Before January evaporates I thought I would list the books I read last year, which I like to do because I spend a lot of time reading. At the beginning of this year I set a goal to read more, though I’m conflicted about setting some goal around it.

There are roughly three things I want from books: 1) edification; 2) expansion; and 3) entertainment/engagement. (Not in that order.) Great when I can get two or all of those things from one book.

By edification I mostly mean learning and/or understanding, so it could be the tome about the Soviet Gulag that I’ve been reading for months, or the book on brain health I read last summer, or a work of fiction that gives me some insight into being human. By expansion I mean I’m looking for possibilities and ideas and mystery. Most poetry fits here, but much more as well. I think of Eduardo Galeano’s “The Book of Embraces” as one such book. (I read it almost a decade ago.) Entertainment must be obvious, but it doesn’t have to be cheap thrills. It can be quiet thrills or plain engagement. It can be amazing prose. A good novel is hopefully entertaining, and so a history book can be too. Aphorism books are entertaining, I think. Entertainment is comforting. I need it sometimes.

Anyway, among the best books I read last year would be:

The True History of the First Mrs Meredith by Diane Johnson: This book about the ill-fated first wife of the novelist George Meredith checked all three categories for me. I learned about the era and some historical figures (1). I was enchanted by some of the imagined happenings, like the drowned dead acquaintances showing up at the first Mrs Meredith’s funeral, as well as being surprised by what a “biography” might do (2). And I was entertained, or at least quite engaged and invested (3).

Favorite fiction from last year were Fernanda Melchor’s “Hurricane Season” for its excellent prose (and translation) and storytelling style. I loved Halldor Laxness’s “Independent People” for its story and setting. As far as engaging goes, I owe gratitude to Arnold Bennett’s “The Old Wives’ Tales,” which I found in a used bookshop and didn’t expect much from. It was hardly a masterpiece but it was a good story that distracted me from a great deal of stress last winter. And last! “The Crazy Hunter” by Kay Boyle for its cathartic ending.

For memoir readers, I love everything Annie Ernaux does with her aloof honesty.

Here’s my list:

Strangers I Know by Claudia Durastanti (Jan 5)
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (Jan 16)
Superdoom by Melissa Broder (Jan 17)
This Strange Garment by Nicole Callahan (Jan 30)
Portage by Sarah Ann Winn (Feb 6)
Alabama Steve by Karyna McGlynn (Feb 6)
Independent People by Halldor Laxness (Feb 11)
The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus (Feb 25)
The Broken House: Growing Up Under Hitler by Horst Kruger (Feb 27)
Last Witnesses: An Oral History of the Children of WWII by Svetlana Alexievich (Mar 4)
The Old Wives’ Tale by Arnold Bennett (Mar 10)
Spring Night by Tarjei Vesaas (Mar 11)
Diadem: Selected Poems by Marosa Di Giorgio (Mar 13)
Wings in Time by Callie Garnett (Mar 16)
Lost Illusions by Honore de Balzac (Apr 3)
Sex Depression Animals by Mag Gabbert (Apr 6)
S.S. Proleterka by Fleur Jaeggy (Apr 7)
The Vet’s Daughter by Barbara Comyns (Apr 9)
Ore Choir by Katy Didden (Apr 24)
My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley (Apr 29)
Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux (Apr 30)
Selected Poems by William Bronk (May 16)
Santa Evita by Tomas Eloy Martinez (May 29)
The Missing Pieces by Henri Lefebvre (Jun)
The New House by Lettice Cooper (Jun 10)
I Am the Brother of XX by Fleur Jaeggy (Jun 20)
The True History of the First Mrs. Meredith by Diane Johnson (Jun 29)
The Juniper Tree by Barbara Comyns (Jul 3)
Toxicon & Arachne by Joyelle McSweeney (Jul 15)
Unpleasant Residue/Never Wanted to Hurt Anybody – Sara Adams (Jul 16)
Dream With Teeth by Millie Tullis (Jul 16)
Dancing in Odessa by Ilya Kaminsky (Jul 21)
A Touch of Mistletoe by Barbary Comyns (Jul 22)
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez (Jul 23)
Vitamin C+: Collage in Contemporary Art (Jul 30
Him, Me, Muhammad Ali by Randa Jarra (Jul 31)
A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor (Aug 26)
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (Oct 3)
Team Photograph by Lauren Haldeman (Oct 3)
Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker (Oct 5)
Brood by Kimoko Hahn (Oct 6)
Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns (Oct 14)
Shame by Annie Ernaux ( Oct 14)
The Murderess by Alexandros Papadiamantis (Oct 16)
Buried Alive by Arnold Bennett (Oct 21)
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Oct 26)
Dear Delinquent by Ann Townsend (Oct 26)
The Crazy Hunter by Kay Boyle (Oct 29)
A Little Middle of the Night (Nov 8)
Little Snow Landscape by Robert Walker (Nov 16)
Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor (Nov 20)
The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen (Dec 5)
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka (Dec 6)
Keep Sharp by Sanjay Gupta (Dec 20)
Memoir of the Hawk by James Tate (Dec 20)
Happening by Annie Ernaux (Dec 21)