In somewhat-random order, here are the ten best books I read this year:

1. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.
2. Varieties of Disturbance by Lydia Davis.
3. Rasskazy by Mikhail Iossel and Jeff Parker (editors).
4. Demon Theory by Stephen Graham Jones.
5. We Did Porn by Zak Smith.
6. Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut.
7. The Mystery Guest by Grégoire Bouillier.
8. The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño.
9. The Exquisite by Laird Hunt.
10. Beowulf by Anonymous.

And, again in somewhat-random order, here are the ten worst books I read this year:

1. The Pact by Jodi Picoult.
2. The End of Alice by A. M. Homes.
3. The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont.
4. Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Auster.
5. All the Sad Young Literary Men by Keith Gessen.
6. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.
7. Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.
8. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.
9. Shining at the Bottom of the Sea by Stephen Marche.
10. Who the Hell is Pansy O'Hara? by Jenny Bond and Chris Sheedy.

And there you have it, kids: the best and worst of over sixty books read this year. Happy trails.

Comments

[Stefanie]

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is on my worst reads for the year list too!

[Brandon]

That book was atrocious. It was like reading "Pride and Prejudice" while a group of drunk college freshmen watches a zombie-movie marathon.

[theorist]

Took me a while, but just wanted to say "thank you" for reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies so that I don't have to.