The Rail's Best Books of 2017

In times of terror and turmoil and change, our stories tell us more about ourselves than policies or presidents or predators—our stories tell us how we endured those moments, those figures, those monsters. 

Of all the story forms the most political is literature. For it travels in the stealthiest of vessels: books. Unlike screens and stages, the human imagination, once word-encountered, never again reads a sentence the same way twice. Repeated readings become recursive events, subversive actions that deepen or even change meaning. Books offer us the alchemy of infinite interpretation.

So this year particularly, 2017, a year of policies, presidents, and predators, I celebrate words and their many stealthy vessels. Far, far, far too many to be reduced to a top 5. I chose my top 25 of the three main genres: poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. I chose books from small, independent presses, those houses we so desperately need and are so lucky to have. I chose from lesser-known authors, in some cases, the untweeted-about, the unawarded, the uncelebrated, the unincluded, the unagented. I chose novellas and chapbooks and limited runs from presses that may not be here next year. I chose those books from this past year that, in my opinion, best teach us how we will live, how we will love, how we will struggle, how we will endure.

They are listed in alphabetical order, and those I was able to assign for coverage in The Brooklyn Rail I have linked. The others I offer to you to search out for yourself, to purchase, to read, to support, to share.

Best 25 POETRY Books of 2017

1. ADVANCES IN EMBROIDERY: Poems, with Translations from Mahmoud Darwish, By Ahmad Al-Ashqar 
2. CALLING A WOLF A WOLF, Kaveh Akbar
3. BYE-BYE LAND, By: Christian Barter
4. BEFORE THE DROUGHT, by Margo Berdeshevsky
5. HALF-LIGHT: Collected Poems 1965–2016, by Frank Bidart
6. LET'S NOT LIVE ON EARTH, by Sarah Blake
7. SECOND NATURE, by Patricia L. Carlin
8. BARBIE CHANG, by Victoria Chang
9. WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE A LIST OF FURTHER POSSIBILITIES, by Chen Chen
10. BONE, by Yrsa Daley-Ward
11. TROPHIC CASCADE, by Camille T. Dungy.
12. THE JANUARY CHILDREN, by Safia Elhillo
13. GATES & FIELDS, by Jennifer Firestone
14. SKY COUNTRY, by: Christine Kitano
15. I AM FLYING INTO MYSELF: Selected Poems: 1960–2014, by Bill Knott, ed. Thomas Lux
16. THESE DAYS OF CANDY, by Manuel Paul Lopez
17. IN THE LANGUAGE OF MY CAPTOR, Shane McCrae
18. DEVOTIONS: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver, by Mary Oliver
19. THERE ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THINGS THAN BEYONCE, by Morgan Parker
20. ON IMAGINATION (Quarternote Chapbook Series), by Mary Ruefle
21. LESSONS ON EXPULSION, by Erika L. Sánchez
22. DON'T CALL US DEAD, by Danez Smith
23. THE TREMBLING ANSWERS, Craig Morgan Teicher
24. AFTERLAND, by Mai Der Vang
25. WHERE THE TIME GOES, by Gale Renee Walden

Best 25 NONFICTION Books of 2017

1. CHINA LAKE: A Journey into the Contradicted Heart of a Global Climate Catastrophe, by Barret Baumgart
2. THE BEST WE COULD DO: An Illustrated Memoir, By Thi Bui
3. CORNELL '77: The Music, the Myth, and the Magnificence of the Grateful Dead’s Concert at Barton Hall, by Peter Conners
4. JE SUIS L'AUTRE: Essays & Interrogations, by Kristina Marie Darling
5. WHY I'M NO LONGER TALKING TO WHITE PEOPLE ABOUT RACE, By Reni Eddo-Lodge
6. THE DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT LAKES, by Dan Egan
7. THE DOUBLES, by Scott Esposito
8. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR: Why Writing Well Matters, by Harold Evans
9. ABANDON ME, by Melissa Febos
10. WORLD WITHOUT MIND: The Existential Threat Of Big Tech, By Franklin Foer
11. SHIRLEY JACKSON: A Rather Haunted Life, by Ruth Franklin
12. HUNGER, by Roxane Gay
13. SUNSHINE STATE: Essays, By Sarah Gerard
14. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: The Osage Murders And The Birth Of The FBI, By David Grann
15. KNOWING KNOTT: Essays on an American Poet, Steve Huff Ed.
16. QUESTION LIKE A FACE, by Christine Hume and Jeff Clark
17. LITERARY WITCHES: A Celebration Of Magical Women Writers, By Taisia Kitaiskaia, illustrated by Katy Horan
18. AFTER KATHY ACKER, by Chris Kraus
19. TELL ME HOW IT ENDS: An Essay In 40 Questions, By Valeria Luiselli
20. DRAFT NO. 4: On The Writing Process, By John McPhee
21. AFTER THE ECLIPSE: A Mother's Murder, a Daughter's Search, by Sarah Perry
22. THE MOTHER OF ALL QUESTIONS, By Rebecca Solnit
23. THE BLOOD OF EMMETT TILL, By Timothy B. Tyson
24. AMONG THE LIVING AND THE DEAD, by Inara Verzemnieks
25. THE SHOW THAT NEVER ENDS: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock, by David Weigel

Best 25 FICTION books of 2017

1. THE POWER, Naomi Alderman
2. THE HUNGER SAINT: A Novella, by Olivia Kate Cerrone
3. SO MANY OLYMPIC EXERTIONS, Anelise Chen
4. AMERICAN WAR: A Novel, By Omar El Akkad
5. FUTURE HOME OF THE LIVING GOD: A Novel, by Louise Erdrich
6. THE GYPSY MOTH SUMMER: A Novel, byJulia Fierro
7. THE ILIAC CREST, by Cristina Rivera Garza
8. THE EPIPHANY MACHINE: A Novel, by David Burr Gerrard
9.  THE GARGOYLE HUNTERS, by John Freeman Gill
10. BAD DREAMS AND OTHER STORIES, by Tessa Hadley
11. EXIT WEST, by Mohsin Hamid
12. A SEPARATION, by Katie Kitamura
13. THE LEAVERS, by Lisa Ko
14. STRANGER, FATHER, BELOVED, by Taylor Larsen
15. PACHINKO, by Min Jin Lee
16. DEAR CYBORGS, by Eugene Lim
17. HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES: Stories, by Carmen Maria Machado
18. THE NINTH HOUR: A Novel, by Alice McDermott
19. MY HEART HEMMED IN, by Marie NDiaye
20. LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE, by Celeste Ng
21. THE STANDARD GRAND, by Jay Baron Nicorvo
22. HERITAGE OF SMOKE, by Josip Novakovich
23. REFRIGERATED MUSIC FOR A GLEAMING WOMAN, by Aimee Parkison
24. WAIT TILL YOU SEE ME DANCE, by Deb Olin Unferth
25. SOUR HEART: Stories, by Jenny Zhang