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

Long-awaited debut novel exceeds the hype

When a work of popular art a book, a movie, a television show, an album is subject to massive publicity in advance of its release, it can be nearly impossible for said work to live up to the hype. A bar set too high almost inevitably leads to disappointment.