it’s that time of year when i share the best books i’ve read this year. i’m currently ensconced in harry potter after a 6-year break, so that’s got me completely entranced and i almost forgot about getting my top books of the year up. i have a few books published this year on my to-be-read list that may have made it this year if i hadn’t taken it upon myself to read all the HP books (though they are a quick read).

bear and nightingale trilogy – katherine arden

my mom gave this trilogy by katherine arden a couple years ago, and i let it sit on my shelf for too long. when i was younger, i was a vociferous fantasy reader, but lately i have been letting that slide for more post-apocalyptic and contemporary fiction, so i wasn’t entirely excited about picking this up. then i was sorting through my stack of books and decided to finally pick it up.

arden’s writing is lyrical and light as she weaves the dark stories of russian fairy tales from the 1500s, combining the fantastical with historical moments. we follow vasilisa, who has magic in her blood, from her time as a girl to saving her country and people, befriending (or not) the russian stuff of myths along the way.

fairy tale – stephen king

well what would a best books list be without a stephen king book on it? how apropos that it was one of his fairy tales, entitled fairy tale. our hero is charlie, starting in contemporary times where charlie is a helpful high school student. he helps then befriends a reclusive neighbor who leaves him all his property when he dies. of course the neighbor has a secret, and charlie travels to another land where evil has spread and peace needs to be restored so the evil doesn’t spread into our world.

this is a thick book, but king’s stories are always a quick, interesting read for me. it’s another foray into the fantastical with a bit more of an edge and more concrete writing than the bear and nightingale books.

upgrade – blake crouch

everything i’ve read by blake crouch has been a four or five stars. his books keep you on the edge of your seat and involve plots that seem more than plausible in our world alongside some extreme science or math that i don’t want nor care to check if correct. it fits seamlessly into the story and adds to the plausibility of “oh boy, could this happen?” you think about when reading his stories.

upgrade is about enhancing the human genome for an upgrade – everything’s just a bit better. better concentration, intelligence, thinking ahead, physical strength, multitasking, reaction time, etc. logan is one of the first to receive the upgrade and we watch as he learns what’s happening and then figure out why it happened. then he learns about a bigger, more sinister plan, and then we see what he does to stop it

the emerald mile – kevin fedarko

usually when i read non-fiction, i stick to memoirs. i generally shy away from books that are heavy on geology or history that’s more generalized than personalized. but when i got this recommendation from my aunt rae, i thought i’d give it a try.

first, this book is DENSE. it’s 432 pages, but the type is a bit small and squished in there for ya. so i was a bit intimidated. no fear – fedarko manages to weave a great story of the fasted boat ride ever down the grand canyon in 1983. you’d think that this would be an easy tale to tell, but his setup is key. he tells us history and geology, telling us how the grand canyon used to be, how glen canyon used to be even better, the dams that were built to power and hydrate the southwest, and WHY the southwest. we hear about john wesley powell who documented his journey into the grand canyon pre-dam. we learn about different types of boats you can take on excursions in the canyon, why each works the way it does, and then the weather patterns and choices of the dam operators that led to and illegal boat run down the grand canyon. it was pretty fascinating seeing the confluence of events.

falling – tj newman

do you want to read a short fiction book? one that has short chapters that leave you hanging on every word? leading up to shocking sets of events so much that you gasp out loud? this is the beach read for you!

falling is a thriller by a flight attendant who had always wondered about the premise of what would happen if pilots’ families were held hostage – then needed to make a choice between their families and their flight. well, we get the fictional tale of that plight, and boy is it a doozy and entertaining!

in the weeds – tom vitale

this book about anthony bourdain’s life while giving snark and hope while eating with people around the world was written by one of the show’s producer/directors, tom vitale

i’ve read a few books about tony since his death, and none has come close to how enjoyable and emotional this book was. we get a behind the scenes look at tony’s life, and tom’s, as the show changed networks and traveled around the world. there are happy times, not happy times, dangerous times, easy times, hard times, and the hardest times. anyone who has watched any of tony bourdain’s shows should know what to expect in this book – just multiply it times 10 and you’ll have a good idea. this made me miss him even more.