Old friends returned to Square Books with new books in
2013, and many made our year-end top 100 list – Jonny Miles and his brilliant
novel, Want Not (23); Bob Shacochis (91); Jill McCorkle (19); Nell Dickerson and
Porch Dogs (62); Lisa Patton (70); Clyde Edgerton (79); Molly Crosby (97); Jeff
Shaara (35); Ann Patchett and This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (26); Jayne
Anne Phillips and Quiet Dell (28); Daniel Woodrell with The Maid’s Version
(20); and Philipp Meyer with his Western epic, The Son (16).
Staff picks often find their way up the list, like Rules
of Civility (55), Mary Hamilto
n’s Trials of the Earth (60), Gone Girl by
Gillian Flynn (61), Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (73) and William Maxwell’s
So Long, See You Tomorrow (54). Humor has its appeal, in Julia Reed’s But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria (29); How Not to be a Dick (50); Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die by
Willie Nelson (46); Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Little Golden Book
(32); and I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar (65).
Congratulations to John Hailman, whose From Midnight to
Guntown continues to find readers (6) and to Robert Khayat, who, upon retiring
as University of Mississippi Chancellor, sat right down and wrote his memoir,
The Education of a Lifetime, our number 1 book of the year – and to Neil White,
his publisher at Nautilus.
New to Square Books this year were some huge favorites –
The Constellation of 
Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra (67); Jamie Quatro and I
Want to Show You More (25); Kristopher Jansma and The Unchangeable Spots of
Leopards (30); Damien Echols, off death row with his memoir, Life After Death (58); Ree Drummond, whose The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of
Holidays (67) + 2 other books, made our list; a memorable visit from Gail
Godwin with Flora (22); Bill 
Cheng and Southern Cross the Dog (17), and Anton
DiSclafani and The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls (15).
Our heartfelt thanks go to these authors, the many publishers who helped them make it here, and to Square Books friends from near and far – for giving us our best year ever.
For a report on top titles at Square Books Jr, check this blog Tuesday.