Almost every December, I struggle to name my Number One book of the year. Top ten is hard enough! To choose, I think, “What book surprised and delighted? What had great premise, writing, story, setting, character -- the whole shebang? What book will I still be thinking about in years to come?” This year, my top book is Shards because it was my answer to those questions for 2011.

This novel is framed as the written confessions of a character named Ismet, a young man who came of age during the Bosnian war and escaped the draft by coming to America, and the parallel-to-perpendicular story of Mustafa, another young Bosnian who became a soldier-- the young man who lived the life Ismet might have had.

Did you like the Queenie winner of 2008, The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway? Shards has many of the same themes: life in the midst of war, maintaining humanity in inhumane times, courage and cowardice, and the saving power of art and creativity. But the writing feels more like Jess Walter-- poetic in a snappy, clever way. Did you read The Russian Debutante’s Handbook by Gary Shteyengart? Like that novel, Shards has edgy, bittersweet humor and an entertaining and insightful perspective on the immigrant experience.

If you’re looking for a thoughtful yet entertaining book that takes you through a wide range of emotion and experience with sizzling observations and stunning creative structure, try Shards. ~Tegan