I traditionally summed up the book results at the beginning of January, so now, on the contrary, I decided to see what will be noticeable in 2016 and that's what has come up so far.
1. The new novel by Ian Martella ("Life of Pi"). The abstract looks terribly fascinating because it is not very clear how it is possible to mix Lisbon, old diaries that hide important historical secrets, a journey through Europe, a pathologist with a passion for detective Agatha Christie, a chimpanzee and not get Dan Brown. The second (after "Life of Pi") March novel, where the plot was actively involved donkey, monkey, and pieces of the play "In anticipation of Godot", the readers did not cause any enthusiasm.
2. A new novel by Elizabeth Straut (Olivia Kitteridge, Pulitzer 2009). Big novelists persistently carry the family trend. The woman comes to her sick mother, with whom they have not seen for a hundred years, because "the mother is bad, the mother is not good," to clarify with her all the relationships until the mother died.
3. Emma Donoghue's new novel (Room, a new novel called Wonder, no cover yet). Donoghue generally writes historical novels and, despite the success of "Rooms", continues to write them further. This time she will build something about an Irish girl who hasn't eaten or died by autumn. Popular in the Victorian era plot (so-called fasting girls - ideological anorexic) included either further deification of such girls or showing them for money at fairs. It's a pity that we went down the path of deification, of course.
4. A new novel by Charlotte Rogan ("The Boat"). Moral throwing of the secretary at the gun factory, who found out that the boss is involved, as usual, in something unpleasant. Apparently, before that, it was OK to work at the gun factory.
5. Howard Jacobson's new novel. "(Finkler Question, Booker 2010). This time, Jacobson will spoil Shakespeare.
6. The new novel by Helen Simonson ("The Last Battle of Major Pettigrew"). But this is the best news because it is more elegant, touching and - more British - forgive me, the novel than "Major Pettigrew" is now difficult to find. The new novel promises a golden 1914, the English village and the teacher of Latin, which, as usual, is too attractive for such a position.
7. In the spring, we have to release a new novel by Franzen, which will be accepted from nonfiction - the best historical work of the last year, The Dead Wake by Eric Larson - about "Lusitania".
8. "Angel of the Winter War", Roy Jacobsen (Olga Drobot lane) - during the Russian-Finnish war only a local fool remained in the Finnish city, who not only saved everyone but also procured firewood for the winter. It's a good novel about the fact that the wrong people are always considered idiots.
9. The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad #2) by Tana French ("The Dead Return?...) - variations by French on the theme of "Secret History". A policewoman pretends to be a lively corpse to infiltrate a close circle of incredibly beautiful and well-read friends because two drops of water look like this corpse. But if it is still possible to believe that the person on video from a mobile phone will master another's mimic, that that he behind a corpse will manage to take dashingly a seminar on a theorists, having behind shoulders three courses of a psychophat - yes in life.
10. "Advantages and disadvantages of existence", Vigdis Jort (Vera Dyakonova Per.) - life is beautiful, but it was not here. Scandinavian literature will always take its own and the novel, which opened with the fresh smell of the sea, whitewashed and a new life will still end up with bloodstains on the asphalt and a sink, puked by mussels.
"- But you were raped twelve hours ago!
- I have already forgotten everything!"
11. "Mr. Arne's Money, Selma Lagerlef (Maxim Tevelev Per.) - "Why do they sharpen knives in Branehög?" and other questions that are better not to hear if you live on a remote farm with a pile of money under the floorboard. The best winter reading is a grim Vermland fairy tale performed by an amazing Swedish storyteller.
12. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - he was a butler, she was a housekeeper, they loved each other, but decided to keep quiet about it tactfully.
13. "Ice Castle", Tarja Vesos (Valery Berkov lane) - two girls became friends and everything would have been good, but in the Scandinavian literature, there are no happy endings, only premature. To madness a wonderful novel about the deadly beauty of nature and growing up.
14. The Covent Garden Ladies: Pimp General Jack The Extraordinary Story Of Harris's List by Hallie Rubenhold (NF) is a fascinating story about how a Georgian copywriter got up on the prostitutes' PR. The story of how English prostitution was organized in the second half of the 18th century on the example of the biographies of three key figures in the industry - the legendary pimp Jack Harris, the famous courtesan Charlotte Hayes and a failed poet, but a terrific PR guy Samuel Derrick.
15. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren -
"Excuse me, are you that Stark? - No."
The great production novel about Willie Stark's political sewerage movement, the meaning of which is the following: wherever you go, you are mostly with shit on the way.