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LJ Best Books 2016 logo
A jury of our peers discussed, debated, disagreed, and finally declared LJ’s annual Top Ten Best Books of the year, selected by our editors, as well as Top Five lists for genre fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic novels, and SELF-e titles.

TOP TEN BOOKS OF 2016

  • Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

    Desmond, Matthew.
    Crown. ISBN 9780553447439. SOC SCI

    In this powerful work of narrative nonfiction, Desmond documents the months he spent living alongside tenants and landlords in Milwaukee, exploring the issues of poverty and homelessness in a segregated city. Taking readers on a journey into the daily lives of families facing eviction, sometimes repeatedly, the author creates a compelling and heartbreaking work that leaves readers wondering how we got here and what we can do to help. (LJ 1/16)—SS

    [ 1 of 10 ]

  • In the Darkroom

    Faludi, Susan.
    Metropolitan: Holt. ISBN 9780805089080. BIOG

    In what might be her most personal work yet, Faludi examines thorny issues of identity, history, gender roles, nature vs. nurture, nationalism, and the Holocaust, all through the lens of her relationship with her long-estranged, confounding father. Born Istvan Friedman in Hungary, morphing into American dad Steve Faludi, then transitioning at age 76 into “a complete woman” named Stefi living in post- Communist Budapest, this Zelig-like figure is at the center of Faludi’s page-turning memoir. (LJ 8/16)—LF

    [ 2 of 10 ]

  • The Nix

    Hill, Nathan.
    Knopf. ISBN 9781101946619. F

    Ostensibly telling the story of one woman’s slide into radicalism during the Sixties and the consequences for the son she abandoned, Hill’s acute, richly detailed narrative encompasses three decades of American political and social history to create absolutely addictive fiction. Perfectly drawn characters and interlocking stories and voices allow readers to live in the text. (LJ 7/16)—BH

    [ 3 of 10 ]

  • To the Bright Edge of the World

    Ivey, Eowyn.
    Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316242851. F

    This magnificent epistolary second novel by the author of the acclaimed The Snow Child blends adventure and romance with a hint of magical realism. In the winter of 1885 as Lt. Col. Allen Forrester leads an exploratory expedition up the frozen Wolverine River into uncharted Alaskan territory, his wife, Sophie, remains in Vancouver, WA, facing a difficult pregnancy alone and chafing under restrictive social conventions. (Xpress Reviews, 7/22/16)—WW

    [ 4 of 10 ]

  • The Gene: An Intimate History

    Mukherjee, Siddhartha.
    Scribner. ISBN 9781476733500. SCI

    Demonstrating the diligence of a researcher and a storyteller’s flair for narrative, physician and Pulitzer Prize winner Mukherjee explores the history of genetics, from Gregor Mendel’s experiments with pea plants to eugenics to stem cell research. At once sweeping and deeply personal, this absorbing, profoundly stimulating tribute to scientific discovery never loses sight of the individual contributions that have led to our understanding of the subject. (LJ 4/1/16)—MD

    [ 5 of 10 ]

  • Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America

    Phillips, Patrick.
    Norton. ISBN 9780393293012. HIST

    Writer and poet Phillips uncovers the lynching, racial violence, terrorism, and white supremacy that marked the history of Forsyth County, GA. The story is both personal and pertinent, as the author digs into a forgotten past of his hometown and asks probing questions about the persistence of racism and the tenacity of hatred. There are few heroes in this accounting, which stands as a sobering reminder that the racial fantasies and fears that have ruled so much of our history only continue to haunt the present. (LJ 7/16)—KP

    [ 6 of 10 ]

  • While the City Slept: A Love Lost to Violence and a Young Man’s Descent into Madness

    Sanders, Eli.
    Viking. ISBN 9780670015719. CRIME

    Sanders won the Pulitzer Prize for his feature in alt-weekly newspaper The Stranger covering the courtroom testimony of a Seattle woman who was brutally assaulted in a home invasion that left her partner dead. In this moving book-length account, he further explores the crime and trial, tracing the backgrounds of the victims and perpetrator and highlighting the failures of the judicial and mental health–care systems that let the man back on the streets. It’s heartbreaking, infuriating, required reading. (LJ 12/15)—AM

    [ 7 of 10 ]

  • American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes, and Trial of Patty Hearst

    Toobin, Jeffrey.
    Doubleday. ISBN 9780385536714. CRIME

    The bones of Patty Hearst’s story are relatively well known—pampered heiress kidnapped by radicals joins their ranks, famously helping them rob a bank at gunpoint—but as Toobin here shows, the details that flesh out the saga of Hearst and the group calling themselves the Symbionese Liberation Army are weirder and more compelling than any work of fiction. Toobin’s meticulous research is the book’s bedrock, but his flair for dramatic storytelling makes it a joy to read. (LJ 8/16)—SK

    [ 8 of 10 ]

  • All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation

    Traister, Rebecca.
    S. & S. ISBN 9781476716565. SOC SCI

    From the history of the “spinster” to the cult of domesticity, Traister investigates how scores of single women have contributed to important social and political movements that have changed U.S. history— before and after Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem. This intersectional study also explores how class, race, sexuality, and religion have played a role in singlehood both past and present and what might be in store for the future. (LJ 2/15/16)—SS

    [ 9 of 10 ]

  • The Underground Railroad

    Whitehead, Colson.
    Doubleday. ISBN 9780385537032. F

    Whitehead’s brilliantly conceived narrative telescopes several centuries’ worth of slavery and oppression in America by putting two escaped slaves on what is literally an underground railroad, emblematic of the brief magical realist touches used throughout to enhance our understanding of the African American experience. As the narrative moves forward, ratcheting up both imagery and tension, those touches serve to highlight how awful the reality really was. A wholly original work. (LJ 7/16)—BH

    [ 10 of 10 ]

ABOUT THE TOP TEN BOOKS

We nominated, debated, and discussed. Then the LJ 12 (yes, 12 of us, just like a jury) convened and voted. On a blustery October day, we got down to it, paring the list of titles from 33 possibilities to the Ten Best Books of 2016.

The arguments were heard, the 12 cast their ballots, and the nonfiction party won the majority: seven out of ten. The results reflect the particularly strong year for nonfiction, and our selections cover weighty issues, such as racial injustice, convoluted family histories, the sorry state of mental health care, advances in gene therapy, the nationwide housing crisis, the effect of single ladies on U.S. history and culture, and the phenomenon that is the Patty Hearst story. Stephanie Klose, who nominated Jeffrey Toobin’s account of the Hearst kidnapping and its aftereffects, calls his book “weirder and more compelling than any work of fiction,” and that observation could apply to any or all of the “true books” we chose this year.

Our fiction choices tell their own hard truths. Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad employs touches of magical realism to highlight the horror of slavery and racism. Nathan Hill’s The Nix, as Barbara Hoffert notes, “encompasses three decades of American political and social history to create absolutely addictive fiction.” And hints of magical realism aid and abet the truth telling in Eowyn Ivey’s To the Bright Edge of the World (which also garnered a Best Historical Fiction nod).

The truth is out there in this year’s Best Books; share these titles with your patrons—and everyone.—LF

OUR TOP FIVE LISTS

Looking for even more of the Best Books of 2016? The LJ review editors and many of our regular columnists and contributors selected their Top Five picks for Genre Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Graphic Novels, and SELF-e Titles.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Choosing only five top titles in each category, plus a Top Ten, is a daunting exercise, so LJ’s editors decided to up the ante, selecting honorable mentions in fiction, nonfiction, romance, e-originals, graphic novels, and poetry.

Want a hard copy? Just fill out the form below to download a printable PDF version of the full LJ Best Books 2016 list:

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2016 BEST BOOKS CONTRIBUTORS

LJ editors are listed by initial at the end of annotations:

  • Mahnaz Dar (MD), Assistant Managing Editor, LJS
  • Kate DiGirolomo (KD), SELF-e Community Coordinator
  • Bette-Lee Fox (BF), Managing Editor, LJ
  • Liz French (LF), Senior Editor, LJ Reviews
  • Tyler Hixson (TH), Editorial Assistant, SLJ Reviews
  • Barbara Hoffert (BH), Prepub Alert Editor, LJ Reviews
  • Stephanie Klose (SK), Media Editor, LJ Reviews
  • Amanda Mastrull (AM), Assistant Editor, LJ Reviews
  • Kiera Parrott (KP), Reviews Director, LJS
  • Annalisa Pesek (AP), Assistant Managing Editor, LJ Reviews
  • Stephanie Sendaula (SS), Associate Editor, LJ Reviews
  • Wilda Williams (WW), Fiction Editor, LJ Reviews

All outside contributors are listed by name:

  • Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L.
  • Mara Bandy, Champaign P.L., IL
  • Tom Batten, Grafton, VA
  • Lisa Campbell, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., South Deerfield
  • Martha Cornog, Philadelphia
  • Nanette Donohue, Champaign P.L., IL
  • Rachael Dreyer, Pennsylvania State Univ. Dept. of Libs.
  • Karen Ellis, Taylor P.L., TX
  • Sandra Farag, BookOps, New York
  • Heather Halliday, American Jewish Historical Soc., New York
  • Marlene Harris, Reading Reality, LLC, Duluth, GA
  • Teva Hutchinson, Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Lib.
  • Viccy Kemp, Flower Mound P.L, TX
  • Megan M. McArdle, Library of Congress, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
  • Elizabeth Nelson, McHenry Cty. Coll. Lib., Crystal Lake, IL
  • Marie M. Octobre, Coll. of New Rochelle, Brooklyn
  • Kristin Ramsdell, Libn. Emerita, California State Univ. East Bay
  • Derek Sanderson, Mount Saint Mary Coll. Lib., Newburgh, NY
  • Christine Sharbrough, Tewksbury P.L., MA
  • Lissa Staley, Topeka and Shawnee County P.L., KS
  • Rollie Welch, Lehigh Acres, FL
  • Gayle Williamson, Fashion Inst. of Design & Merchandising, Los Angeles