The 2007 books we liked best: fiction
Of the fiction books reviewed in the Monitor this year, these received the top marks.
PAULA SPENCER, by Roddy Doyle (Viking, 279 pp., $24.95)
In this warm and wryly humorous sequel to "The Woman Who Walked Into Doors," Man Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle tells the story of Paula Spencer's sobriety. (Reviewed 1/2/07)
ZOLI, by Colum McCann (Random House, 352 pp., $24.95)
This drama-laced tale, based loosely on the true story of Romany poet Bronislawa "Papusza" Wajs, spans the Holocaust, the coming of the Communists, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. (1/9/07)
IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN, by Hisham Matar (Dial Press, 246 pp., $22)
This emotionally wrenching and gorgeously written novel about a young Libyan boy left alone with his mother when his dissident father disappears was shortlisted for last year's Man Booker prize. (2/6/07)
LOST CITY RADIO, by Daniel Alarcón (HarperCollins, 272 pp., $24.95)
Twenty-something Peruvian-born novelist Alarcón's first novel is a haunting, beautifully written tale of lonely lives and broken hearts set in an unnamed Latin American dictatorship. (2/13/07)
FINN,by Jon Clinch (Random House, 287 pp., $23.95)
Novelist Jon Clinch offers a cruel but compelling back story for the life of Huck Finn's Pap. (2/27/07)
THEN WE CAME TO THE END,by Joshua Ferris (Little, Brown, 387 pp., $23.99)
In this pitch-perfect office comedy, Joshua Ferris captures the angst of the pointlessly employed. (3/6/07)
HEYDAY,by Kurt Andersen (Random House, 640 pp., $26.95)
