Maureen Corrigan

I hesitate to say it, but the one word that characterizes my best books of 2016 list is "serious." These books aren't grim and they're certainly not dull, but collectively they're serious about tackling big, sometimes difficult subjects — and they're also distinguished by seriously good writing. Here are 10 that you shouldn't miss.

Critic Maureen Corrigan has watched the TV drama since its debut, though she admits she never thought it was any good. But now that the 1980s are over, she thinks Dallas's outlandish, greed-obsessed storylines no longer resonate with viewers.

Chabon's new novel is a collection of stories in which a dying grandfather tells the secrets of his life to his grandson. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls Moonglow "violent and very funny."

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the third and final volume of renowned feminist historian Blanche Weisen Cook's biography of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews a new collection of essays by poet Mary Oliver who has received many honors including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

Britt Bennett's debut novel centers on three African-American friends dealing with their community's expectations and their own mistakes. Critic Maureen Corrigan says it is full of "mini epiphanies."

Teddy Wayne's new novel begins as a sharply observed novel of manners, but quickly mutates into a classic tale of obsession. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls Loner a powerful suspense story.

The beloved children's book author Beatrix Potter wrote a book about a kitty in 1918; the manuscript was recently discovered and it's now been published for the first time.

A memoir by a pioneering woman who lived in the Mississippi Delta, helping her husband run logging camps. . . feeding as many as one hundred men a day, sewing clothes, skinning deer, fighting off snakes and panthers; and surviving epic floods and fires.

Megan Abbott's new book takes readers deep into the intense, vacuum-sealed universe of young female gymnasts and their parents. Critic Maureen Corrigan says You Will Know Me is worthy of a gold medal.