Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (2013)

Sometimes you're just grateful to be back in the capable hands of a writer you really like. Even the little traits that can sometimes annoy you (like parenthetical comments in italics randomly interspersed in the text) don't bother you.

This sequel to The Shining was a fabulous sequel. I loved how beautifully it built on the original story, and fleshed out the shining in particular so well. I loved seeing Dick Halloran again, and Dan Torrance's struggles with alcoholism and work with AA was really well depicted. 

I love how Stephen King always has unexpectedly good people who are willing to help and fight the forces of evil, like Casey and Doctor John and Billy Freeman. I loved the character of Abra, and the realism of all the relationships. I absolutely the depiction of Dan's work as Doctor Sleep, when he comforted people who were close to death and helped them on their journey. Such a lovely way to use his gift. I just loved this book.

Strippers, Showgirls, and Sharks: A Very Opinionated History of the Broadway Musicals That Did Not Win the Tony Award by Peter Filichia (2013)

Absolutely delicious and opinionated book about (as the subtitle reads) the musicals that did not win the Tony.

Filichia discusses why or why not various musicals didn't win the Tony in chapters devoted to various reasons, from it being the wrong year, the wrong time, or just not quite good enough. 

I love how he sprinkles little allusions and musical comedy lyrics in his text (like saying something "just isn't a hummamumamummable melody") and I love the context that he provides on how many performances certain shows ran, the theaters that they transferred to, the reviews that they received, and so on. 

Very dishy and fun. I loved his analysis of shows like Passing Strange and Sister Act, and they were right on as to why I never wanted to see them. Quite good reading for the musical theater fan!

How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran (2011)

So utterly utterly utterly loved this book.

I saw this collection of essays by Moran in bookstores all over London and wanted to buy it then but suitcase space didn't permit. When it FINALLY came in for me at the library and I started reading it, I loved it instantly. 

So funny, so charming, so realistic, and she is so awesome on women's issues. I love her diatribes about reclaiming the term "strident" (not to mention feminist) and stopping waxing. Love her!!! Caitlin Moran is smart and funny and my new heroine.

Followed by the equally wonderful Moranthology, which for me was the perfect book at the perfect time. Returning from an awesome trip to NYC, I was consoled by coming home and reading this tremendously fun, funny and endearing collection of Moran's essays. Lighter than How to Be a Woman, but still fabulous. Essays about Sherlock, Downton, the Royal Wedding, poverty and being a woman--all amazing. LOVE her.

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (2010)

Wench is an utterly original and fascinating novel set before the Civil War at a resort in Ohio where white slaveholders brought their favored slave women on their vacations.  The women who spend their summers there struggle not only with their own lives, but with the prospect of freedom tantalizingly close at hand.

Perkins-Valdez provides an amazing look at a very specific part of the slave experience and provides insight into the bigger world of slavery. Unbelievably vivid and evocative of what life must have been like for these women--from losing their children to struggling with the decision of whether to try to escape. Memorable, touching characters and an amazing look at a very specific part of history.

666 Park Avenue by Gabrielle Pierce (2011)

I picked up this book at a charming used bookstore in Winona called Paperbacks and Pieces, and I picked it up purely for its fabulous design.  The cover is not only gorgeous, but has fabulous texture.  Even the edges of the pages and chapter design is really striking and original.

That said, I finally read it, and found it to be way more fun than it should be. Jane Boyle, architect living in Paris meets swoony and rich Malcolm Doran, has a whirlwind romance and goes to NYC to live with him and his rich and influential family on Park Avenue. Only problem is, she discovers that she's a witch, and they want her power. Pierce sets up her world and the mythology very well, and creates a very suspenseful story filled with very well-drawn supporting characters. 

Followed by two sequels: The Dark Glamour and The Lost Soul, both of which I enjoyed every bit as much as this one.  I finished The Dark Glamour and literally immediately picked up The Lost Soul, which is really saying something as I have a very short attention span for series.  Delightful.

Longbourn by Jo Baker (2013)

As I've mentioned before, I do love a good Jane Austen spinoff, take-off, adaptation or reference.  And occasionally, they are awfully good.

Quite a buzzy title this year, Longbourn follows the household staff of the families in Pride & Prejudice.  When I first heard about this, I thought it was going to be quite focused on another perspective on the Bennets and the Bingleys, but it turned out to be quite different.

Baker uses the setting as the springboard for a completely different story, one that really examines the inner lives and work of the household staff, and what having such a position in those times really meant.  As someone who loves a good supporting character, I loved the way the original story of Pride & Prejudice touches the servants only as it relates to their lives.

This is a beautifully researched novel, vividly realistic and a fresh take on a classic story.  Definitely one of the best of the Austen-inspired novels out there.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding (2013)

Reading this book was exactly like visiting an old friend.  Bridget is the same darn character we've seen through trials and tribulations and some awfully bad decisions, but she's awfully fun to hang out with.

It was also lovely to catch up with her hilarious friend Tom, note-perfect mess Daniel Cleaver, and her parents as well.  I did miss Shazzer like crazy, and thought there was a bit too much Jude. Very, very fun.

Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson (2012)

Listened to this memoir on audio and loved, loved, loved it.

Marcus Samuelsson was adopted from Ethiopia (along with his sister) by a family in Sweden. He grew up with a grandmother who loved cooking and cooking for people and became a chef. This book chronicles his whole life, but especially his journey to becoming one of the top chefs in the world, working in Sweden and Europe before coming to New York City, where he was the Executive Chef at Aquavit and then opened his own restaurant Red Rooster in Harlem. 

Along the way, he also explores his own Ethiopian heritage, and getting in touch with his birth family. Just a beautifully told story, narrated by Samuelsson himself in his own charming accent. Wonderfully insightful into his journey as a black cook and the challenges and greatest moments. And he speaks so interestingly about race, how it affects his work in kitchens, and his experience coming to America as a black, but not African American, cook. Through the entire story, Samuelsson is always humble and always kind. 

Just a wonderful story, wonderfully told.

Mr. Lynch's Holiday by Catherine O'Flynn (2013)

Despite the fact that she's only written a few books, Catherine O'Flynn is one of those authors that I will request and read her books without reading a single word of the description.  (See also her amazing What Was Lost.)

This short novel is about Dermot Lynch, a widower who travels to a town in Spain where his son Eamonn has purchased a condo and emigrated with his wife.  As the novel begins, Eamonn's wife has just left him and he is unemployed when his father drops in for a visit from England.

Terribly poignant and just a lovely, lovely story of the complex relationship between an adult child and his father (and vice versa).  As always with O'Flynn you get a little something extra, and this time, it's a fascinating look at expatriate communities, not just the one Eamonn lives in Spain, but also his father's in England and so on. Just lovely.

Astor Place Vintage by Stephanie Lehmann (2013)

In my ever-enduring quest to point out the excellent novels hidden in plain sight on the racks of the many enticingly-covered trade paperbacks found on your local library shelves, I present Astor Place Vintage.

Amanda Rosenblum runs a vintage clothes shop in Manhattan and, during the course of accepting a consignment of clothing from an elderly woman, finds a journal written by Olive Westcott, a woman who moved to Manhattan in 1907.

It's a novel with much affection for New York and a very strong sense of place, both Old New York and new.  The chapters alternate between the two narrators very skillfully--often a tricky thing for writers to accomplish.  Rather than try to depict Olive's story completely through her journal, Lehmann includes a paragraph from Olive's diary, and then the chapter goes off into Olive's POV and narration. 

I was not enamored of Amanda's character, due to her enormously bad judgment in her personal affairs, but liked the novel very much anyway and found both stories equally compelling.  Well written and pretty well researched, it also includes some charming photos of old New York--very much a novel for anyone who loves New York City.