--- title: Best Books of 2016 So Far description: As we reach the middle of 2016—and as readers pack for summer vacations—it's time to look back at some of the best books of the year so far canonical: https://time.com/4363326/best-books-2016-so-far/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-13T20:54:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:59:55.117Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Here Are the Best Books of 2016 So Far og:description: From heavy hitters to debut novelists og:url: https://time.com/4363326/best-books-2016-so-far/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here Are the Best Books of 2016 So Far twitter:description: From heavy hitters to debut novelists twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Here Are the Best Books of 2016 So Far > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 13, 2016 8:54 PM UTC by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 13, 2016 8:54 PM UTC As we reach the middle of 2016—and as readers pack their bags for summer vacations—it’s time to look back at some of the best books of the year so far, spanning novels and non-fiction. Here are some of the books published before June 1 that impressed TIME staffers the most, presented in alphabetical order. ### [_Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399588809/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0399588809&linkId=0dff9ef441c7f462dd92f358c73672f2) by Svetlana Alexievich  Random House [Nonfiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0399588809?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) The Nobel Prize-winner documents the last days of communism in the Soviet Union and the dawn of a new way of living in contemporary Russia. Through interviews with ordinary citizens, she finds the truth behind the headlines. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399588809/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0399588809&linkId=0dff9ef441c7f462dd92f358c73672f2) ### [_Sweetbitter_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101875941/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1101875941&linkId=d2eded9cbe75593fa88c25272ee32d61) by Stephanie Danler  Knopf [Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1101875941?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) A back waiter at the thinly veiled Union Square Café (where the author herself once worked) falls in love with the sensual pleasures of New York City, from oysters and champagne to cocaine and casual sex. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101875941/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1101875941&linkId=d2eded9cbe75593fa88c25272ee32d61) ### [_The Past_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062270427/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0062270427&linkId=61cbcbeda2e02c66e36f8bbdee94536c) by Tessa Hadley  Harper [Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062270419?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) Four adult siblings spend their summer vacation at the family cottage in the English countryside. While they grapple with the decision to sell the decaying house, they also confront the way their relationships have morphed with the passage of time and addition of new members to the family. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062270427/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0062270427&linkId=61cbcbeda2e02c66e36f8bbdee94536c) ### [_Imagine Me Gone_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316261351/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0316261351&linkId=229e7b1820cdd7165b20c185364ed78f) by Adam Haslett  Little, Brown and Company [Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316261351?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) In this portrait of a family struggling with mental illness, a brilliant son inherits his father’s debilitating depression and anxiety. As he deals with his own demons, his mother and siblings become caregivers for the second time. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316261351/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0316261351&linkId=229e7b1820cdd7165b20c185364ed78f) ### [_The Fireman_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062200631/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0062200631&linkId=909eac43ccbe996275623251b24b076a) by Joe Hill  William Morrow [Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062200631?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) A strange disease known as “Dragonscale” sweeps across America, covering patients with black and gold marks that eventually cause them to spontaneously combust. While an infected nurse tries to protect her unborn child, a vengeful hero known as the Fireman harnesses the disease to his own purposes. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062200631/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0062200631&linkId=909eac43ccbe996275623251b24b076a) ### [_Lab Girl_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101874937/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1101874937&linkId=d81baf10abc82000fca04954f48e64cf) by Hope Jahren  Knopf [Nonfiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1101874937?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) The geobiologist’s memoir is in turn an ode to the plant world, a testament to the author’s profound love for her work, and a celebration of the lab partner who became her best friend. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101874937/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1101874937&linkId=d81baf10abc82000fca04954f48e64cf) ### [_The Vegetarian_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101906111/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1101906111&linkId=34b393476ba6eadb7cca45f33581b96f) by Han Kang  Hogarth [Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553448188?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) In the winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize, a woman’s nightmares drive her to take up vegetarianism—but her (and her family’s) troubles have only just begun. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101906111/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1101906111&linkId=34b393476ba6eadb7cca45f33581b96f) ### [_Old Age: A Beginner’s Guide_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101903767/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1101903767&linkId=4eb2f914ebcecaba8909d62df8d8f996) by Michael Kinsley  Tim Duggan Books [Nonfiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1101903767?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) The journalist and commentator reflects on the meaning and agony of aging in a series of essays that draw upon his experience with Parkinson’s disease. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101903767/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1101903767&linkId=4eb2f914ebcecaba8909d62df8d8f996) ### [_My Struggle: Book Five_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0914671391/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0914671391&linkId=222e2659726344a48b5e0775c12e5116) by Karl Ove Knausgaard  Archipelago [Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0914671391?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) The penultimate installment of the Norwegian’s auto-fictional series paints a portrait of the artist as a frustrated young man foiled by writer’s block and a penchant for binge drinking. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0914671391/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0914671391&linkId=222e2659726344a48b5e0775c12e5116) ### [_Gone with the Mind_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031632325X/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=031632325X&linkId=66c46351ab9429d33f956104dd8e62ec) by Mark Leyner  Little, Brown and Company [Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/031632325X?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) The protagonist—a semi-fictionalized version of the author—spends the entire novel at a reading in a mall’s food court attended only by his mother and several off-duty fast-food employees. Through a series of anecdotes and tangents, he tells the full story of his life. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031632325X/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=031632325X&linkId=66c46351ab9429d33f956104dd8e62ec) ### [_The Association of Small Bombs_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143109278/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0143109278&linkId=f829c002b9fd52b0372c657a29307b0b) by Karan Mahajan  Viking [Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0525429638?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) When two brothers are killed in an explosion in Delhi, it forever changes the lives of the boy who was with them, the parents who mourn them and the man who made the bomb. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143109278/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0143109278&linkId=f829c002b9fd52b0372c657a29307b0b) ### [_Kill ‘Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FMW5EKG/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B01FMW5EKG&linkId=da9ef08dfdb15e626094c7fb8946dc7f) by James McBride  Spiegel & Grau [Nonfiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812993500?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) McBride digs into the life and legacy of the “Godfather of Soul,” discovering along the way that the singer’s estate has fallen under questionable management. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FMW5EKG/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B01FMW5EKG&linkId=da9ef08dfdb15e626094c7fb8946dc7f) ### [_Missing Man: The American Spy Who Vanished in Iran_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374210454/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0374210454&linkId=995b461b18cc196dcd790cf8a9ce206e) by Barry Meier  Farrar, Straus and Giroux [Nonfiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374210454?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) Meier’s nonfiction thriller tracks the disappearance of Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent turned low-level CIA contractor who took it upon himself to travel to Iran in 2007 in hopes of recruiting a spy. The results were catastrophic. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374210454/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0374210454&linkId=995b461b18cc196dcd790cf8a9ce206e) ### [_The Gene: An Intimate History_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1476733503/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1476733503&linkId=ff9069f9b01f22924b91dc789fe85195) by Siddhartha Mukherjee  Scribner [Nonfiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1476733503?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and physician combines science and memoir to chronicle humanity’s evolving understanding of genetics, from breakthroughs by the likes of Mendel and Darwin to stories of how hereditary traits have impacted his own family. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1476733503/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1476733503&linkId=ff9069f9b01f22924b91dc789fe85195) ### [_What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594634637/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1594634637&linkId=d5f95d84887f0cf56881177008098cd2) by Helen Oyeyemi  Riverhead Books [Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594634637?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) In a collection of short stories united by the theme of keys, Oyeyemi infuses magic into the lives of contemporary characters, from a teenager trying to curse a beloved pop star to a couple made to believe they have a son who is not real. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594634637/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1594634637&linkId=d5f95d84887f0cf56881177008098cd2) ### a href=”[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374113815/ref=as\_li\_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0374113815&linkId=88bb45088545726e63f3460b7895950b”>](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374113815/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0374113815&linkId=88bb45088545726e63f3460b7895950b”>);_Black Deutschland_ by Darryl Pinckney  Farrar, Straus and Giroux [Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374113815?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) This novel of identity brings its (black, gay) protagonist from hometown Chicago all the way to Cold War-era Berlin—but demonstrates that it’s easier to change your location than flee your past. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374113815/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0374113815&linkId=88bb45088545726e63f3460b7895950b) ### [_My Name Is Lucy Barton_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812979524/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0812979524&linkId=406b2617ec751b79224aa5cde9b70acc) by Elizabeth Strout  Random House [Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400067693?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) A woman spends time with her estranged mother while laid up in a Manhattan hospital, reflecting on her isolated and impoverished childhood in rural Illinois and the loneliness she still feels in her new city life. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812979524/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0812979524&linkId=406b2617ec751b79224aa5cde9b70acc) ### [_Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316386553/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0316386553&linkId=e22e9acd72f8ea3f5ff2605ae39fc4ad) by Sunil Yapa  Lee Boudreaux Books [Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316386537?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) As protesters converge on Seattle for the 1999 conference of the World Trade Organization, a young runaway finds himself caught in the fray, a police chief struggles to maintain the peace and a Sri Lankan delegate desperately tries to make it to the meetings that could change his country’s fate. [**_Buy here_**](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316386553/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0316386553&linkId=e22e9acd72f8ea3f5ff2605ae39fc4ad) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4363326/best-books-2016-so-far/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4363326/best-books-2016-so-far/"},"headline":"Here Are the Best Books of 2016 So Far","datePublished":"2016-06-13T20:54:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:59:55.117Z","description":"From heavy hitters to debut novelists","url":"https://time.com/4363326/best-books-2016-so-far/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4363326/best-books-2016-so-far/","name":"Here Are the Best Books of 2016 So Far"}}]}] ```