Matt's Books and Music

Last time, I started my (long delayed) accounting of my updated Bookish Hall of Fame by talking about the Hall of Fame Emeritus books (i.e., those books that fell out of the top 100 but remain much beloved) and the ‘ground floor’ Hall books (100-73). Today I will go through the next two ‘floors’, accounting for books 72-29.

Hall of Fame – Second Floor (72-49)

Note: +/- simply records how many places a book has risen or fallen. The ‘adjusted +/-’ judges it only against the books that were previous year, providing a more accurate reflection of how my feelings about it have changed year over year.

72. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (2014): (47 → 72 (+/- -25; adj. -11))

71. First Time for Everything, Henry Fry (2022): (61 → 71 (+/- -10; adj. +4)

70. How the Light Gets In, Louise Penny (2012 🇨🇦): (70 → 70 (+/- 0; adj. +14))

69. James, Percival Everett (2024): This is a fresh and subversive retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved man he takes on his adventures. (NEW!)

68. The Lincoln Highway, Amor Towles (2021): (63 → 68 (+/- -5; adj. +8))

67. You Went Away, Timothy Findley (1996 🇨🇦): A stellar WWII-homefront novel. (NEW!)

66. The Bright Sword, Lev Grossman (2024): This is the ideal twenty-first-century addition to the ever evolving lore of Camelot and its Round Table. (NEW!)

65. Guapa, Saleem Haddad (2016): (44 →65 (+/- -21; adj. -10))

64. Death in Venice. Thomas Mann (1912): (53 → 64 (+/- -11; adj. 0))

63. Not Wanted on the Voyage, Timothy Findley (1984 🇨🇦): (50 → 63; (+/- -13; adj. -2))

62. The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert (2013): (60 → 62 (+/- -2; adj. +9))

61. An Artist of the Floating World, Kazuo Ishiguro (1986): (41 → 61 (+/- -12; adj. -1))

60. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925): (64 → 60 (+/- +4; adj. +15))

59. Ordinary Grace, William Kent Krueger (2013): (59 → 59 (+/- 0; adj. +11))

58. Olive, Again, Elizabeth Strout (2019): (54 → 58 (+/- -4; adj. +7)

57. Circe, Madeline Miller (2018): (57 → 57 (+/- 0; adj. +11))

56. A Closed and Common Orbit, Becky Chambers (2016): The second book in the Wayfarer series focuses on an AI who finds themself in a humanoid body for the first time — as entertaining as it is thought-provoking and timely. (NEW!)

55. Elena Knows, Claudia Piñeiro (2007): A devastating novel that, on the surface is a mystery, but underneath is an unflinching exploration of aging, degenerative illness, and loss. (NEW!)

54. Table for Two, Amor Towles (2024): An incredible collection of stories by one of our best living writers. (NEW!)

53. City of Brass, S.A. Chakraborty (2017): A superlative first volume in one of my favourite series. (37 → 53 (+/- -16; adj. -8))

52. Girl, Woman, Other, Bernadine Evaristo (2019): (40 → 52 (+/- -12; adj. -4))

51. Binti, Nnedi Okorafor (2015): (41 → 51 (+/- -10; adj. -2))

50. Oh, William!, Elizabeth Strout (2021): (35 → 50 (+/- -15; adj. -7))

49. The Berry Pickers, Amanda Peters (2022 🇨🇦): (32 → 49 (+/- -17; adj. -9))

Hall of Fame – Third Floor (48-29)

48. Stone Yard Devotional, Charlotte Wood (2023): A balm for weary and anxious souls. (NEW!)

47. Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar (2024): This highly creative novel asks deep questions about what it means to choose life in a death-oriented world. (NEW!)

46. Rules of Civility, Amor Towles (2011): (43 → 46 (+/- -3; adj. +3))

45. Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides (2002): (39 → 45 (+/- -6; adj. 0)

44. Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis (1956): (38 → 44 (+/- -6; adj. 0)

43. The Last of the Crazy People, Timothy Findley (1967 🇨🇦): (42 → 43 (+/- -1; adj. +5))

42. Day, Michael Cunningham (2023): This is my favourite novel so far about the COVID-19 pandemic. (28 → 42 (+/- -14; adj. -8))

41. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989): (34 → 41 (+/- -7; adj. -1))

40. The Incandescent Threads, Richard Zimler (2022): 36 → 40 (+/- -4; adj. +2))

39. In Memoriam, Alice Winn (2023): (30 → 39 (+/- -9; adj. -3))

38. Good Material, Dolly Alderton (2023): This look at millennial relationships and aging is as funny as it is poignant. (NEW!)

37. Beartown, Fredrik Backman (2016): (33 → 37 (+/- -4; adj. +1))

36. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer (2008): (27 → 36 (+/- -9; adj. -4)

35. The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach (2011): This is a great recent-ish entry into the ‘Great American Novel’ race. (NEW!)

34. Wellness, Nathan Hill (2023): (25 → 34 (+/- -9; adj. -5))

33. What I Know About You, Eric Chacour (2023 🇨🇦): This brilliant first novel by Quebecois author Eric Chacour utlizes second-person narration to great effect. (NEW!)

32.The Stone Carvers, Jane Urquhart (2001 🇨🇦): (48 → 32 (+/- +14; adj. +17))

31. The Gospel according to Lazarus (aka The Lost Gospel of Lazarus), Richard Zimler (2019): (45 → 31 (+/- +14; adj. +17))

30. Tom Lake, Ann Patchett (2023): (21 → 30 (+/- -9; adj. -6))

29. Hotline, Dimitri Nasrallah (2022 🇨🇦): (26 → 29 (+/- -3; adj. 0)