it describes the renovations of farmhouses built in the 17th and 18th centuries. It gave me insight into both the homes and lives of people in each era.

Winsome Winnie and Other New Nonsense Novels - I read several books by this author during 2021, but I think this was the best. It had me in stitches.