My Best Reads in 2017

I read a lot last year. Surely, my appetite for books was boosted by the review blog Svipp my friend Dirk and I have started in spring 2017. Moreover, this blog brought with it the need to talk about books that should – at least with some probability – be interesting for other people, too. This made me abstain from my pernicious addiction to antiquarian books and instead read many more new books than in the previous years.

So what were my favourite reads in 2017?

First up, and my hands-down favourite, is Sana Krasikov’s smashing novel »The Patriots« (Granta Books, 2017). Second comes Bill Bryson’s dashing historical narrative »One Summer: America 1927« (Black Swan, 2014). And the third place is shared by J.G. Farrell’s novel »The Singapore Grip« (W&N, 2011; originally from 1978) and Marina Lewycka’s wonderful »The Lubetkin Legacy« (Fig Tree, 2016).

(For my German-speaking readers:) Zu Sana Krasikovs Roman habe ich eine ausführliche Besprechung auf Deutsch (PDF, 80 kB) geschrieben.

An update: Dirk and I closed the blog Svipp in spring 2018 …