Each year I try to put together a list of my 10 favorite stories I’ve read. If you’re interested, here’s last year’s list (via Facebook).
The list is not meant to be exhaustive. I read a lot, but I’ve missed a lot, too. If you’re interested in a more thorough list of great reading, might I suggest Longform’s year end list or Pocket’s or Bloomberg’s “Jealousy List” or all the great stuff on Longreads.
Instead, this list is just my favorites of what I read. Some are riveting narratives. Some are argumentative essays. All of them will stick with you long after you finish reading — and that, I think, is the sign of a great story.
What isn’t included here, purposefully, are stories on Trump. While some of these may tangentially touch on his presidency, I didn’t want this to turn into a long list of Trump stories or to politicize any of the great writing below.
I will, however, link to a number of great pieces on Trump in a follow up (HERE!) so if you’re looking for that kind of thing, it won’t be hard to find.
With all that said, my top 10 reads of 2017…
10. The Sub Eater
You don’t need to write a 10,000-word magazine story to find something great. This story from the Buffalo News on a guy who just likes eating a sandwich under a certain tree — and the neighbors who weren’t so thrilled about it — is utterly perfect. Seriously. If I were to ever teach a course on news writing, this would be my first example of how it should be done.
by David M. Hale 