Fiction: Best Books

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Christmas is house-cleaning time for booksellers. The publishers remit their flood of new titles while shelves are cleared, ledgers audited for the new year Readers may now reconsider the past year's output, check what they have read, what they have missed, what they might give. Following is a list of the outstanding-ing books of 1936:

ABSALOM, ABSALOM!—William Faulkner—Random House ($2.50).

A TIME TO REMEMBER—Leane Zugsmith—Random House ($2).

THE BELLS OF BASEL—Louis Aragon— Harcourt, Brace ($2.50).

A WORLD I NEVER MADE—James T. Farrell—Vanguard ($2.50).

THE BIG MONEY—John Dos Passos— Harcourt, Brace ($2.50).

BITTER VICTORY—Louis Guilloux—McBride ($2.50).

CLUTCH AND DIFFERENTIAL—George Weller—Random House ($2.50).

COURTHOUSE SQUARE—Hamilton Basso —Scribner ($2.50).

DAYS OF WRATH—Andre Malraux— Random House ($1.75).

DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK—Walter D. Edmonds—Little, Brown ($2.50).

THE EARTH TREMBLES—Jules Remains —Knopf ($3).

EDUCATION BEFORE VERDUN — Arnold Zweig—Viking ($2.50).

EYELESS IN GAZA—Aldous Huxley— Harper ($2.50).

GONE WITH THE WIND—Margaret Mitchell—Macmillan ($3).

GREEN LAURELS—Donald Culross Peattie—Simon & Schuster ($3.75).

THE HOUSE IN PARIS—Elizabeth Bowen —Knopf ($2).

IN DUBIOUS BATTLE—John Steinbeck— Covici, Friede ($2.50).

KIT BRANDON—Sherwood Anderson— Scribner ($2.50).

THE LAST PURITAN—George Santayana —Scribner ($2.75).

THE OLIVE FIELD—Ralph Bates—Dutton ($2.50).

RODEO—R. B. Cunninghame Graham— Doubleday, Doran ($2.50).

SANFELICE—Vincent Sheean—Doubleday, Doran ($2.50).

THE SECRET JOURNEY—James Hanley —Macmillan ($2.50).

SHERSTON'S PROGRESS—Siegfried Sassoon—Doubleday, Doran ($2).

STORIES OF THREE DECADES—Thomas Mann—Knopf ($3).

THE THINKING REED—Rebecca West— Viking ($2.50).

Non-Fiction

AMERICAN LABOR STRUGGLES—Samuel Yellen—Harcourt, Brace ($3.50).

THE AMERICAN LANGUAGE — H. L. Mencken—Knopf ($5).

AN AMERICAN DOCTOR'S ODYSSEY—Victor Heiser—Norton ($3.50).

AN AMERICAN TESTAMENT — Joseph Freeman—Farrar & Rinehart ($3).

A NEW AMERICAN HISTORY—W. E. Woodward—Farrar & Rinehart ($4).

ARCTIC ADVENTURE: MY LIFE IN THE FROZEN NORTH—Peter Freuchen—Farrar & Rinehart ($3.50).

AUDUBON — Constance Rourke — Harcourt, Brace ($3).

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF G. K. CHESTERTON —Sheed & Ward ($3).

BRANDEIS: THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF AN AMERICAN IDEAL—Alfred Lief—Stackpole ($3)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE—W. B. Yeats —Macmillan ($2.50).

FRIEDRICH ENGELS—Gustav Mayer— Knopf ($3.50).

FROM A SURGEON'S JOURNAL—Harvey Gushing—Little, Brown ($5).

GENERAL SMUTS (Vols. i & 2)—Sarah Gertrude Millin—Little, Brown ($3.50 each).

THE GENTLE SAVAGE—Richard Wyndham—Morrow ($3.50).