Best Books Read in 2002

My Previous Best Books: 2001.

I read sixteen books last year. My "most difficult" book was The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Richard Rhodes). However, the stand-out book that I read in 2002 was A Map of the World. Jane Hamilton wrote such a moving story about friendships, responsibility, death, and the ambiguity of the married life. It's not a bright (i.e. sunny) book; its imagery is haunting. My favorite book last year was by a woman, and it centered on marriage, so I don't know if a theme is emerging.