Best Books of 2008

In 2001, I began the annual tradition of listing the best books I've read in the previous year. (Thanks to my college friend, Kristin, for this idea!) I've heard that many people look forward to seeing my annual book list. I don't include ALL the books I read on this list--only the ones I would recommend to others.

This year I started keeping track of my books on a great site called goodreads. I highly recommend it! To see the full list or read about these books, go to my full list at www.goodreads.com/friend/i?i=LTM2MDYwNDQzOTc6MzU2%0A.

These are the books I read that received three stars and above (3 stars=liked it, 4 stars=really liked it, and 5 stars=it was amazing).

Fiction

1. The Glory Cloak, Patricia O’Brien
2. Beside a Burning Sea, John Shors
3. A Black Englishman, Carolyn Slaughter
4. The Road, Cormac McCarthy
5. Lottery, Patricia Wood
6. The Language of Threads, Gail Tsukiyama
7. Bleeding Kansas, Sara Paretsky
8. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
9. Wintering: A Novel of Sylvia Plath, Kate Moses
10. Losing Kei, Suzanne Kamata
11. The Ten-Year Nap, Meg Wolitzer
12. Sleep Toward Heaven, Amanda Eyre Ward
13. Water Witches and The Double Bind, Chris Bohjalian
14. Family Planning, Elizabeth Letts
15. The Tenth Circle and The Pact, Jodi Picoult
16. The Abstinence Teacher, Tom Perrotta
17. Family Sold Separately, Kate Long
18. Whistling in the Dark, Lesley Kagen
19. Murder in the Marais, Cara Black
20. In the Deep Midwinter, Robert Clark

Nonfiction

1. The Invisible Wall, Harry Bernstein
2. Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion, Sara Miles
3. Happy Birthday or Whatever, Annie Choi
4. Strange Piece of Paradise, Terri Jentz
5. All the Fishes Come Home to Roost, Rachel Manija Brown
6. The Way Home, Ernestine Bradley
7. How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel, ed. Sarah Franklin
8. A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson
9. Jezebel: The Bible’s Harlot Queen, Lesley Hazleton
10. Infidel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali
11. Love You to Pieces, ed. Suzanne Kamata
12. Why We Read What We Read, John Heath
13. The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, Terry Ryan
14. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
15. The Zookeeper’s Wife, Diane Ackerman
16. Teach with Your Heart, Erin Gruwell

If you read any of these books, please let me know what you think!