10 Great Reads
It was a year for memoirs—and some fine fiction

•A Widow's Walk
by Marian Fontana
A playwright, comedian, mother and gifted storyteller, Fontana wrote a poignant, beautifully observed memoir about her life after her husband, New York City firefighter Dave Fontana, died in the World Trade Center's South Tower on September 11, 2001.

•The Year of Magical Thinking
by Joan Didion
Her anguished chronicle of the months following her husband's death won a National Book Award—and is Broadway-bound.

•Beasts of No Nation
by Uzodinma Iweala
Straightforward storytelling underscores the drama of this dazzling first novel about a boy soldier in West Africa.

•The Glass Castle
by Jeannette Walls
Any memoir that starts with its author finding her homeless mom raiding a Dumpster gets our vote. Beautifully written, too.

•On Beauty
by Zadie Smith
The author of White Teeth delivers a smartly paced tale about race, star-crossed lovers and a family feud in academia.

•The Lincoln Lawyer
by Michael Connelly
Crave a sophisticated page-turner? Connelly has conjured up a true-to-life courthouse thriller with an intricately woven plot that will tempt you to pull an all-nighter.

•The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell
by John Crawford
A National Guardsman and college senior when he was sent to Iraq, Crawford offers a chilling view of the war that blasted his life apart.

•Saturday
by Ian McEwan
It lacks the breadth and brilliance of 2001's Atonement—but that's quibbling. The story of a minor accident that nearly derails a complacent neurosurgeon's life, McEwan's ninth novel is a tour de force.

•The Myth of You and Me
by Leah Stewart
This second novel is the resonant story of a broken friendship. Interesting twists and fine writing.

•It's All Right Now
by Charles Chadwick
A remarkable first novel from a 72-year-old British civil servant, it's about a chatty anyman with a fascinating mundane life.

More From This Article

Celeb Memoirs: the Year They Told All!
Wife-beating, weight-gaining, sickness, group sex—stars went public on plenty in 2005's bumper crop of memoirs. Among the bigger revelations:

MY LIFE SO FAR by Jane Fonda First husband Roger Vadim (with her in '69, above) was partial to threesomes in the bedroom.

JOHN by Cynthia Lennon He once hit her in a jealous rage, writes Lennon's first wife, and didn't apologize for three months.

HOW TO LOSE YOUR ASS AND REGAIN YOUR LIFE by Kirstie Alley What helped set the formerly fat actress on the road to obesity? Grieving after a 1990 miscarriage.

LIFE IS NOT A FAIRY TALE by Fantasia Barrino Though she recognizes common words, the American Idol star is functionally illiterate—and determined to learn to read.

SPEEDBUMPS by Teri Garr Her multiple sclerosis went undiagnosed for 20 years. Juicier scoop: She once took a hammer to the windows of a cheating beau's house.

DOWN CAME THE RAIN by Brooke Shields In the grips of postpartum depression, she had visions of her daughter Rowan being thrown against a wall.

A LOTUS GROWS IN THE MUD by Goldie Hawn She was molested as a young girl, but understood it wasn't her fault and didn't suffer lasting harm.

TAB HUNTER CONFIDENTIAL by Tab Hunter The '50s heartthrob is gay and had a long affair with Tony Perkins.