I’ve waited until the last possible minute to get my “best of list” post up and as usual I always struggle with figuring out which books deserve to go on here. For various reasons these are the books that really made my year.
Fiction
The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
Life Studies by Susan Vreeland
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Capote in Kansas by Kim Powers
Out by Natsuo Kirino
The Glimmer Palace by Beatrice Colin
YA
Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky
Leonardo’s Shadow by Christopher Grey
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Mystery
An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
The Serpent and the Scorpion by Clare Langley-Hawthorne
In the Woods by Tana French
This Dame for Hire by Sandra Scoppettone
Graphic Novels
One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry
French Milk by Lucy Knisley
I almost hesitate to post this because I know as soon as I do I’ll think of just one more to add. And, then I think of all the others that I did enjoy too. Anyway, thank you to all of you who are sharing your best of lists. I love reading them and of course adding more books to the ever growing wish list.
Here’s to a great 2009. Happy New Year!
I’m waiting until the last minute too! lol
Great list! Have you seen the new trailer for the film version of Coraline?
Have a Happy New Year!!
Great list! Miss Pettigrew was a fantastic little book; I’d forgotten about it when I went to make my list.
Have a happy new year!
It’s hard to pick favorites, isn’t it? But you have a nice list. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Iliana! You have a great list of books–I’m glad you liked the Laurence, too, and added it to your list. I also loved Miss Pettigrew and the Maisie Dobbs and Ursula Marlowe mysteries–all great choices. And I just ordered French Milk today! Best wishes to you! 🙂
Nice list, Iliana! You’ve got great discipline to be able to categorize your favorites, too. I haven’t written a “year in review” post for 2008, maybe I’ll get to it sometime in January!
Happy New Year to you.
Happy New Year!
Lezlie
Excellent list! I’m especially interested in those graphic novels. Great titles!
It can be difficult to narrow the lists down, can’t it? I’m so glad you liked Dame for Hire. I want to read that one. My husband wasn’t too thrilled with it when he read it, but he does think I’ll probably like it.
The reason I love lists is that they provide so many good titles to look for! Happy New Year!
Great list! I have a couple of those on my ‘to-read-soon’ stack. And a few others already on my wishlist.
Happy New Year, Iliana! May the new year bring you lots of books and time to read them in! 🙂
Great list, Iliana! I hesitated to write about my favourites books too but I can’t resist doing it anyway, LOL. Thanks to your reviews, I’ll be adding some of the books you read on my wishlist.
Happy New Year to you! 🙂
I never know what to put on these best of lists, to be honest. Especially when there are not a lot of books that I really hated in the year. It makes it really hard to choose! You read a great list of books, though. Happy New Year!
Eva – Because you just never know if that last book will be the one right?! 🙂
Christine – I have and I can’t wait to see the movie. The book was so creepy and so good.
Katherine – There is just something about that book that I love. Now that I’ve made the list I realize I left off one or two books that I should have added but oh well 🙂
Stefanie – It is hard but fun too 🙂 Hope you guys had a great New Year!
Danielle – I think you’ll really enjoy French Milk – you’ll feel like you just spent some time in France yourself 🙂
Dawn – Oh do write a year in review post 🙂 It’s fun to do this and compare to previous years. My reading tastes tend to be the same but every once in a while there are surprises!
Lezlie – You too – read lots of great stuff 🙂
Andi – I bet you’d enjoy those. I hope you’ll check ’em out!
Literary Feline – I thought it was wonderful but I remember reading one review saying that the author tried too hard to make it sound authentic or something like that. I guess I could see that but for me it worked – I hope you’ll like it and I’ll be looking forward to that review 🙂
jenclair – Indeed! 🙂
tanabata – You too! I hope you find lots of goodies too to take back home after your trip 🙂
Melody – That’s the best part of seeing the lists right… giving the wish list tons more new books 🙂
Kailana – Sometimes I do want to add a lot more because honestly I won’t struggle with a book I hate so most of the books I read I did enjoy quite a bit. So I can relate 🙂 Have a great reading year!
Great list of books read! I really liked Coraline. I’m looking forward to the movie.
I loved Life Studies, too – then listened to The Passion of Artemisia on audiobook – Vreelandis quickly becoming a favorite author.
Happy New Year!
Thank you for reminding me that I really want to read One Hundred Demons.
Lots of great books on your list!
Great list! And so many more to add to my TBR list… 🙂 Out is next to be read for me, I really hope I enjoy it as much as you did!
Happy New Year, Iliana!
You must have written the most organized and detailed year-in-review post in history! I have Out on my list, since it’s recommended by you and another cafe friend of mine. Like you, I decided not to look at my list after I was thorough. 🙂
I bow out of the Man Booker Challenge with just one book short because I couldn’t get into neither of the remaining selections. I’m going to be more cautious with reading challenges this year. I might chime along and pick up a few books but probably won’t overdo it. I like to be spontaneous. 🙂
In 2009 I would like to relate my reading and writing experiences through blogging. Until i started blogging, both reading and writing have been very private, keeping to myself in the Moleskine notebook. Blogging forces me to make the connection between my random skeins of thoughts into making them coherent and readable to other readers.
I plan to tackle a few epic chunksters this year like Les Miserables and Gone with the Wind. I try to find at least one reading partner to read these giants. Also I would like to get out of my comfort zone of fiction to see more essays, memoirs and non-fiction.
I loved reading your list! Coraline was so great – I’m looking forward the film version coming soon. I really want to get to Half of a Yellow Sun. And was glad to see In the Woods on your list, I can’t remember now if you’ve read The Likeness??
I love reading everyone’s ‘bests’ lists, too. Still need to post mine.
Great list, Iliana! I just saw the movie, Miss Pettigrew, and now I must read the book.
Happy new year!
I enjoy seeing everyone’s lists and you’ve got some great titles on yours. Glad to see Into the Woods (French) is a favorite; my f2f book group is reading it this month. I’m getting my copy today and am quite anxious to start in on it tonight!
Happy New Year and happy reading!
Wishing you a happy new year! Capote in Kansas was the only one on your list that I’ve read, and I agree it was great.
I had a hard time narrowing it down to my favorites…and the ones I disliked.