In a recent obituary of a Utah woman, she was lauded as a reader of books. Not just a few books. In her past 11 years, she had read 1,745, including 123 in 2021, and had listed another 1,175 she planned on reading which, according to the obituary, “probably frustrated her to leave such a list unread.”

I cannot compete with her, but I did read 63 books in the past year and, as usual, I am noting my favorites. (I know that 10% of the people read 85% of the books, so this is for that 10% – and anyone else who has a dusty library card or appreciates a visit to the bookstore.)

My favorite genre is mystery/suspense, and some of the best authors are those unnoticed or uncelebrated.

“We Begin at the End” (Chris Whitaker) is a heartwarming, yet suspenseful tale of a sheriff, his friend charged with murder, and his relationship with the children of a drug-addicted woman. The best ending of anything I read last year!

For a delightful whodunit filled with humor, read “The Thursday Murder Club,” the first of two by British author Richard Osman.  The antics of the four amateur sleuths – elderly residents of a retirement home – is pure joy;  “Snow” (John Banville) wowed critics who praised him for a modern look at the Agatha Christie mystery tradition; the latest book by Anthony Horowitz (“A Line to Kill”) places him at the top of the mystery game; and any of the mysteries in Amish country by Linda Castillo are worth reading.

Some of the best mystery thrillers, however, are coming from European authors. I recommend “Flowers Over the Inferno” (Ilaria Tuti) whose Italian female detective suffers from dementia; Stuart Neville (“Those We Left Behind”) with a no-nonsense Irish inspector; anything by Hakan Nesser, a Swedish writer who features a snappish and unsentimental detective; Katrine Engberg (“The Tenant” and “The Butterfly House”), a remarkable writer from Denmark; and any of the 14 novels by Naples, Italy author Maurizio de Giovanni.

Among my favorite non-mystery novels of the past year was “The Absolutist,” John Boyne’s novel of a conscientious objector in World War I; “The Plot” (Jean Korelitz), an intriguing puzzle about an English professor who puts his name on a deceased student’s manuscript; and “Oh William,” the sequel to “My Name is Lucy Barton” by Elizabeth Strout.  (Note, Strout is masterful with feelings and characters, not heavy plots.)

My recommended non-fiction books this year are “Sleepers” (Lorenzo Carcaterra), originally published in 1995, the author’s retelling of his horrors in a juvenile detention center run by brutal guards; “The Ride of a Lifetime,” the autobiography of Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney Corp.; “Empire of Pain” (Patrick Keefe) detailing the greed of the family corporation connected to the opioid epidemic; and, for fans of the HBO series “The Gilded Age,” the Anderson Cooper history of his famous family (“The Vanderbilts”). 

And one more…journalist Gene Weingarten selected one day at random in “1986” and then scoured the country for events – heartbreaking, cheering, warm, odd – that occurred on the very same day.  It makes a terrific read.