Some of my other favorites...
Politically Incorrect
The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver (2016)
I read this just before the election. Like Glory O'Brien, it's looking strangely prophetic. Say what you will about Shriver's indictment of identity politics, but I class her with Philip Roth or Alan Warner for pure virtuoso talent. She nailed the "pull-the-ladders-up-after-ourselves" ethos informing my own generation.
The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang (2016)
Another economic novel, this one about the over-confidence of an immigrant Chinese cosmetics tycoon fallen on hard times and his children and the navigate life on the skids.
The Sellout by Paul Beatty (2016)
It made me gasp and laugh and tear up, in quick succession, its irreverence a delight, and Beatty's unchecked ping-ponging between esoteric associations is a joy to behold.
Not that I didn't enjoy the Joanna Trollope and Curtis Sittenfeld (Eligible) efforts, but Charlotte Bronte is relatively unmined, and the Korean-American take it irresistible. This one was an Alex title.
Thrillers
If there is one genre I know inside and out, it's women's fiction. And I love, love, love the decidedly creepy tone of the minute. While 2016 will forever be The Year I Discovered Sophie Hannah, and not from those Agatha Christie sequels of late, there are quite a few good thrillers in the wake of Gone Girl and Girl on a Train. I myself can't wait for a revival of the gothic. See also Ruth Ware.
The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood (2014)
A thriller set in the worst sort of rooming house, where streetwise three women nonetheless come together and form their own sort of family. I've read all the Marwood this year, but this is my favorite.
Girl in the Dark by Marion Pauw (2016)
Translated from the Dutch. Our protagonist discovers she has an older brother she has never met. Her mother is one of the most original and chillingly drawn character I've ever encountered.
What the Nanny Saw by Fiona Neill (2012)
Neill may be best known for her satire, Yummy Mummy, but this bird's-eye view of the 2008 banking crisis rivals Capital.
Nonfiction
American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Life of Teenage Girls by Nancy Jo Sales (2016)
Ethnography about the wild west that is social media.
Florence Broadhurst: Her Secret and Extraordinary Lives by Helen O'Neill (2006)
The jaw-dropping story of a flamboyant Australian textile designer whose life and murder proved stranger than fiction.
Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West (2016)
If you're a Lindy West fan, you don't need particulars.
Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea by Sungju Lee (2016)
A gripping first-person narrative about life in one of the world's most fascinating places.
Because I'm not writing about YA this time, and leaving out my Alabama authors, this year's one has more titles written specifically for adults than past years (below), if it matters. And I am scraping together another list, Best (Audio-)books of 2016, to follow soon.
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