From Antigua to Anniversaries (of Notable Novels)

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A street in Antigua, Guatemala, that has nothing to do with the topic of this literature post. šŸ™‚ (Photo by me on January 8.)

Glad to be back! I missed writing a post last week because of a trip I took with my wife Laurel and younger daughter Maria to Guatemala, where Maria was born. A memorable visit that included stops in Guatemala City, Tikal, Antigua, Panajachel, and Guatemala City again.

Today, as I do every January, I’m going to mention well-known novels — many of which I’ve read, some of which I haven’t — reaching major round-number anniversaries. So, in 2026, novels published in 2001 are turning 25, 1976-released books are turning 50, 1926 novels are turning 100, etc.

The first 2001 novel that came to mind was Richard Russo’s riveting Pulitzer Prize winner Empire Falls, set in a Maine blue-collar town.

Released that year, too, was Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections, about a couple and their three adult children. I liked it better than the author’s much-touted Freedom, though that 2010 novel was pretty good as well.

Also, Yann Martell’s Life of Pi, which features a boy stranded on a boat with a tiger after a shipwreck; Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, which has a lot to say about female relationships as well as racism; Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto, a riveting look at a mass-hostage situation; Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter, about a Chinese-American woman and her immigrant mother; Ian McEwan’s Atonement, which I found both compelling and annoying; John Grisham’s semi-autobiographical A Painted House; Neil Gaiman’s fantasy tour de force American Gods; and Jasper Fforde’s clever The Eyre Affair.

Kristin Hannah’s peak as an author was yet to arrive, but her somewhat-early-in-career 2001 novel Summer Island was quite absorbing as it focused on a fraught mother-daughter relationship and rapprochement.

In the series realm, Diana Gabaldon’s fifth Outlander novel (The Fiery Cross) and Lee Child’s fifth Jack Reacher novel (Echo Burning) came out 25 years ago.

The year 2001 also saw the publication of Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Shadow of the Wind and Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River, neither of which I’ve read.

In 1976, the most famous release was Alex Haley’s Roots, which was of course the multi-generational American slavery saga about Kunta Kinte and his descendants.

There was also Margaret Atwood’s third novel Lady Oracle, about a woman with multiple identities; and Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time, a sci-fi-ish work whose lower-income protagonist is unjustly committed to a psychiatric institution.

Notable 1976 books I haven’t read include Anne Rice’s debut novel Interview with the Vampire and Judith Guest’s made-into-a-memorable-movie Ordinary People.

Exactly a century ago — 1926 — saw the appearance of Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, which I thought was good not great.

An underrated classic that year was L.M. Montgomery’s The Blue Castle, about a young woman who gets very bad news that turns out to be very good news.

There was also Colette’s The Last of Cheri, the sequel to the 1920 Cheri novel about the relationship between a younger man and older woman; and My Mortal Enemy, one of Willa Cather’s lesser works.

Well-known 1926 novels I haven’t read include Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Upton Sinclair’s Oil!

Published 150 years ago, in 1876: Mark Twain’s iconic The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, about a rascally boy and his friend Huckleberry Finn.

That year also saw the release of Daniel Deronda, George Eliot’s final novel and one of her best. Its title character, who discovers he’s Jewish, interacts with some very memorable people.

In addition, there was Thomas Hardy’s not-famous-but-interesting The Hand of Ethelberta.

Two 1826 highlights were Mary Shelley’s apocalyptic, late-21st-century-set The Last Man and James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans that unfolds in 1757 during the French and Indian War. Two novels with “Last” in the title that lasted.

And in 1726, 300 years ago, Jonathan Swift’s iconic Gulliver’s Travels was published!

Any thoughts on the novels I discussed? Any other titles you’d like to mention from those anniversary years? (I’m sure I missed some.)

Misty the cat says: “Tofu falling from the sky was not on my 2026 bingo card.”

My comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Amazon reviews are welcome. šŸ™‚ )

This 90-second promo video for the book features a talking cat: šŸ™‚

I’m also the author of a 2017 literary-trivia book…

…and a 2012 memoir that focuses on cartooning and more, including many encounters with celebrities.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about two meetings, a local anti-ICE protest, and more — is here.

52 thoughts on “From Antigua to Anniversaries (of Notable Novels)”

  2. Dave, it’s great to have you back! How wonderful that you could take your daughter to visit her birthplace in Guatemala. In this crazy world we now live in, I pray that Maria will stay safe and well.

    It’s unbelievable that Gulliver’s Travels is now 300 years old. Just yesterday, it was required reading in our elementary school (Guyana). Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn now 150 years old? No way! To an Agatha Christie fan, her novels, even at 100 years old, are timeless. Fifty-year-old Alex Haley’s Roots opened new imaginings about my own African ancestral roots.

    May there always be books that stand the test of time and remind us of our shared humanity.

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    • Thank you, Rosaliene! Given that my younger daughter is a person of color, we did have some anxiety going through U.S. Customs under the current Trump regime. šŸ˜¦ But no problems, fortunately.

      It IS kind of amazing thinking about how old certain novels are! “Gulliver’s Travels” is pretty readable for something written 300 years ago, and “Tom Sawyer” was one of my favorite books as a kid.

      Re “Roots,” I think I saw the riveting TV mini-series before reading the novel. I can imagine the impact the book had on you with your African ancestral roots.

      Loved your comment’s last line!

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  3. Good to have you back, Dave, and ‘m glad that you had a good trip. That’s a great list, and I admire your hard work in finding out and listing so many great books with special anniversaries this year. I’ve by no means read them all, but ‘Daniel Deronda’ I have, along with ‘A Painted House’ – my first Grisham, read only last year – and ‘The Life of Pi’,’The Last Man’, ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ and ‘The Hand of Ethelberta’. All great stories, although it’s been a while since I read them all. So many great books, so little time! šŸ™‚

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    • Thank you, Laura! The Web definitely makes it easy to check the publication dates of novels. šŸ™‚

      “A Painted House” is definitely one example of how Grisham can write other kinds of compelling novels besides great legal thrillers.

      And I found “Daniel Deronda” so absorbing that I was rereading passages from it for several weeks after finishing it about 10 (?) years ago. Few authors have written a final novel that good. (I suppose Dostoevsky would be one of them with “The Brothers Karamazov.”)

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  4. Like others who’ve commented, it was fun checking this list of “anniversary” books for what I’ve read (like AMERICAN GODS, which I remember finding fascinating but haven’t thought about in a while) and what I should read, like BEL CANTO. I recommend MYSTIC RIVER (Dennis Lehane) as a disturbing but brilliant book. Also ORDINARY PEOPLE, even if you’ve seen the movie.

    Wanted to add how much I like the photograph of Antigua, Dave. Very impressive mountains.

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    • Thank you, Kim! Antigua was one of the more picturesque cities I’ve ever visited — with its cobblestone streets, very old buildings, beautiful mountains/volcanos in the background, etc. Tricky walking on those uneven streets, though. šŸ™‚

      I appreciate the various book mentions, and definitely have the “Ordinary People” novel high on my to-read list. I looked for it during my last library visit just before the Guatemala trip, but it was checked out. šŸ˜¦ The movie is terrific.

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  6. Welcome back, Dave!

    Okay, just to display my literary prowess, Winnie the Pooh The House at Pooh Corner by A.A.Milne was released in 1926.

    Although I’m sure that J.D. Salinger wasn’t trying to beat Winnie onto the stands by releasing The Catcher in the Rye a few months earlier that year.

    And I would be totally remiss not to mention that Grand Avenue by Joy Fielding was released in 2001.

    Misha sends a big virtual fur ball of love to Misty.

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    • Thank you, Resa! Yikes! I should have mentioned “Grand Avenue,” which I liked a lot (as you know).

      Winnie the Pooh and J.D. Salinger in consecutive paragraphs — epic. šŸ™‚

      Misty who witnessed today’s snow says hello (back to Misha)!

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  7. Thank you so much for this sweeping post of literature, Dave. Reading through it reminded me that January 1, 2026 is Public Domain Day, that quiet moment each year when stories are returned to all of us. This year, works published in 1929 enter the public domain, and itā€™s a powerful group. Virginia Woolfā€™s A Room of Oneā€™s Own now belongs fully to readers everywhere, as do Ernest Hemingwayā€™s A Farewell to Arms, William Faulknerā€™s The Sound and the Fury, and Dashiell Hammettā€™s The Maltese Falcon.

    What strikes me, reading your list alongside this, is how clearly it shows that books endure because stories endure. They carry our humanity forward. Our questions, our longings, our attempts to make sense of the world. Books, stories, poetry keep speaking across generations and centuries. That, to me, is the quiet miracle behind every anniversary.
    As Virginia Woolf one wrote: ā€œLock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.ā€

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  8. A Painted House is a masterpiece that made me feel right back in elementary school back in Russia. we only lived there for three years at the house of my stepfather’s parents. it was a very memorable period in time, it was over in 1993 when we moved back to Ukraine leaving my stepfather behind. this novel by John Grisham captures my feelings from those years perfectly fine.

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  9. 1726, Gulliver, of course… and as a surgeon, Lemuel can write with authority about safeguarding & financial/legal abuse of seniors. Just make it impossible. No chance of involving the Struldbrugs in new wills, because of their age, nothing would be valid. Laputa ? Who would empty the bins ?

    1926, great year for crime classics, including the murder of Roger Ackroyd and Clouds of Witness. Arguably would be very difficult to film the first Sayers/Wimsey book, Whose Body. (1923) Radio best for such a horrific crime.

    Centenary, and I realise this is possibly a thought crime, but I always detested Pooh , much preferred William books. .

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    • Thank you, Esther! Winnie the Pooh was too cutesy in its way, but I guess I could see the appeal — especially to kids. I definitely want to read “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” but it’s always checked out of my local library. Perhaps I should do the sensible thing and reserve it, but when a novel I’m looking for isn’t there, I just move on to the next one on my too-long list. šŸ™‚

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  13. For 1976, I’ll go with Kiss of the Spider Woman, a River Runs through It, and Gnomes. (My dad loved Gnomes, which he received for Christmas.) Winnie the Pooh came out in 1926! Just out of curiosity, why did you find Atonement both compelling and annoying. I’ve read it, but I don’t recall being annoyed by it.

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  14. 2001 was an outstanding year for books that stood the test of time. I read many of the ones on your list, but the best was The Shadow of the Wind. It is on my top 20 books of all time list. I own Empire Falls but haven’t read it. I must change that.

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    • Thank you, Marie! I totally hear you — hard to believe some of those novels were published 25 or 50 years ago. I also felt a bit old crazily traveling to several places and staying in multiple hotels in just one week. šŸ™‚

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