2016 will be remembered for many reasons, one of which, I hope, will be its sheer volume of era-defining fiction. This year, novelists and short story writers confronted climate change, LGBTQ rights, American immigration, the legacy of slavery, and the populist backlash to globalization, among other pressing concerns. these authors are not interested in escapism: in the war against complacency, they are the tip of the spear. These are our favorite fiction books of 2016, including 10 published by independent publishers.
You are reading: Good fiction books to read 2016
Editor’s Note: The inclusion or absence of a book on this list has no bearing on the Chicago Review of Books Awards to be announced Thursday. only three of the 16 award judges were consulted for this summary.
Age of Blight by Kristine Ong Muslim Unnamed Press, January
age of blight was the first book I read in 2016, a perfect escape from the longest nights of the year. in electrical literature, I called it “haunting, fearless, and wildly imaginative.” In understated and deceptively simple prose, Muslim writes the kind of unpredictable stories you’ll want to reread the second you’re done. it is a difficult book to classify; it is literary ‘horror’, ‘science fiction’, but more than anything, the age of ruin acts as a merciless look in the mirror. —adam morgan
The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni Counterpoint, January
from our chicago book review: “when miranda, a nature photographer, arrives for a year-long stint to capture local wildlife, she’s struck by the surreal nature of the place. “i’m half convinced that the islands aren’t rooted at all,” he says, “but i move every time i turn my back, taking new positions elsewhere.” natural horror and beyond. for the first hundred pages, geni is content to build tension and atmosphere through raw, distilled prose, forgoing any direct attempt to push the plot forward. And then, the violence. In the end, geni’s transcendent novel is as ruthless, strange, and coldly beautiful as the islands it depicts.”— adam morgan
What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell Farrar, Straus and Giroux, January
If there’s one book I’m most disappointed in that Chicago Review of Books couldn’t cover this year, it’s Garth Greenwell’s devastating first novel (we released it a few weeks after publication). Fortunately, many other publications have given what belongs to it the praise it deserves, including comparisons to Mann and Nabokov. Not every writer can pull off long, architectural sentences that snuggle into each other like Russian dolls, but Greenwell isn’t for every writer. I can’t wait to see what he does next. —adam morgan
A Collapse of Horses by Brian Evenson Coffee House Press, February
from our book review chicago review: “unanswered questions and unforgettable images are at the heart of every brian evenson story. if you haven’t read any of his fiction yet, you need to get your act together… his prose is unmistakable, often exploring the darker side of humanity’s subjective and easily confused condition… a horse breakdown, is another volume fascinating and ruthless bizarre fiction. Like the historical fugue state collection of hers, the stories sometimes feel like a sudden attack of schizophrenia.” —adam morgan
Septimania by Jonathan Levi Overlook Press, April
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7th mania shocked me. “Jonathan Levi’s first novel since 1992 is a guide for the perplexed that won me over in chapter one,” I said in April. “thanks to a fateful meeting in st. George’s Church, Whistler Abbey In 1978, a young student of Cambridge history discovers that he is the heir to a secret kingdom with the power to select popes, influence international affairs, and a vast library hidden beneath the hills of Rome. Intellectually fascinating and emotionally powerful, the story that follows is a moving meditation on youth, love, myth, history and quantum theory.” —adam morgan
Over the Plain Houses by Julia Franks Hub City Press, May
This South Carolina small-press gem is filled with some of the most beautiful prose I’ve read this year, and is without a doubt one of the most mature and confident debut novels of the century so far. It’s Like The Witch Meets Ron Rash: A beautiful and creepy southern gothic tale set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina at the end of the Great Depression. the sense of place is visceral, the characterization is masterful, and one can only hope franks has another novel (or twelve) within it. —adam morgan
Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer Tor Books, May
Science fiction written in the vernacular of illustration? Sign me up. in the words of our own sara cutaia: “like lightning, it simultaneously dips its toes into the past and soars into the future, bathing in the imaginative possibilities of technology and society, revealing how even the smallest changes can destabilize a utopia. Full of historical and classical allusions, Palmer’s political and social commentary is as astute as one would expect from a scholar. at times his prose can be overwhelming, but the reward, a host of fascinating insights, makes the book worth the discipline required to finish it.” —adam morgan
The Mirror Thief by Martin Seay Melville House, May
three different venices. three different time periods. 600 pages. Martin Seay’s debut novel is the weirdest, most ambitious thing I’ve read this year. It shouldn’t work, but it does. For every 50 pages, I spent at least an hour on Wikipedia in a desperate attempt to keep up with Seay’s intellect. I failed, of course, but I came away from the book feeling like I had actually experienced something. —adam morgan
Some Possible Solutions by Helen Phillips Henry Holt, May
It’s hard to categorize some possible solutions, but I guess “speculative fiction” will do. Even that term isn’t entirely correct, because these strange stories about falling in love, knowing the future, and mourning the death of the earth are as deeply rooted in our own world as the imaginary ones that Phillips has created. Alluring and beautiful, this collection balances the strange with feelings of pain and hope to form one of the most compassionate reads of the year. —amy brady
You May See a Stranger by Paula Whyman Northwestern University Press, May
Many excellent collections of short stories have been published this year, but my favorite continues to be Paula Whyman’s You May See a Stranger. The ten interconnected stories focus on the life of the protagonist, Miranda Weber, and follow her through a range of emotions and experiences from adolescence to the brink of menopause. Miranda recounts racial tension, the fate of her disabled sister, crime and terror in D.C., marriage, and the terrors of raising a teenage daughter. whyman is a strong writer and her novel is shrewd, moving and, despite the darker moments, full of humor. Whyman’s writing has drawn comparisons to Lorrie Moore for being a serious writer who’s also funny, but her debut book marks her as a unique new voice in fiction. —raquel lion
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Knopf, June
Even the premise of yaa gyasi’s debut novel sounds ambitious; homegoing is the 300-year family journey of a Ghanaian family, beginning with two sisters whose lives veer in very different directions. one marries an Englishman and the other is sold into slavery. the structure of the novel will inevitably frustrate some readers (the chapters alternate between the sisters and their descendants and offer only a snapshot of their lives), but it is the structure that makes this novel an achievement. gyasi makes unconventional structure work with compelling stories featuring characters who are so unforgettable it’s hard not to remember them as the story moves on to the next generation. homegoing is a clever examination of culture and family, time and destiny. —raquel lion
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heartthrob by maryse meijer farrar, straus and giroux, july
In her dark, violent and heartbreaking collection of debut stories, Maryse Meijer cuts through the mundane and the taboo with the sharpest of knives. she fearlessly writes about love and family, fear and violence, the fantastical and the gothic. These 13 stories, written with conviction and urgency, offer a fresh look at every kind of person: obese, deranged, savage, cruel, deformed, and obsessed, all on paths to self-destruction. Meijer’s prose is both limitless in its scope and uncomplicated in its ease. With honest and brittle characters, Heartbreaker is a unique and powerful look at the broken and those still struggling. When hidden demons come to light, you’ll be surprised to discover that they look a lot like you. —sara cutaia
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Doubleday, August
I know… this book is already the most celebrated of 2016 and doesn’t need any more help from me. but it really deserves all the praise, and not enough attention has been paid to the speculative nature of the novel, not only the literal underground railway, but also an alternate history version of the south, where skyscrapers tower over south carolina. As Aaron Coates said earlier this year, “From forced sterilization and secret syphilis trials to the exposure of today’s police brutality against Black people, Whitehead seamlessly links the past with the present, turning history into a visceral experience. that cannot be ignored.” —adam morgan
Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton Random House, August
“The end of the world seems so imminent these days,” Sara Cutaia said in August. “In book after book, authors imagine exactly how it might happen, but Lily Brooks-Dalton is less concerned with cause than with effect. Her new novel, Good Morning Midnight, examines the depth of humanity and the inner reflection one can experience when faced with the “end.” returning from a space expedition to jupiter. Brooks-Dalton switches between the two narratives, expanding and flexing her literary prowess by depicting both scenarios in beautifully intimate prose, exploring just how expansive human resilience can be.” —adam morgan
A Tree or a Person or a Wall by Matt Bell Soho Press, September
the last time matt bell published a book with a rather long compound title (in the house on the land between the lake and the forest) i was blown away, and this collection of his short fiction (a tree or a person or a wall) was no different. The title story, about a boy held captive in a dark room with an albino ape, sets the tone for Bell’s trademark brand of weirdness. all the stories are fantastic, but the others that stand out are cataclysm baby, a novel that follows twenty-six parents after an environmental disaster, and dredge, about a man who discovers the body of a dead girl and tries to locate her assassin. —adam morgan
Of This New World by Allegra Hyde University of Iowa Press, October
Allegra Hyde’s debut collection introduces us to characters from all eras and backgrounds who seem to be looking for a second chance. From the Garden of Eden to the fledgling colonies of Mars, these stories struggle to find that ideal starting point and the ultimate question about the existence of paradise. Many of the stories in this collection deal very specifically with paradises (whether in the struggle to create them or watch them fall apart), yet this new world finds its life in the hearts of those seeking redemption. Hyde never compromises in his use of language or evocation of emotion, winning his John Simmons Award for Short Fiction and claiming his rightful place as a new voice in the literary world. —sara cutaia
The Show House by Dan Lopez Unnamed Press, December
the show house is unlike anything you’ve read before. It’s easy to call it a literary thriller – it features a serial killer attacking gay men in nightclubs – but it’s so much more than that. it is a compelling examination of the relationships between spouses, siblings, and parents and children. The Show House is everything I want in a novel: smart, dark, moving, funny, well-written, and richly layered, making it one of the best books I’ve read this year. —raquel lion
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