I didn't make a conscious effort to read more novels, or even more works of fiction in general, but concentrating on my own writing for the past few months has led to that. (Other writers' work is the best writing instruction, hands down.)
A lot of these books came out late last year, so if anything, this isa belated 2012 list. I'm mostly dependent on my library these days, an that usually means being on a waiting list for months sometimes before the book makes it into my hands. This is what I've enjoyed so far:
Meg Wolitzer - The Interestings
Everything I wanted Freedom or The Marriage Plot to be. I hope it finds its place in the canon along side those two, because invariably when women write about home and hearth (and messy things like emotions), they're banished to the chick lit shelf, and when men write about those things they're literary geniuses.
A.M. Homes - May We Be Forgiven
Another book in the "grand social novel" vein, but Homes's book is more of a send up of the genre. I can almost imagine her thumbing her nose at the Franzens of the lit world with this one.
Ellen Forney - Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me
I like Ellen Forney. I think she's undervalued in the graphic novel world. Marbles is a diary-slash-document of her battle with bipolar disorder.
Jami Attenberg - The Middlesteins
I almost didn't include this one, as it deals with obesity and not always in the most sensitive way, but the writing is compelling, and I like the serious of very flawed characters who still somehow make you want to root for them.
The Best of the Rest:
Sam Lipsyte - The Fun Parts
Claire Vaye Watkins - Battleborn
George Saunders - Tenth of December
David Shields - How Literature Saved My Life
Laina Dawes - What Are You Doing Here? A Black Woman's Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal
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