My Lobotomy by Howard Dully
The Arrival by Shawn Tan
Axis by Robert Charles Wilson
Without even looking at Goodreads, the best book I first read this year was Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose. I can’t say enough good things about it or recommend it highly enough. It’s the best book I’ve read in a long time.
A glance at Goodreads shows me I only gave five-star ratings to five books. Since most people here listed more than one, I’ll list the rest:
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse - Louise Erdrich
Music & Silence - Rose Tremaine
Can You Forgive Her? - Anthony Trollope
The Golden Compass - Phillip Pullman
I’m sorry, but I need to squeak in one more before the new year. Since the best from my previous post was non-fiction, I’ll call this one Best Fictional Book of 2008: The Hour I First Believed, by Wally Lamb.
Three inches thick and delicious. I just finished it and now I’m requesting the audiobook so I can hear it again.
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal - Christopher Moore
I gave a bunch of books 5 stars at goodreads this year, but if I had to pick one, I’d say East of Eden, which I’d never read before. I’ve read a lot of Steinbeck now, and I think *EoE *is his masterpiece.
There are two books which stand out among those I’ve read for the first time in 2008: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, and Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock.
Infinite Jest is an amazing book. It’s challenging to read, but entertaining and rewarding from beginning to end. It makes me sad that I discovered the author only because he took his own life in September.
Knockemstiff, besides being a great short story collection, is set in the county where I live and was written by a friend of mine, Donald Ray Pollock.
I read my first graphic novel this year, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale. It’s about the holocaust, featuring different animals as different ethnicities, and it won a special Pullitzer Prize for it’s genius. I didn’t know what graphic novels could be until I read this. And I can honestly say that while I’ve teared up reading different books over the years, this is the only one that made my bawl.
Then I read The Watchmen, also a brilliant graphic novel, one that uses its medium to create a one-of-a-kind concept, a commentary on history, ideology and what war means. This is truly an experience that would not be possible outside the realms of a graphic novel. For example, there’s a chapter that is a visual mirror of itself… all kinds of hidden genius that only re-readings can uncover.
I also discovered Terry Pratchet this year. It was a good year for books.
That looks terrific! Thanks.
Best Fantasy: The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss. Read it because of all the gushing praise for it on the Dope… and then found myself spewing forth gushing praise. I bought this book for several people for Christmas.
Best Fiction: By George, Wesley Stace. About a boy growing up in the 70’s and a ventriloquist’s dummy in the 40’s and how the lives of the two are intertwined.
Best Non-Fiction: Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, by Charles Seife. Not a history book, not a math book, but a little bit of both. Traces the concept of zero from early civilization to today. Made me realize that my trig classes were a long time ago.
Best Short Stories: The Shell Collector, Anthony Doerr. Doerr has a beautiful grasp of language. He captures life in lovely 10 to 25 page chunks.
Crime & Punishment. By some Russian guy.
My pleasure, Key Lime Guy. Mary Oliver went from ‘who’s that?’ to one of my top five favorite poets in just a few hours. Amazing stuff.