This year has been a phenomenal year for the written word. So many brilliant works – fiction and nonfiction alike – appeared on bookshelves in 2016.

Novel explores the powerful, punishing effects of true brilliance

'Talent is a flame. Genius is a fire.' Bernard Williams

What is the true cost of genius? How does a single-minded fanatical brilliance impact the rest of one's life? What effects does it have on interpersonal relationships and one's sense of self? Great problems require great solutions, but those solutions can often prove to be obstacles in their own right.

Ethan Canin's 'A Doubter's Almanac' (Random House, $28) tells the tale of the issues raised by the obsessive genius of one particularly gifted family.