Me And My Big Mouth

Books of the Year: Honourable Mentions

Books that didn't quite make my top ten but still impressed, delighted, amazed or entertained me included...

Orange Prize nominee Annabel, by Kathleen Winter, which was a brutal yet tender account of a hermaphrodite growing up in a small Canadian village.

The Hare with Amber Eyes wasn't quite the masterpiece that everyone and his dog seemed to be claiming but it was still a fascinating look at several generations of a family linked by a collection of small Japanese carvings.

I don't read many books about maths but The Number Mysteries by Marcus du Sautoy convinced me that I should more, especially if they are written by him.

I read 13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison as she was one of our guest authors for a special Children's Firestation Book Swap. I needed to swot up so that I had plenty of questions. I didn't expect to be quite as charmed by this bittersweet magical tale as I was.

And I was properly shocked by Holly Howitt's The Schoolboy. They didn't write books like this when I was a teenager.

Books of the Year: Number 1

My favourite book of the year is a Danish seafaring epic that has stayed with me from the moment I put it down during the summer. It's size might put some people off but they are fools, I tell you, fools! Here is the review I posted some months back.

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Marstal is a town in southern Denmark, the largest on the island of Ærø. It is also this narrator of this remarkable book. It is a 'we' novel, if you will, with the story told by the people of the island, watching one as one hundred years' worth of events unfold around them.

We, The Drowned opens in 1848 when Denmark is at war with Germany. Marstal is on the coast, populated by sailors, so it is only proper that the men of the town are enlisted to join the naval attack. It is a disaster, with many lives lost, but Laurids Madsen survives after been blown sky high and landing back on deck feet first in his trusty boots. A miracle, of sorts, and he becomes a local celebrity when he returns home.

But such fame sit uncomfortably with the big man and he is soon off to sea again, last heard of in Australia never to return to his wife and family in Marstal.

The story then shifts its focus to Madsen's son, Albert, watching him grow up until he too goes to sea, eventually travelling halfway around the globe in search of his father.

Later, when Albert is an old man, unmarried and childless, he is persuaded to spend time with a young boy, Knud Erik, who has lost his own father to the waves and in need of a male influence in his life. The relationship softens the weatherbeaten sailor and has a profound effect on both of them.

And it is Knud Erik who takes us through the Second World War and on to the end of the book. A century of sea stories, of deaths by drowning, of sailors, boats and foreign climes.

And of the women left behind.

As you may expect from a book that encompasses an entire century it is rather long, nearly 700 pages to be (rather less than) precise, but it never feels laboured, at no point does it drag. The language is simple and direct, a storyteller's style, and the translators, Charlotte Barslund and Emma Ryder, appear to have done a wonderful job.

And the narrator(s) - the story is told by the people of the village as a collective 'we' - works brilliantly. At first you assume that the voice is that of one of the sailors going off to fight the Germans but then the same voice tells of Albert's schooldays and continues for another seventy years or so. It is a difficult device to pull off but Carsten Jensen does it to perfection. You don't question it for a second.

I was swept away (pun noted but not intended) by this wonderful book. I didn't want it to end and thankfully, given its length, it didn't do so for some considerable time. It was voted the greatest Danish book of the last 25 years. I have no idea what sort of competition it was up against but its victory doesn't surprise me: it is one of the best books I have read in the past 25 years as well.

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I have been partial to all things nautical this year (check out my album of the year for further evidence of this) which may explain why I warmed to this so much. I also happened to be reading it on an island, which helped set the mood. It is a book that I am eager to re-read, although I will wait a while to ensure sufficient detail becomes lost to the mists of time, and I have collected the author's other books in anticipation of future joys.

If you have a few days to curl up in an armchair over the Christmas break then you could make those days really special by having this in your hands while you do so. You won't regret it.

So, what was your favourite book of the year?

Books of the Year: 4...3...2...

I am almost ready to reveal my book of the year but first we have these three beauties to get through.

4. Florence & Giles - John Harding

A reimagining of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James from the point of view of the young girl in the story.

I have never read The Turn of the Screw, so I haven't got a clue how closely this book fits with it, but I do know it is one of the most entertaining things I have read in years.

And it contains one of my favourite lines in fiction:

'I would wasp her picnic.'

My original review is worth reading for more detail. I am delighted to report that the book has become somewhat of a Twitter word of mouth hit. Hardly a day goes by without someone recommending it on there and, with the ebook currently a steal at 99p, I can't imagine it will quieten down any time soon.

3. A Fine Dark Line - Joe R. Lansdale

A coming-of-age novel that knocks Catcher in the Rye into touch and, in my humble opinion, gives To Kill a Mockingbird a run for its money.

And before you start getting all het up, I am not claiming that is is quite as good as Harper Lee's classic, but I am willing to bet that Mockingbird fans would really enjoy this.

A boy just entering his teens gets involved in solving an old murder with the help of the elderly black projectionist at the drive-in movie theatre his father owns. You've got some racism, you've got classic movies, you've got lesbian love affairs, you've got underage sex scandals, you've got wife beating, you've got throat cutting, you've got exhuming dead bodies.

Only a couple of which you will find in Mockingbird, I grant you.

2. The Vagabond's Breakfast - Richard Gwyn

I fell for this book in a big way earlier in the year. I raved about it on Twitter, featured excerpts on the blog and also interviewed the author on these pages. Regular readers won't fail to have noticed my enthusiasm.

And it was well placed. It is the single most impressive piece of writing about illness that I have ever read.

I reviewed it here back in May and my opinion hasn't changed since then. Thinking about it still scares the shit out of me.

The fact that it has been totally ignored by the mainstream literary press - it managed one review in the Morning Star - is bloody annoying but not all that surprising. I don't think literary editors go looking for great books any more, they are content to wait for them to fall into their laps. Although they still miss them when that happens.

OK, tomorrow I reveal my book of the year. What's yours?

Books of the Year: 7...6...5...

Three more from the top drawer.

7. 1Q84 - Haruki Murakami

The obscure Japanese writer whose works in English were almost impossible to track down when I first started reading him at the beginning of the 90s delivered the literary event of the year with his three-volume epic (published as two volumes over here). Fans had been waiting for ages for this one and it sold in its hundreds of thousands across the English-speaking world.

But was it worthy of all that fuss?

Pretty much. It isn't his best work but it is an impressive and complex tale which carries many of Murakami's hallmarks whilst also bringing something new to the mix. This is the longest that the author has sustained a third-person narrative and, although that created a distance from the characters which troubled me slightly, he did manage to pull it off.

I consider it a strong addition to my Murakami library.

6. The Girl Who Played with Fire/The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson

I am counting these as one book as they are effectively the same story split across two volumes. There's nothing I can tell you about them that you don't already know but if you want to read my review of Fire you can do so here.

I only finished Nest last week so have not had time to post a full review. I found it to be far superior to Fire but not quite as good as Tattoo. Tattoo benefits from the classic 'locked room' plot and the slow build of Larsson's writing style really made that work well. Fire was more of a standard thriller and, whilst still very good, didn't impress quite as much. Nest is more akin to Tattoo but without the 'locked room'.

Still with me? Ignore that paragraph if not.

Basically, I enjoyed the unorthodox and drawn out plot, loved Lisbeth Salander as a character and could help but get caught up in the excitement as this final volume built to a climax. Great stuff.

5. Just My Type - Simon Garfield

A book about fonts. Really.

The history of fonts. The social impact of fonts. The way they are designed. Font anecdotes. Pictures of fonts. Interviews with people who make them. Dog fucking.

Yes, dog fucking.

And incest.

This book really has everything.

It is also the fifth best book I read this year. I kid you not.

 

Books of the Year: 10...9...8...

All this week I will be blogging about my favourite books of the year. I hope you find something on the list that you fancy reading over the Christmas break. They are all wonderful and I am sure you won't be disappointed.

I follow a couple of rules when compiling the final ten: I cannot include any books I have published or will be publishing and won't feature anything I have read before. Other than than, anything goes. Books published before 2011 are more than welcome on the list.

And I'd love to hear about your picks of the year as the week goes on. Please leave some comments to point me in the direction of your choices.

10. The Borrower - Rebecca Makkai

I read and reviewed this only recently so won't go into too much detail here. Suffice to say it is a book for book lovers. A children's librarian helps a young boy to run away when she discovers that his religious family are sending him to special classes in order to un-gay him.

He is ten years old.

It is witty, and contains many nods to classic children's books, but has a deliciously dark edge to it. Mrs Big Mouth's book group have chosen it as their January read and I can see this being a big hit with book groups when the paperback comes out next year.

If you are struggling to find the right book to buy a loved one this Christmas then you wouldn't go far wrong with this.

9. Don't Point That Thing at Me - Kyril Bonfiglioli

Earlier in the year I was tucked away in a rickety cabin in the Scottish wilderness where I was writing the bulk of my own book. This novel entertained me between spurts of typing and treks outside to shit in the woods. It is a bizarre blend of Jeeves & Wooster, Minder, Withnail & I, The Long Good Friday and Lovejoy.

Charlie Mortdecai is a disreputable antiques dealer (for which, read 'art thief') with a penchant for the occasional tipple who finds himself embroiled in some unpleasant Special Branch goings on. Together with his faithful assistant, Jock, he travels the globe with the canvas of a stolen Old Master hidden in the roof of his car on a mission to apparently assassinate an eccentric billionaire.

The book is daft, laugh out loud funny, and challenges the best of Wodehouse with its memorable one-liners. It was written in 1972 and has become somewhat of a cult classic. I loved it.

8. Gillespie and I - Jane Harris

Not sure I can add much to my original review but I'll have a crack.

A beautifully crafted piece of historical fiction which wrongfoots you throughout. Set largely in Glasgow during the International Exhibition it is narrated by Harriet Baxter, a young spinster who befriends an up and coming artist and his family. It doesn't take long for Harriet to realise that all is not what it seems with the Gillespies and an intriguing mystery unfolds.

I was very surprised when this did not make the Booker longlist. I am sure it will make plenty of other award listings in the new year.

More tomorrow. See you then.

 

Books Of The Year: Number 1

1. Zachary Mason - The Lost Books of the Odyssey

Some bloke I have never heard of decides to 'reinvent' The Odyssey several times over with a series of supposed lost chapters.

I was very dubious to start with.

Three or four pages in and I was completely won over.

This is a magical book, full of mischievous invention, and should be required reading for anyone with a love of Homer's epic poems.

Here's what I wrote when I read it back in the summer:

In this remarkable book Zachary Mason 're-imagines' The Odyssey from a number of different viewpoints. Forty-four retellings of the greatest story ever told. It kept me spellbound for hours.

Tackling small chunks of the original story, Mason sometimes introduces a new twist, or changes the narrator, alters the books internal logic or remixes the original with fascinating results.

So you have a version in which Odysseus finds himself bored on Ithaka so sets off to retrace his steps, revisiting the scenes of his adventures.

In another, The Iliad is revealed to be an elaborate set of rules for playing chess.

Or the suggestion that Paris was, in fact, another name for Death and is was the Grim Reaper himself who stole Helen, leading Menelaus to declare war on Hades rather than Troy.

And one chapter is narrated by the cyclops Polyphemus, offering a slightly different take on the version of legend.

The Lost Books of the Odyssey is not, I would suggest, a book to sit down and read from start to finish. It isn't intended as a linear narrative - many of the chapters contradict themselves - and is, instead, a volume to dip into over a couple of weeks. Although, be warned, it is hard to leave it alone for very long.

This is a short work of epic imagination. It will, I am sure, prove a delight to anyone who has ever read and loved Homer's two epic poems, although those unfamiliar with them may well wonder what all the fuss is about. They are very much favourites of mine and it is high praise indeed when I say that I will be shelving this book alongside them.

It was, for me, the best book of 2010.

Books Of The Year: 4...3...2

4. Stieg Larsson - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

For some reason this books appears to have become the new Da Vinci Code. It winds some of the literati up the wrong way. I say they need to remove their heads from their arses as this is great stuff. Yes, it is genre fiction - it's a crime novel, for fuck's sake - but it is a compulsive read.

I guess the assumption is that anything this popular has to be shite. The assumption is wrong. Larsson is a wonderful storyteller and in Lisbeth Salander he has crafted an unforgettable literary character. It pained me to put this book down when I was reading it. I stayed up till the early hours to just read one more chapter. I lost myself in it for days.

I suspect some people are reacting to what they see as the hype around this book. Word-of-mouth is not hype. The buzz and excitement around this book have come from the people reading it, and that is why it has been so successful.

I have deliberately avoided reading the rest of the trilogy. I am pacing myself, saving book two for next year.

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3. Chip Kidd - The Cheese Monkeys

Imagine, if you will, Dead Poet's Society directed by Andy Warhol. That may get you close to understanding what The Cheese Monkeys is all about.

A new student enrols in the only art course left open to him when he leaves it too late on his first day in college. It turns out to be a life-changing decision as his teacher turns out to be either a genius or a complete nutter, depending on your point of view.

His controversial and abrasive teaching style causes uproar in the class but gradually, lesson by lesson, he manages to get these kids thinking and, most importantly, seeing differently.

Chip Kidd is best known as a designer of book jackets. His work is emblazoned across the front of countless volumes on American bookshelves and he is one of the most reknowned artists working in the field.

He is a better novelist.

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2. Kent Haruf - Eventide

I hope she won't mind me mentioning this but I recently received an email from the novelist Adele Geras thanking me for introducing her to the work of Kent Haruf and expressing her dismay that she had not discovered him before.

This is the sequel to Plainsong, my Book of the Year in 2009, and is every bit as wonderful. Like its predecessor, it weaves together a number of stories and is set in a small American farming town. Many of the characters from the first book appear here, some of the previously peripheral roles being brought to the fore, and a few new ones are introduced.

Haruf does not go in for fancy language. His prose is simple and sparse, but it also conveys more truth and emotion that almost any other writer I know. He understands people and how to put their lives on paper.

And he had my crying like a baby.

Books Of The Year: 7...6...5

7. Ray Robinson - Forgetting Zoe

One of the biggest literary crimes of 2010 was that this wonderful and haunting novel of a kidnapped girl spending a decade in an underground bunker was completely ignored by the prize judge committees in favour of Room by Emma Donoghue. Room isn't a bad book but this is better.

Perhaps the fact that the English author decided to set his novel in America and write it in an American voice put them off. Maybe the skill with which he accomplished this feat lead them to believe he wasn't English at all and therefore ineligible.

Whatever the reason, they were wrong. Robinson is already one of the most versatile and accomplished writers we have and he is only three books in to what is destined to be a significant career.

My pick for the most overlooked novel of 2010. It is unforgettable stuff.

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6. Claire Tomalin - Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self

A philanderer, a corrupt offical, a wife beater, a short-tempered man obsessed with status - let's face it, Samuel Pepys was a bit of an arsehole. He was also one of the most fascinating men ever to put pen to paper and this biography rightly won a stack of awards when it was published some years back. I don't really know why it has taken me so long to read it but I recently listened for the umpteenth time to the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Pepys diaries featuring Oliver Parker, Bill Nighy, Simon Russell-Beale and Roger Allam and felt the need to finally pick it up off the shelves.

It brought an extra dimension to the diaries for me, and proved that the radio version was a very faithful adaptation, but also filled in the considerable gaps in my knowledge concerning the life of Pepys before and after the diaries, which after all covered less than a decade.

It is a lively and evocative portrait.

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5. Stephen Hall - The Raw Shark Texts

Publisher Jamie Byng was so excited when he acquired this book back in 2006 or so that he sent me a copy of the unedited manuscript. I didn't read it. I was shortly to leave Waterstone's and had enough on my plate. What a fucking idiot. This is the most imaginative and original novel I have read in a long while.

A man wakes up with no memory. A note in his hallway, seemingly from himself, directs him to a doctor who imparts the information that this has happened before, that some painful event in his past keeps wiping his memory.

But then he starts to receive more letters from his previous self, and these tell him of a bizarre and unlikely danger, a thought-shark that is out to kill him.

This is an exceedingly odd novel that plays with the very text that make up its content and ends up fucking with you brain in increasingly entertaining ways. Bits of Murakami, The Matrix, Jaws and Twin Peaks thrown in a blender and reformed into something very impressive indeed.

Books Of The Year: 10...9...8

OK, I have waited till right at the end of the year for my countdown to ensure as many books as possible could be considered. The rules are simple: any book I have read this year is eligible with the sole exception of books I publish or titles that I have re-read.

I hope that's clear. Now, onwards and upwards.

10. Kate Williams - Becoming Queen

Not only for making the early life of Queen Victoria as compelling and entertaining as the best historical novel but because it introduced me to Princess Charlotte, the woman who would have been queen had it not been for her untimely death.

I usually take my time over non-fiction books, especially history titles. I need to consume them at a different pace to make sure I take it all in. No such problem with this book which I sailed through in just a few days but am sure I took more from it than I normally would. I just got completely swept up in the whole thing and only wish there was a book covering the rest of Victoria's reign that was quite so enjoyable.

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9. Jonathan Lee - Who is Mr Satoshi?

A year without a new Murakami novel to read is a tough one for enthusiasts like me. Fortunately, there was this accomplished debut to more than adequately fill the gap.

A reclusive Englishman travels to Japan in search of someone for whom his recently deceased mother left a mysterious package, the Mr Satoshi of the title. He quickly falls in with a pink-haired college student who helps him track down the missing gentleman.

This doesn't have the magical trickery of a Murakami but is all the better for it, stops it from being a copycat novel. I predict big things from the paperback, out next year.

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8. D.J. Connell - Julian Corkle is a Filthy Liar

Writing comedy is hard. Writing a good comic novel is even harder. Seriously, how many novels have you read that had you laughing out loud throughout? Compare the laughter ratio of a funny movie with that of a supposedly funny book. Rarely is there any contest.

Julian Corkle is a young man with big expectations. Growing up in Tasmania might not be the best start in life for a future television superstar but Julian isn't going to let that stop him. He has plans.

What follows is a flurry of camp escapades that puts Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to shame. I really did guffaw with laughter several times and can report that the wife, who insisted on reading it immediately after me, also shed a tear at the end.

More books of the year to follow tomorrow.

Books Of The Year: Number 1

My favourite book of 2009 was actually the first book I read this year.

Nearly 100 books have followed. None could top it.

It is a novel to be read during cold weather. Preferably snow.

The year is 1883. A hunter stalks the Icelandic countryside in search for the elusive blue fox. A reclusive scientist deals with the death of his housekeeper, a woman with Down's Syndrome he has cared for over many years. Over just 100 or so sparsely printed pages their stories come together with haunting results.

There aren't many words in this book, there is probably more white space than text, but they are all perfectly chosen and precisely placed. It is an exquisite novel.

The Blue Fox is written by Sjon, an Icelandic poet and lyricist probably best known over here for his work with Bjork.

A couple of links: my original and rather prophetic review, and my interview with the author.

It is a stunning book and I really hope some of you find the time to read it, especially as it is snowing outside today.

Books Of The Year: Number 2

Usually if you read a novel after seeing the movie adaptation it is a somewhat unsatisfying experience. I guess the same can be true the other way round. You can't win really.

Although I did with this book and its cinematic version.

I adored The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford on screen. It is extremely long and very slow. This puts a lot of people off but I was hypnotised by it. It ranks among my top ten films of all time.

And the book is in my top ten books of 2009. Quite possibly the all time list as well, although I haven't actually done one of those so don't hold me to it.

I was, if anything, even more captivated by the book than the movie. The plot won't prove to be much of a surprise - the title says it all - but the narrative is spellbinding. I hated having to put it down at the end of each reading session. If you could have plugged me in to a device to handle all of my physical needs I would have happily sat there for days reading it.

My original review back in January tells you all you need to know about my feelings for this book. Do give it a read if you get the chance. It is wonderful. The book that is, not my review. But read that as well if you can.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is published by Souvenir Press.

Tune in at the same time tomorrow for my #1 book of 2009, although you have probably guessed what it is by now.

Books Of The Year: Number 3

I love John Irving. He has written some of the best books I have ever read - Garp and Owen Meany - but he has been pretty hit and miss of late. That is no different to most authors but because Irving's novels are so bloody long you have to invest a big chunk of time to find out whether the latest offering is up to the very high standard he has set with his earlier work. Another side effect of his substantial word count is that he only writes a new book every few years.

One solution to these problems is to find other authors who tick a lot of Irving-esque boxes. This isn't too difficult to do seeing as his influence reaches far and wide. One of the best I have found comes from the unlikely source of former WWE wrestler Mick Foley with his remarkable debut novel Tietam Brown. It also has the added advantage of being short.

But that isn't the book I have picked as my number three. I read it years ago so it doesn't count. No, the honour goes instead to The Half Brother by Lars Saabye Christensen.

I was asked to address the Norwegian Publishers' Association in Oslo earlier in the year and thought it would be appropriate to take along a Norwegian novel to read. I chose this one as it had been staring at me from my bookshelves for a couple of years and I had a sneaky suspicion that it might be quite good.

Actually, it was a stunner. The best John Irving novel not actually written by the man himself. I won't go into huge detail here as I will just be repeating my original review but suffice to say that it is a surprising, moving, wonderful epic that I hope to re-read many times before I pop my clogs.

Although I do have a little confession to make. I've been banging on about how nine of my top ten selections come from independent publishers but this one doesn't quite. It was originally published by Arcadia (indie) but the mass market paperback actually comes from Vintage (part of Random House). So it is only half-independent.

Quite fitting really.

Books Of The Year: Number 4

Sebastian Beaumont's last novel, Thirteen, was my favourite book of 2007.

His follow-up, The Juggler, is my fourth favourite of 2009, although I do actually think it is a better book.

It has just been a particularly fine year. This would have topped the list in previous years.

Last time I spoke with the author he swore blind that he had never read any Murakami but his books have a similar tone and atmosphere, the same normal bloke narrator to whom strange things happen. The fact that the action takes place in a domestic setting, in this case the south coast of England, rather than Japan does nothing to lessen the impact and Beaumont's novel really does bear comparison to the Japanese master.

Lord knows what would happen if he did read any. It might create some sort of rift in the space-time continuum or something.

Anyway, I loved The Juggler, the story of a man who leaves his wife and child following a chance encounter in a comedy club and how he starts his life anew within a strange seaside community. Odd things happen. He can't quite work them out. Everything seems loaded with meaning, but perhaps everything is meaningless.

As entertaining and confusing as The Magus. But shorter. I reviewed it here.

The Juggler by Sebastian Beaumont is published by Myrmidon Books. All of their stuff is worth checking out.

Books Of The Year: Number 5

This is another one that I reviewed only recently so I won't bang on at length here. If you really want to know all the ins and outs you can read my original review.

Suffice to say, I liked it a lot. It reminded me of Richard Yates at his best but, and here's the important thing, much happier. Capra-esque even.

Interesting to note that this is the only book in my top ten from a major publishing house. It is a Penguin Modern Classic, and deservedly so.

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit is by Sloan Wilson and this edition has an introduction by Jonathan Franzen.

Books Of The Year: Number 6

We are off to Scandinavia again for our next book in the end of year rundown. To Norway this time.

I was utterly charmed by Erlend Loe's off-kilter tale of a young man who drops out of college and mills around his brother's empty apartment. He befriends a small boy, the son of his neighbours, and ends up babysitting him. They embark upon a tiny urban adventure together.

Simple, but a little bit different. I reviewed it earlier in the year.

Naive. Super by Erlend Loe is published by Canongate.

Books Of The Year: Number 7

26 thematically linked short stories, one for every letter of the alphabet, each bound separately and housed in a box.

Rave reviews from authors I rate very highly indeed such as Sarah Salway, Caroline Smailes, Tama Janowitz, Sebastian Beaumont and Charles Lambert.

Comparisons to Borges, Kafka, Perec and BS Johnson.

And almost zero review coverage from the newspapers. One of the most ambitious and exciting publishing projects in years and the supposed guardians of literary fiction have pretty much ignored it. And they wonder why they are losing their influence.

But the bloggers haven't. The author has appeared all over the internet and online reviews have been almost entirely complimentary.

I was impressed by the gorgeous package, surprised by the quality of the writing and annoyed that I didn't get to publish this myself. I reviewed it here.

An A-Z of Possible Worlds by AC Tillyer is published by Roast Books.

Books Of The Year: Number 8

Following his brother's death, Robert goes through his papers unearthing an odd collection of notes, letters and scribbles documenting an entire life.

This novel presents them in chronological order, creating a remarkable fictional memoir.

It is unusual, original, very funny and incredibly moving.

My review can be found here.

My interview with the author is over there.

Dear Everybody by Michael Kimball is published by Alma Books.

Books Of The Year: Number 9

I only reviewed this book last week so I won't go into great detail here but suffice to say that as offbeat comedies go, The Pets by Bragi Olafsson is about as off the beat as they come.

A bloke hides under his bed to escape an unwanted visitor only for the unwanted visitor to break in and host a party.

Another pretty short book, 157 pages long, and another on the list from a small independent publisher. Not sure what that tells you but it probably tells you something.

Oh, and someone in Iceland seemed to like the fact that I reviewed the book. Which is nice.

The Pets by Bragi Olafsson (who used to be in The Sugacubes) is published by Open Letter Books.

Books Of The Year: Number 10

The first book in my rundown of the pick of 2009 is a mere 108 pages long. It is also one of the most romantic books you will ever read.

Here's the blurb:

All Tom's friends really are superheroes. Tom even married a superhero, the Perfectionist. But at their wedding the Perfectionist is hypnotized by her ex, Hypno, to believe that Tom is invisible. Nothing he does can make her see him.

Six months later the Perfectionist is sure that Tom has abandoned her, so she's moving to Vancouver. She's going to use her superpower to leave all the heartbreak behind. With no idea that Tom is beside her she boards the plane: Tom has until they touch down to convince her he's there, or he loses her forever...

I was utterly charmed by the book. You can read my original review here.

All My Friends are Superheroes by Andy Kaufman is published by Telegram Books.