Top Ten Favorite Reads of 2016

The year that everyone hated is over. So that means it's time to countdown my favorite reads of 2016. It was hard to narrow these down to just ten with eight honorable mentions, but I promised myself I would stick to that this time. Remember, these are books I read in 2016, not necessarily books released that year. 

10. Kanley Stubrick by Mike Kleine  

This novel was a departure for Kleine in that it's more narrative driven than his previous works. I'd say he succeeded well. He maintains his surreal style while telling an odd but compelling story about a man searching for his missing girlfriend.

Full review here.
Buy it here.

9. Mistah Kurtz! by James Reich

Reich explores one of the most mysterious characters in the English literary canon through this story. He sheds a whole light on Conrad's novel while creating an excellent one of his own.

Full review here.
Buy it here.

8. Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite  

Several authors I know list this as one of their favorite horror novels. It's easy to see why. This is a highly disturbing and emotional read. Among some of the best horror I've read myself.

Full review here.
Buy it here.

7. The Best of Joe R. Lansdale

A mixture of absurdism, horror, and Southern Gothic by an author who writes all of them equally as well.

Buy it here

6. Three Plays by D. Harlan Wilson

Wilson's foray into plays is funny, entertaining, and thought provoking. It's just as good as any fiction he's written.

Full review here.
Buy it here.

5. The Columbine Pilgrim by Andy Nowicki

This novella ranks with Selby's The Room and Thompson's The Killer Inside Me as of the best examination of a disturbed psyche I've ever read.

Full review here.
Buy it here.

4. Consensual by A.D. Hitchin 

Hitchin's exploration of perversity and misanthropy is a powerful read.

Full review here.
Buy it here.

3. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima

A disquieting and beautiful existential novel.

Buy it here.

2. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays by Albert Camus 

A highly readable essay collection on the absurdity of every day life.

Full review here.
Buy it here.
 
1. The Ego and Its Own by Max Stirner

This book is a wrecking ball through the foundations of every belief system. That's an entirely good thing It wouldn't be number one on this list if it wasn't

Full review here.
Buy it here.

Honorable Mentions

- Arafat Mountain and The Mystery of the Seventeen Pilot Fish by Mike Kleine
- Anarchism by George Woodcock
- Spiritual Instrument by M Kitchell
- In Their Arms by Thomas Moore
- Answers of Silence by Geoff Cooper
- Deathtotheworld: an interracial racist love story by HAarlem VEnison
- The Maimed by Hermann Ungar