Best Small Press Books: Matt Bell’s How They Were Found, Lindsay Hunter’s Daddy’s, Patrick Somerville’s The Universe in Miniature in Miniature, Ben Mirov’s Ghost Machine, and Lily Hoang’s Evolutionary Revolution, Xiaoda Xiao’s The Visiting Suit, Jeff Parker’s The Taste of Penny, and Jim Shepard’s Master of Miniatures.
Best Books That Would Probably be on The Above List Except That I Haven’t Read/Finished Them Yet: Rachel B. Glaser’s Pee on Water, Ethel Rohan’s Cut to the Bone, Eugene Marten’s Firework, Paula Bomer’s Baby, Amelia Gray’s Museum of Weird.
Best Big Press Fiction: China Mieville’s Kraken, Paul Murray’s Skippy Dies, Charles Yu’s How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe.
Best Chapbook: xTx’s He is Talking to the Fat Lady, Matt Salesses’s Our Island of Epidemics, Aaron Burch’s How to Take Yourself Apart, How to Make Yourself Anew.
Best Translated Work: Mo Yan’s Change, translated by Howard Goldblatt.
Best Non-Fiction: Keith Richards’ Life, B.R. Myers’ The Cleanest Race, Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, Peter Hessler’s Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory, and Deborah Blum’s The Poisoner’s Handbook.
Best Poetry (I know all of these did not come out in 2010, but close enough and I read them this year): Natalie Lyalin’s Pink & Hot Pink Habitat, Ana Bozecevic’s Stars of the Night Commute, Mike Young’s We Are All Good if They Try Hard Enough.
Books I’m Looking Forward to Most in 2011/2012: Blake Butler’s There is No Year, Steve Himmer’s Bee-Loud Glade, Seth Fried’s The Great Frustration, Roxane Gay’s Ayiti, Matt Kirkpatrick’s Light without Heat, A.D. Jameson’s Amazing Adult Fantasy.
Writers that Need Books Now (Agents, Publishers?): Robert Kloss, Anne Valente, Salvatore Pane, Kirsty Logan, Alan Stewart Carl, Lauren Becker, Erin Fitzgerald, and Tim Jones-Yelvington.
Writers that Consistently Hurt/Massage My Brain Tissue (in the best way): Andy Devine, Christopher Higgs, and Ander Monson.
Best Discovery this Year that Everyone Else in the World Already Knew About: Aese Berg.
Most Deserved Attention for Stellar Debut: Laura Van den Berg.
Best Indie Lit World Cheerleaders: Mel Bosworth and Christopher Newgent.
Hey, do you know why Solid Object has changed the title of Shepard’s GOJIRA? It seems to be called MASTER OF MINIATURES now.
http://www.solidobjects.org/books.html
(PS Thanks for the mention.)
Oh, weird, I don’t know why. Do you suppose people complained that the book wasn’t literally about Godzilla?
I’d add The Physics of Imaginary Objects by Tina May Hall to this list.
That’s a good one, Richard. Yes.
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Aw, shucks, Amber. Thanks for the shout out. I’m rubbish with compliments, but I’ll try to believe I’m deserving.
More than deserving. Trust me. :)
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You are awesome, Amber!
I really appreciate being included in your list, especially in the special pain/pleasure category.
Many thanks!!!
Chris
My pleasure. And my brain thanks you right back!
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You are the one we want a book from. And if I can Ally Sheedyize you, “You can make book on that Missy.”
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Ha! I’ll do my very best to oblige. And you can absolutely Ally Sheedyize me, anytime.
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Thanks for the generous mention, Amber! I’m humbled.
Of course! Your book was absolutely fantastic. It really floored me.
Thanks for the mention, Amber. Totally think the world needs a book from you. May 2011 bring just that.
Jim Shepard’s “Master of Miniatures” should be on everyone’s list regardless of press size. This is a beautifully written and haunting work, elegantly presented by Solid Objects.