1. Censoring an Iranian Love Story by Shahriar Mandanipour. Mandanipour’s debut work of English-translated fiction (his stories are normally written in Farsi) explores censorship in Iran in the midst of a unique and heart warming love story. Mandanipour’s main characters struggle to begin a relationship in the midst of literary and love censorship, a conflict literally written into the novel.

2. Upgraded to Serious by Heather McHugh. Not a poet for the super-casual consumer of verse, Heather McHugh has become even less so in her newest collection. Her poems are playful and enjoyable to read, but chock full of material and often difficult to wade through. With a new preoccupation with death, Upgraded to Serious is even more intimidating, yet still fun.

3. The Good Soldiers by David Finkel. Finkel’s work tells the story of young soldiers in Iraq during the height of the surge. The author’s political bias comes through in some of the more reflective moments, but the book is mostly a heart-wrenching account of young men living as best as they can through a terrifying situation.

4. Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem. New York City chronicler Jonathan Lethem returns to his favorite venue in his eighth novel: N.Y.C., yet one presented as an alternative reality. The re-imagined quirks of the city are continually amusing (an escaped tiger roams the city; The New York Times offers a ‘war-free’ issue), even as former child star narrator Chase Insteadman searches for something profound.

5. Logicomix by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou. Logicomix is easily the top graphic novel of the year, and though I feign to expertise on the subject, probably one of the best of the decade. The novel spans sixty years of the quest for truth in mathematics. Is mathematic order a human invention or a divine creation? The characters come to life in picture, and philosophy and accessibility have a rare encounter.

Read the article on the Cornell Daily Sun website.