It's been a year filled with transitions, new friends, and old ones. Instead of writing a holiday card like the more diligent people I know, I figured I could summarize the year in terms of a few meaningful reading experiences. It also helps to kill two birds with one stone by making recommendations at the same time.
Studying for the bar cut into a lot of reading time this year. That said, the final semester of law school in the spring, and the commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan I've had since work began in August made up for my lackluster summer. So here are my top five books--all fiction--of the year in the order in which I read them:
Tenth of December by George Saunders. I'm glad I read this book in January cause I've had an entire year to rave about it at everyone I talk to. He reminds me of reading David Foster Wallace for the first time. Each story in this collection comments on some aspect of contemporary society in a completely unexpected way. My favorite, "The Semplica Girl Diaries" takes place in some parallel/futuristic US. People buy Semplica Girls--girls rescued from developing countries--and string them up on their front lawns as status symbols. The metaphor is clear, yet completely surprising. 
All That Is by James Salter. "James Salter is a revered writer. Can he become a famous one?" A New Yorker profile asked earlier this year. After reading his latest--and possibly last--novel, I definitely understand why he is revered but perhaps not famous. It follows the life of William Bowman through World War II, college, marriage, divorce, and aging. For a novel that takes place over forty years, not too much happens. Instead, Salter makes sharp observations about each stage of an American life. 
The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P by Adelle Waldman. After moving to Brooklyn in August, it only made sense to read a novel about the dating lives of twentysomething Brooklyn hipsters. Hilarious and insightful, Waldman's novel is from the perspective of Nate Piven, a member of the Brooklyn literati. Buoyed by the success of his first novel, Nate uses his nerdy bookishness to woo several Greenpoint women. As he hops from bed to bed, we see him act like an asshole all the while thinking he's being a decent guy. As Maria Russo put it, "This book takes seriously the question of romantic compatibility — of why we end up with one person and not another — and foregrounds the question of whether it’s a subject even worth paying attention to."
Enon by Paul Harding. Harding's debut novel, Tinkers, made a big splash when it won the Pulitzer Prize seemingly out of nowhere in 2010. This follow up is set in the same quiet New England town as Tinkers, and tracks a man's unraveling in the wake of his daughter's death. Though sad, Enon is also cathartic as we follow the protagonist from his descent into drug addition through recovery.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. A dear friend of mine, Angela, recommended this book. It's the best novel on American race relations I've read in a while, and took me back to college seminars where we sat around discussing race and politics. The novel centers around Ifemelu, a Nigerian woman who moves to the US as an adult to study. She dates several American males types -- the liberal WASP, the intellectual black professor--all the while longing for her Nigerian ex-boyfriend. Much of the novel's plot seems to be vehicle for Adichie's observations about race and immigration, but those of us who like to think about those issues won't mind at all.
