Category: Year-end lists

#11 – Opportunity Knocks by Alison Sweeney

Yes, it’s true, I’m a big fan of Sami Brady, the character Alison Sweeney played on Days of Our Lives for year. But you know what? Sweeney rights some darn entertaining books too! Opportunity Knocks is the third novel that Alison has written, following The Star Attraction and Scared Scriptless. They’re pure chick lit, but Ms. Sweeney has two things in her favor: extensive knowledge about television and the entertainment industry that brings such color and character to her novels, and she can actually write!

With her third outing, Alison tells the story of Alex, aspiring make-up artist, who moves from L.A. to New York to prove herself to her parents, her boyfriend, and most importantly herself. Opportunity knocks, and she answers. But how could Alex know that in mere weeks, while successfully serving as make-up artist to a popular cooking show host with severe diva tendencies, it would all come crashing down, threatening not only her newly found independence, but her very welfare!

Fortunately, Alex has caught they eye of super-celebrity actor Billy Fox, perfect specimen of gorgeousness, and eager to help Alex get out of the incredibly tight spot she has found herself in. While some of the romantic elements of the novel slightly undercut Alex’s true road to independence, Sweeney works hard to keep Alex as the primary focus and agent of her life. As Billy points out to her, there’s a difference between letting others make decisions for you or swoop in to save your bacon when you’re in trouble, and asking friends for some help.

#10 – An Unrestored Woman by Shobha Rao

Shobha Rao has created a powerful and elegant collection of short stories around the separation of India and Pakistan in 1947. While the stories take place all around the world, the characters in this story are all experiencing the effects of the uprooting and displacement of families. Women in particular face a rough ride during this time and in this culture, but Rao spares no one in this hard-hitting, yet thoughtful collection that explores race, class, religion, sexuality, and love during a tumultuous time.

In addition to writing a sparkling collection of writing, Rao is one of the most delightful and engaging authors I’ve met over the course of the year. An Unrestored Woman heralds the debut of a talented and lovely writer. Each short story is like a drop of water in the desert, leaving a parched throat aching for more. I can’t wait to see what Rao does with a full-length novel.

 

2016 has come and gone, and I didn’t read as many books as I’d hoped, but more than I thought. Of course, many of them were graphic novels and some were plays, so there’s that. One thing that did surprise me was the number of really good books I read. My list of books worth listing is a little shorter than usual, coming in at thirteen, but the number of those thirteen that I really liked a lot was much larger than usual. So all in all, a good year for books.

#13 – The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by K. J. Charles 

2016 was the year I completed my first ebook. It was also the year I read my first gay, erotic, historical, paranormal, fantasy romance. And surprise, it was the same book, this book, by K. H. Charles. I stumbled across this book in a very unusual way as well. While vacationing in St. Martin last January, I met a lovely British lad whose sister-in-law is the author in question. He was charming and delightful so I told him I would try one of his sister-in-law’s books. He recommended I start with this one, which I did. I was surprised to find it well-written, sexy, and a great deal of fun.

Some might say the plot is really irrelevant, but I find it adds a lot to my enjoyment. Simon Feximal is an imposing, well-respected, and some might say notorious occultist who is called upon to help out with hauntings, possessions, and other manner of dark dangers. A solitary man, he comes into contact with journalist Robert Caldwell during one particularly troubling haunting that forces the two men in quite a compromising position (or several). Fortunately, the mutual attraction was already there, and thus begins a long, shared life for the two men, through harrowing challenges and several near-deadly encounters with the paranormal, or with government officials using unsavory methods to coerce the two men to do their bidding. This is the first in a series of books, which were also quite entertaining, but this first made the biggest impression, hence it’s place on this list.

#12 – Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

Imbolo Mbue’s debut novel is a highly readable modern tale of immigration and the challenges faced with tackling the American Dream… especially during a recession. Jende comes to America from Cameroon with big dreams, and through the help of an earlier transplant, his cousin Winston, gets a job as a chaffeur for a wealthy, Wall Street executive, Mr. Clark, driving him, his wife and two kids around and making a fairly good salary doing it. Certainly a salary that is astronomically more than he would make in Cameroon. His pregnant wife, Nemi, and their son arrive soon after, and she embarks on an educational mission to become a pharmacist. It’s all going wonderfully, with savings accumulating and bosses who appreciate them, but there’s one problem. they’re in the country illegally, and despite the fact that it takes months for any action to be taken, it is likely they will be deported sometime in the future.

Then fortunes turn as Wall Street implodes. Their lives, so optimistic and seemingly certain, take a precarious dive as their relationship with the Clarks and with each other, start to fray. Mbue captures the essence of the ups and downs of the immigrant experience beautifully, and while there is an element of char throughout, the challenges faced by those struggling to make it in America is not downplayed. This is a debut novel that demands attention, and resonates strongly with today’s America.

A debut novel and the first of two short story collections take the #4 & #3 spots on this year’s Best Books Read in 2015. And the #3 book is the second book by Simon Van Booy to appear in the Top 10! Nice work, Simon!

#4 – Join by Steve Toutonghi

Steve Toutonghi’s debut novel, Join is a lovely piece of speculative fiction that explores a near future that explores the next phase of humanity and how the changes to the race have dire impact to the planet itself. In an unspecified future, individualism has a whole different look as more and more people chose to join. Small groups of people merge minds into a single consciousness while retaining their physical bodies, allowing them to experience life through multiple bodies, and in affect, living forever, for while individual bodies die, the consciousness remains alive in the Join. While much of humanity has chosen to live this way, there are still solos living individual lives either by choice, or because the process is more than they can afford.

But even as humanity moves toward its next phase of life, the planet itself is in grave environmental peril. Worse, Chance, a join of five, stumbles upon the existence of a potentially mad, and decidedly murderous abomination called Rope. Meanwhile Chance’s friend Leap finds itself in grave peril from a rare condition that only affects Joins. Chance and Leap must find a way to save Leap, while avoiding the terrifying fate that could await them both through Rope’s machinations.

Reminiscent of recent work by David Mitchell and Neal Stephenson, Steve Toutonghi has created a fascinating future for humanity, all the while exploring the concepts of individuality and immortality, posing questions with no easy answers.

 

#3 – Tales of Accidental Genius by Simon Van Booy

Simon Van Booy writes beautiful books filled with deep longing and transcendent love. He is also a keen observer of human nature, from different points of view, ages, and backgrounds. His novels are lush and thought-provoking, but his short stories are masterful. Mr. Van Booy follows the great Alice Munro in the examination of human nature.

In his latest collection of stories, Simon travels around the world to provide the rich tapestry that make up his character. England, Nigeria, Beijing and New Jersey are among the backdrops that form these tales. He explores the nature of poverty and invention in ‘Golden Helper II: An Epic Fable of Wealth, Loneliness, and Cycling,’ and unspools a tender act of human kindness in ‘The Goldfish.’

I always look forward to Simon’s carefully constructed tales, and Tales of Accidental Genius adds another beautiful chapter in his literary body of work.