This is always one of my favorite yearly posts to put together—though it can be a challenge, too! By the end of November I had a pretty good idea what eight of the titles on this list were going to be, but had a crowd of runners-up from which I needed to pick numbers nine and ten—I wondered if I might end up having to draw them out of a hat. But then another favorite came along late, and when it came time to actually put the list together the tenth title fell into place. Here they are in order read, not the order of favorites:
The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers
I’ve mentioned this one before. An intriguing and thought-provoking study of the idea that man, being created in the image of God, shares the characteristics of God as Creator, and has a natural instinct to create and craft works of his own. There’s a lot to chew over, and I’m sure I’ll be reading this one again.
Saturday’s Child by Kathleen Thompson Norris
I often have a hard time distilling into a review my thoughts on the books that make the most impression on me. That was the case with this, my favorite read of the year. It follows the fortunes of a young woman earning her living in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, her struggles to reconcile poverty and family obligations with dreams of wealth and luxury; and her attempts to find a purpose for her life when it appears that romance and marriage are not in her future. I’ve always enjoyed Norris’s books, but I really think this the best yet: both characters and story are more complex and more real.
Little Ship, Big War: The Saga of DE-343 by Edward P. Stafford
Easily the best book I’ve read so far for novel research. The account of one destroyer escort’s operations during World War II, from building to decommissioning, it’s packed with technical detail, and yet also memorably captures the experiences of the men who served on her, perhaps best of any WWII history book I’ve read yet. Full review here.
The American Home Front 1941 – 1942 by Alistair Cooke
A truly fascinating record of an English journalist’s road-trip tour across the United States in the early 1940s. The specific focus is wartime conditions, but beyond that, it’s an amazing time capsule of what American life in general looked like during this period. Read my full review here.
Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope
Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire just keep getting better and better, and Doctor Thorne, third in the series (which I’ve been reading in order) is my favorite yet. This year officially cemented Trollope as a new favorite author. Read my brief review here.
Greyfriars Bobby by Eleanor Atkinson
This was perhaps the sweetest surprise on my list—a heartwarming story of a faithful little dog, filled with lively, engaging characters and a beautifully-written evocation of mid-Victorian era Edinburgh. Brief review here.
Rest and Be Thankful by Helen MacInnes
I never got around to reviewing this one either. In the late 1940s, two well-to-do women with literary inclinations impulsively buy a Wyoming ranch to host a retreat for unpublished writers. Most of the latter are struggling with personal issues and failures of their own, but can’t help but be influenced by the beauty and simpler lifestyle of the ranch and their interactions with the straightforward locals. Perhaps not brilliant art, this, but somehow a very pleasant and satisfying novel.
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Sayers
This one started out a bit challenging to follow, introducing a ton of characters without a lot of description to differentiate them (rather surprising, since I’d never found that issue with Sayers before), but I kept reading, and by the end was totally engrossed in a highly complex mystery laced with razor-sharp satire on the advertising industry. I finished by saying, “If only I could write mysteries like that!” (The cricket scene was utter Greek to me, but entertaining Greek.)
The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
I’d seen this title mentioned many times in connection with other English writers I’ve enjoyed, but somehow took a long time getting to it. It’s a hoot—the semi-autobiographical journal of an average Englishwoman living in the country in the 1930s, chronicling everyday incidents and mishaps with a wry wit that makes them hilarious. Review here.
The Santa Claus Man by Alex Palmer
This is how history is fun. The tale of how an ambitious publicity man founded an initially charming organization to answer poor children’s letters to Santa, but eventually was unable to resist turning it—and a variety of other shady operations—to his own profit. Woven throughout against the milieu of burgeoning early 20th-century New York City is an exploration of the often surprising roles that New York and New Yorkers played in the development of American Christmas traditions.
Half of these titles were library borrows: The Mind of the Maker (which hadn’t been checked out since the 1960s!); Little Ship, Big War; Rest and Be Thankful; Murder Must Advertise; and The Santa Claus Man. The other half were Kindle reads—Saturday’s Child, Doctor Thorne and Greyfriars Bobby are all in the public domain.
