Robin Beerbower's 'Best' List

Here's a list of top titles you won't find anywhere else! Over in Salem, Oregon, Fiction Selector Robin Beerbower makes it her business to choose the best of the best fiction.  Sometimes, we're just lucky enough to land in her graces and get a shout-out! Here's Robin's full list of fiction favorites for 2010. 

LEAN ON PETE by Willy Vlautin. Set in Portland, 15-year old Charley searches for a home with the help of a broken down race horse named Lean on Pete. Spare in its use of language, this is an amazing novel by an Oregon author.

CRASHERS by Dana Haynes. Wow! You may never want to fly again after reading this thriller about a jetliner that goes down north of Salem and the investigation that follows by the “crashers” who try to determine why it fell out the sky. The gross out factor is a little high at times but it is fascinating.

STILTSVILLE by Susanna Daniel. Absolutely terrific first novel about a long marriage set against the background of Miami and the now defunct summer community of houses in the water of Biscayne Bay known as Stiltstville. Why this novel is so effective is hard to say, but the setting and historical events form an effective background for the story. Keep a tissue handy.

THE GIRL WHO FELL FROM THE SKY by Heidi Durrow. After a tragic accident kills her two siblings and mother Rachel is sent to Oregon to be raised by her grandmother, but as she grows older starts to question her mixed racial heritage and the mystery of the accident. This is a great choice for book groups.

IN THE DARK by Brian Freeman. This is the fourth in the suspense/thriller series that features Jonathan Stride, a homicide detective in Duluth, Minnesota. These are fast-moving and best read in order (IMMORAL, STRIPPED, and STALKED).

PACKING FOR MARS by Mary Roach. This look at the mechanics and biophysics of traveling in space was my favorite nonfiction book of the year. I found myself giggling and chortling while reading various “who knew?” moments such as the description of burping toilets on the space shuttle, what the "vomit comet" plane is like when one is weightless for 20 seconds, and exactly how one eliminates in space. I'll bet you never thought of what could happen if a spacewalker hurled in his helmet (if you read this you will find out, and for the record, you don't want it to happen to you).

UP FROM THE BLUE by Susan Henderson. Told from the viewpoint of Tillie as an 8-year-old girl and also as a grown woman preparing for the birth of her first child, this haunting novel relates her struggle to make sense of her mother’s mental illness. An excellent choice for book groups.

TWISTED FAITH by Gregg Olsen. Nick Hacheney was a charismatic preacher for a small church on Bainbridge Island in Washington who burned down his house with his murdered wife inside and was later found to be canoodling (and more) with four women from the congregation. This is a fascinating and well-researched true crime story of faith and love gone wrong.

CAUGHT by Harlan Coben. Coben does his usual stellar job of producing an unput-downable thriller with a current theme. These are especially good in audio format.

FORTUNATE HARBOR by Emilie Richards. This novel continues the story of three friends first introduced in HAPPINESS KEY. Set on a defunct resort community on the Florida coast, this is a fun combination of drama and mystery that is best read on the shore of a beach or lake.

NIGHT SEASON by Chelsea Cain. OK, so maybe it’s not fair to tease you as this book isn’t due to be published until March 2011, but I’m going to anyway as it deserves a lot of attention. The atmosphere is creepy, dark, and dank, and the storytelling is sublime in this fourth entry of the Gretchen Lowell series. Archie Sheridan, Portland homicide detective, is not only battling his continued drug and psychological demons but also an impending flood in downtown Portland and dead bodies in the Willamette River. The investigation of a diabolical murderer with an inventive weapon and the story of the historical Vanport flood of 1948 are expertly interwoven in this marvelous thriller.

STILL MISSING by Chevy Stevens. Annie, a realtor, is abducted and taken to a remote mountain cabin where she eventually escapes (the abduction is told in flashback discussions with her therapist), and your socks will be blown off when you find out who orchestrated the kidnapping. This is definitely edge-of-the-couch reading at its best.

THE ONE THAT I WANT by Allison Winn Scotch. I love this author and her latest is the story of 32-year-old Tilly, who thought she had it all in her small home town in central Washington--but did she really? This book really made me happy about the choices I made in my early life.

WEST OF HERE by Jonathan Evison. A sprawling meaty saga set in northwestern Washington that juxtaposes the past and present into a satisfying novel. For a readers' advisory librarian this has it all--well rendered characters, a perfectly structured setting, beautiful writing, and many great plot lines. The only catch is that it doesn't come out until January/February 2011.

COMING BACK by Marcia Muller. This author’s Sharon McCone series always manages to make my favorites of the year list, and while this 27th book wasn’t her best, it still worked for me as I adore this character. In this mystery, Sharon is coming back from her near death experience, and despite undergoing lengthy and strenuous physical therapy is determined to be the investigator she was before the shooting.

I may be cheating a little but I'm adding these as I'm sure they will make the cut. I'm now reading them and so far both are excellent and I haven't heard anything that might contradict that thought:

THE DISTANT HOURS by Kate Morton. Anyone raised on Victoria Holt (like I was) will run (not walk) to find this dark and creepy Gothic novel about long hidden secrets between enigmatic sisters who live in a moldering English castle. Morton is a terrific author and her first book THE HOUSE AT RIVERTON appeared on last year’s best of the year list. I recommend any book by this author for your winter reading pleasure.

JUST KIDS by Patti Smith. I was never into Patti Smith (and still can’t comprehend her music) but I can't stop reading this raw and emotional memoir of her time with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe during the 1970s. This won the National Book Award for 2010.

Comments

[LV Monogram Canvas]

PO PO PO PO.....YOU ARE MY FIRE....BELIEVE WHAT I SAID....

['Beverley Knox]

Thanks Robin for your interesting list if books. Where to start? Do you note which books are available in paper back? Our book
club prefers to read books that are available in Paper back. Bev