1. “25 Favorite Books of the Year.” Which books from 2016 stuck with us the most? We’re glad you asked…


2. E.A. Aymar’s review of Crime Plus Music: Twenty Stories of Music-Themed Noir, edited by Jim Fusilli. “It’s rare to come a set of stories so equally strong, particularly when they’re tied to the same themes: crimes and music. As Fusilli wryly notes in the opening line of the introduction, ‘I don’t suppose it would be much of a surprise to discover that there’s a dark and deadly side to the world of popular music.’”


3. Ellen Kwatnoski’s review of News of the World by Paulette Jiles. “Historical novels often bury the reader in an avalanche of research that fails to move the story forward. Here, the details are rich and telling…Foods, smells, characters encountered along the road, the uneasy towns with their fractious denizens, the unpredictable firearms — all have the feel of truth, of a time and place brought vividly to life.”


4. J.J. McCoy’s review of Cross-Examining History: A Lawyer Gets Answers from the Experts about Our Presidents by Talmage Boston. “Having the hefty design and subject matter of a college textbook, but the structure of a month’s worth of ‘Charlie Rose’ transcripts, Cross-Examining History features interviews about the presidency with notable authors, scholars, and political figures including David McCullough, Douglas Brinkley, and James Baker, respectively.”


5. “10 Books to Read Right Now” by Lawrence De Maria. Apparently a lot of folks, left utterly dyspeptic after the presidential election, craved a good story to soothe their souls. We hope these helped.

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