My Own Best Ofs

Walking toward the New York Public Library early that same early Saturday morning, I stopped and read each and every embedded plaque. You think of New Yorkers not being able to stop for a thing, and then here these lit jewels, demanding attention.

In any case, I kept being reminded of some of the books that I read or re-read this year, and loved. Here they are, in no particular order. Here's to a good year of books:

Four Seasons in Rome (Anthony Doerr)
Run (Ann Patchett)
Our World (Mary Oliver and Molly Malone Cook)
Snow, Ashes (Alyson Hagy)
The Uncommon Reader (Alan Bennett)
Five Skies (Ron Carlson)
The Madonnas of Leningrad (Debra Dean)
Brief Encounters with Che Guevera (Ben Fountain)
The Welsh Girl (Peter Ho Davies)
The Maytrees (Annie Dillard)
The Florist's Daughter (Patricia Hampl)
The Secret River (Kate Grenville)
The Night Watch (Sarah Waters)
Coal Black Horse (Robert Olmstead)
Dancer (Colum McCann)
Zoli (Colum McCann)