Don't let anyone tell you books are getting worse. The year 2006 saw numerous high-quality books that made a literary mark. Here are my picks for the best, in no particular order:
Fiction
"The Lay of the Land," by Richard Ford. The last novel in an incredibly interesting trilogy (preceded by "The Sportswriter" and "Independence Day") is an eloquent, character-driven story of an everyman who suffers from many of life's roadblocks, including divorce and cancer. The dialogue and inventive writing make Ford one of the great writers of our modern day.
"The Emperor's Children," by Clair Messud. This is set in 2001, and the fall of the twin towers was waiting to play a climactic role in the complicated lives of privileged students and then-graduates of the elite Brown University. The reader will glean much about human nature.
"The Willow Field,"by William Kittredge. William Kittredge, a talented teacher and writer of creative fiction, produces his first novel — capturing the American West of the 20th century through rebellious Rossie Benasco, who falls in love, then farms, raises a family and runs for governor.
"Forgetfulness,"by Ward Just. A novel of deep nuance and suspense that makes a profound statement about revenge and the capacity to forgive, as an American expatriate and occasional spy living in the south of France loses his French wife. Ward Just has surpassed even himself in powerful, moving writing.
"A Woman in Jerusalem,"by A.N. Yehoshua, translated from the Hebrew by Hillel Halkin. The beautiful woman in the story is a victim of a suicide bombing at a Jerusalem market, and the human-resources manager at her place of employment is appointed to investigate, with funny and touching results.
"By a Slow River,"by Philippe Claudel, translated from the French by Hoyt Rogers. This delectable little book is a whodunit as well a distinctive description of the lives and deaths of ordinary people in a French village near the front during World War I.
"Terrorist,"by John Updike. The two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner successfully turns his attention to terrorism in this highly unusual look at an intense young man, Ahmad Mulloy. Under Updike's practiced hand, the young man is a sympathetic character even as he becomes critical of the American "hedonistic" life style.
"A Million Nightingales,"by Susan Straight. Using the historical record with meticulous care, Susan Straight creates a masterful novel about the fictional daughter of an African mother and a white father she didn't know, who grows up in 19th century Louisiana and is abruptly sold into slavery at age 14.
"Making the Ghost Dance,"by David Kranes. Drawing on his youth, the retired University of Utah English professor, tells the story of a doctor-father who brings his son a silk handkerchief, a wooden egg, a red bag, a black stick and a deck of cards — and it changes his life. The dialogue is smart and the story is a little masterpiece.
"Slow Man," by J.M. Coetzee. A Nobel Prize-winner and perhaps South Africa's finest writer, Coetzee has produced his 17th novel, a rich look at age, loss and love. It concentrates on a reclusive, divorced photographer of 60 who rides a bicycle until hit by a car. He loses a leg, falls into a deep depression and slowly responds to his environment.
Non-fiction
"The Man Time Forgot: A Tale of Genius, Betrayal and the Creation of Time Magazine,"by Isaiah Wilner. Briton Hadden, a name most people have not heard, conceived the idea for Time Magazine, even though Henry Luce, the co-founder, took all the credit after Hadden died of a mysterious illness at the age of 31. This is solid history.
"The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher,"by Debby Applegate. Beecher, brother to the more famous Harriet Beecher Stowe, was a powerful, intellectual minister who preached a gospel of unconditional love — until he was caught in the vise of an 1872 sex scandal that destroyed his image.
"Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War,"by Nathaniel Philbrick. Incredibly, this is the first convincing history of the Mayflower and its storied Pilgrim inhabitants as they became early settlers of America in Plymouth, Mass. No longer caught in myth, the Pilgrims jump off the pages of this lively history.
"A Rascal by Nature, A Christian by Yearning," by Levi Peterson. This monumentally candid, well-written autobiography by the best novelist yet produced by the Mormon culture is marvelous reading. It is big-hearted, funny, tragic and truthful as Peterson depicts himself as anxiety-ridden.
"Arthur and George," by Julian Barnes. The stars of this historical novel are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and George Edaljiv. Most people know the name of the creator of Sherlock Holmes, but few have heard of the quiet lawyer who was wrongfully convicted of mutilating farm animals in 1903 in England. Doyle came to his rescue.
"At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68,"by Taylor Branch. The third and final volume in the historical trilogy on Martin Luther King's America, this huge book is a masterpiece. Sticking close to historical evidence, Branch uses lyrical writing to tell an amazing story about America's 20th century civil-rights struggle.
"An Inconvenient Truth,"by Al Gore. Although Al Gore both won and lost the presidential election of 2000, eventually decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, he has stayed in the public eye fighting to protect the global environment. This book (also a film) is written with surprising clarity.
"A Strong West Wind: A Memoir,"by Gail Caldwell. This book tells of a little girl who grew up in the Texas Panhandle and went on to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for the Boston Globe. Even if you've never heard of the author, you will be sustained by beautiful writing.
"Making It Up,"by Penelope Lively. The highly sophisticated and creative British author of 16 critically acclaimed novels, writes the antithesis of a memoir, in which she focuses on the imaginary "alternatives" in her own life: "What if I had taken a different road?"
"Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China,"by John Pomfret. You can learn the social and political history of China from Mao's reign to the current regime in this book by a Washington Post writer who used to be an exchange student, using the lens provided by five of his original classmates at Nanjing University.
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com