The 10 Best Books of 2006

Fiction:
1) ABSURDISTAN By Gary Shteyngart. "Absurdistan" introduces Misha Vainberg, the rap-music-obsessed, grossly overweight son of the 1,238th richest man in Russia. After attending college in the United States, he is now stuck in St. Petersburg, scrambling for an American visa that may never arrive. Caught between worlds, and mired in his own prejudices and thwarted desires, Vainberg just may be an antihero for our times. **I recommend**

2) THE COLLECTED STORIES OF AMY HEMPEL Scribner.
The title speaks for itself.

3) THE EMPEROR'S CHILDREN By Claire Messud.

4) THE LAY OF THE LAND By Richard Ford.

5) SPECIAL TOPICS IN CALAMITY PHYSICS By Marisha Pessl.

Nonfiction:
6) FALLING THROUGH THE EARTHA Memoir.
By Danielle Trussoni.

7) THE LOOMING TOWERAl-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11.
By Lawrence Wright. Alfred A. Knopf.

8) MAYFLOWERA Story of Courage, Community, and War.
By Nathaniel Philbrick.

9) THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA A Natural History of Four Meals.
By Michael Pollan. **I recommend**

10) THE PLACES IN BETWEEN By Rory Stewart.
**I recommend**