Mindel's Top 10 Pick from 2013 for Your Kindle

This year I made an effort to include more Non-Fiction (N/F) in my reading and was greatly rewarded.  I have a compiled a list of my favorite reads from 2013 which include novels, N/F & short story collections.  A surprising number of N/F have made it on my list.  The top 10 picks are in alphabetical order by title.  Happy reading in the new year.

Billy Lynn's Long Half-time Walk - Ben Fountain - Fiction
Devil in the Grove, Thurgood Marshall and the Groveland Boys - Gilbert King - N/F
Flight Behavior - Barbara Kingsolver - Fiction
Letters to an Incarcerated Brother - Hill Harper - N/F
Lone Survivor - Marcus Luttrel - N/F
The Orphan Master's Son - Adam Johnson - Fiction
The Roundhouse - Louise Eldrich
The Yellow Birds - Kevin Powers - Fiction
This Will be Difficult to Explain - Johanna Skibsrud - Short stories
Trans Atlantic - Colum McCann - Fiction
We are All Completely Besides Ourselves - Karen Fowler - Fiction

If you count an extra pick to my list - be grateful.

Shine Shine Shine by L. Netzer is Glowing

Lydia Netzer's "Shine" was a NYT's Notable Book ('12) & shortlisted for the LA Times Prize for fiction.  Her illuminating novel on what it means to be human just falls short of being infallible.  Precisely what Netzer is telling the reader:  humans are flawed.  Being imperfect is what makes us devine.  The comparisons between man & robots are listed by Maxon Mann*, a genius mathematician & designer of robots with omnipotent capabilities.  Mann (*humans) possess the capacity for love, regret & forgiveness.  Therein lies crucial differences.  Robots can be programmed to make survival sustainable outside of earth's gravity.  However, survival & living are divergent.  Living entails irrational behaviors;  laughter, rage, preference & tolerance.  These are celestial characteristics as inherent to our existence as breathing.  There is a stirring love story between Maxon & Sunny two incredible & unique individuals who grow up together.  It is also a tale of the powerful, unqualified love between a mother & her child.  "Shine Shine Shine" is a glimmering examination of the family structure integral to civilization and what it means to be quintessentially human.  Be sure to put "Shine Shine Shine" in your orbit.  It zooms zooms zooms.

HILL HARPER's Letters to an Incarcerated Brother, HOPE & HUMANITY

"Losing My Cool" is T.C. Williams book which credits the safety net of caring parental support for a successful & meaningful life.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of Williams' friends did not have meaningful assistance.  The majority of his peers have become incarcerated or deceased.  In Hill's "Letters..." he takes us on a 5 year journey with a 16 yr. old inmate, Brian, that is both exhausting and miraculously transforming.  Hill's ongoing  correspondence & connection to Brian, imprisoned for drug possession abounds with torment, desire & healing.  Brian, father to a young boy is serving a minimum 5 year sentence for drug possession.  While imprisoned, Brian reaches out to Hill in a letter with hopes of hearing back.  "Letters..." is an affirmation of humanity, tenacity and redemption.  The reader is privy to on-going letters & communications between these two men and the bond of trust & brotherhood that developed.  Also included are letters from others Hill passes on to Brian and inspirational quotes.  However, this is NOT a preachy, cheesy tale of heroics or adversity.   It is an exercise in learning to give respect and earn respect. Reading this book is a humbling experience.  Caring is being there no matter what, with the understanding each individual is accountable for themselves.  Hill & Brian build a kinship that enriches their lives and inspires the humanity in all of us.  "The ability to forgive and the ability to love are the weapons...to live fully, bravely and meaningfully in a less than perfect world." (H. Kushner)