Ann Patchett's Top 10Like this list

10 items

1. 1. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

   Fowler, Karen Joy

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   Patchett discovered the galley while spending the night at Barbara Kingsolver's house, as Kingsolver was preparing to write about it in the New York Times Book Review (http://nyti.ms/15zflKb).

2. 2. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

   a Novel

   Marra, Anthony

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   'The book of the year for me,' in spite of its challenging subject matter (the war in Chechnya).

3. 3. Claire of the Sea Light

   Danticat, Edwidge

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   Patchett calls this collection of 'more-than-linked stories' 'tiny and brilliant.'

4. 4. Where'd You Go, Bernadette

   a Novel

   Semple, Maria

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   Patchett resisted at first because it did not appear to be her kind of book ('hard and ponderous with a little edge of boring'). Now considers it a 'universal donor' book, with something for every taste. Apparently, it was also James Patterson's…Read moreRead more of this annotation

5. 5. A Day at the Beach

   Recollections

   Wolff, Geoffrey, 1937-

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   To be reissued this November in time for Patchett to promote it on her next book tour. She called this one 'the best collection of essays of all time.' Geoffrey Wolff is Tobias Wolff's brother.

6. 6. The All of It

   Haien, Jeannette

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   Reissued with an introduction by Patchett so she could promote it on her State of Wonder book tour in 2011. Now a bestseller at Parnassus Books in Nashville, the store Patchett cofounded.

7. 7. Old Filth

   Gardam, Jane

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   Patchett said, quite simply, 'there's just nothing better.' Recommended the two sequels, too.

8. 8. The Casual Vacancy

   Rowling, J. K.

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   Patchett believes this would have been 'the great book of the year if it had had anyone else's name on it.' She knows that a lot of people gave up on it after it got bad reviews, and many more give up after the slow first 50 pages...but she swore…Read moreRead more of this annotation

9. 9. The Patrick Melrose Novels

   St. Aubyn, Edward, 1960-

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   So vivid that 'it's a little bit like sticking your hand in a toaster, but in a really good way.' Patchett read all five 'practically in one sitting.'

10. 10. The Goldfinch

    Tartt, Donna

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    Tartt is a good friend of Patchett's, and yet Patchett had to beg to read a draft of this long-awaited third novel. She said it was well worth both the wait and the begging.