For the full results of our booksellers’ favorite books of the year, head over here.
DIESEL BOOKS (BAY AREA)
Brentwood location
Mo Figuls: Chronicles of Old Los Angeles, James Roman · Alfred Jarry: A Pataphysical Life, Alastair Brotche · Moriarty, Anthony Horowitz · Imaginary Fred, Eoin Colfer · Aurora, Kim Stanley Robinson
Mia Wigmore: West of Sunset, Stuart O’Nan · Outline, Rachel Cusk · Small Victories, Annie Lamott
Cheryl Ryan: Our Souls at Night, Kent Haruf · Did You Ever Have a Family, Bill Clegg · Kitchens of the Great Midwest, Ryan Stradal · The Hand of the Mirror, Janis Heaphy Durham · Sous Chef, Michael Gibney
Lynn Weingarten: The Cartel, Don Winslow · Fates and Furies, Lauren Groff · Thirsty, Marc Weingarten · Our Souls at Night, Kent Haruf · A Head Full of Ghosts, Paul Tremblay
Anna Kaufman: The Sculptor, Scott McCloud · The Nest, Kenneth Oppel · Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, Becky Albertalli · The Odd Woman and the City, Vivian Gornick · Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
Alex Melnick: Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, Sarah Vowell · Smek for President, Adam Rex · Snowden, Ted Rall · Otter in Space, Sam Garton · Lord of the Wings, Donna Andrews
Diane Leslie: Keeping an Eye Open, Julian Barnes · Refund, Karen Bender · Summer House With Pool, Herman Koch · Ruby, Cynthia Bond) · Preparations for the Next Life, Atticus Lish
Oakland location
Chris Phipps: Physics of Sorrow, Georgi Gospodinov · A Planet for Rent, Yoss · The Dead Mountaineer’s Inn, Boris and Arkady Strutgatsky · The Story of My Teeth, Valeria Luiselli · Eyes Full of Empty, Jérémie Guez
Brad Johnson: Counternarratives, John Keene · The Story of My Teeth, Valeria Luiselli · The Visiting Privilege, Joy Williams · The Complete Stories, Clarice Lispector · Garments Against Women, Anne Boyer
Katherine Assef: The Argonauts, Maggie Nelson · Suite for Barbara Loden, Nathalie Leger · Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates · Vertigo, Joanna Walsh · The Musical Brain, Cesar Aira
Katherine Duckworth: Red Epic, Joshua Clover · Portrait of Doom, Marie Buck · (guns & butter), Montana Ray · The Pink Trace Notebooks, Wayne Koestenbaum · Times Beach, John Shoptaw
John Evans (owner): Did You Ever Have a Family, Bill Clegg · Eternity’s Sunrise, Leo Damrosch · Wages of Revolt, Chris Hedges · Medicine Walk, Richard Wagamese · On Art and Mindfulness, Enrique Martinez Celaya
Larkspur location
Clare Doornbos: The Stone Mattress, Margaret Atwood · The Tsar of Love and Techno, Anthony Marra · The Truth According to Us, Annie Barrows · Symphony for the City of the Dead, M T Anderson · Aurora, Kim Stanley Robinson)
Alan Dishman: A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara · Hold Still, Sally Mann · M Train, Patti Smith · Did You Ever Have a Family, Bill Clegg · My Struggle, Karl Ove Knausgaard
Rodman Froke: The Martian, Andy Weir · Year of Lear, James Shapiro · Aurora, Kim Stanley Robinson · Seveneves, Neal Stephenson · Oregon Trail: A New American Journey, Rinker Buck