The Best Books of 2008 – According to You
During a fairly recent Booking Through Thursday, we were asked to list our favorite books of 2008. I mentioned that if people left their favorite books of 2008 in the comments, I would compile a list and post it for you (if you don’t see a book here that you loved but you left a comment saying, “Come check out my post!”, well then it’s because I did go check out your post but it was too difficult to copy and paste your list into this post for whatever reason. So next time? Just leave me a list in the comments, otherwise I start banging my head on the keyboard and it’s just not pretty. I only have so much time to do the compiling. Don’t make me work for it. Thanks! 
).
ANYWAY, I had every intention of doing really cool things with this list. Like putting authors with all the books. And linking all the books to Amazon (easier than trying to find the review in the various bloggers’ blogs). And noting what genre the book was. But this kind of thing takes hours, hours which I don’t have anymore. So I’m giving up and just presenting you with what I’ve accumulated. It’s not beautiful, but it is what it is.
Beware…you probably won’t be able to look at this list without having to add books to your TBR list. Mwahahaha!!
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
- Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman
- Coraline – Neil Gaiman
- Battle Cry of Freedom – James McPherson
- Mayflower – Nathaniel Philbrick
- No Time for Goodbye – Linwood Barclay
- Shape of Mercy – Susan Meissner
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Jean-Dominique Bauby
- The Vintner’s Luck – Elizabeth Knox
- American Gods – Neil Gaiman
- Un Lun Dun – China Mieville
- A Moveable Feast – Ernest Hemingway
- Duma Key – Stephen King
- Up Till Now – William Shatner
- The Uncommon Reader – Alan Bennett
- Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
- The Swallows of Kabul – Yasmina Khadra
- Village of Stone – Xiaolu Guo
- Disobedience – Naomi Alderman
- Memory – Philippe Grimbert
- Through Black Spruce – Joseph Boyden
- The Lizard Cage – Karen Connelly
- Me and Emma – Elizabeth Flock
- The Boys in the Trees – Mary Swan
- Night Train to Lisbon – Pascal Mercier
- Breath – Tim Winton
- The Whalestoe Letters – Mark Z. Danielewski
- Ten Thousand Lovers – Edeet Ravel
- City of Thieves – David Benioff
- The Door – Magda Szabo
- Detective Story – Imre Kertesz
- A Pigeon and a Boy – Meir Shalev
- A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini
- The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga
- Home – Marilynne Robinson
- The Secret Scripture – Sebastian Barry
- Guernica – David Boling
- What Was Lost – Catherine O’Flynn
- Sorry – Gail Jones
- Offshore – Penelope Fitzgerald
- The Dawning of the Day – Haim Sabato
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
- Sea of Poppies
- The Road
- Outliers
- Freakonomics
- there is no me without you
- We Need to Talk About Kevin
- Absalom, Absalom
- Disgrace
- The Book Thief
- In Defense of Food
- Man of the House
- Love Walked In
- The Big Four
- Brisingr
- Endless Night
- Farworld: Water Keep
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
- This Present Darkness
- Here, There Be Dragons
- Lady Susan
- That Hideous Strength
- Codex 632
- The Praise of Folly
- A Pocket Full of Rye
- Eragon
- A Flaw in the Blood
- The Gone-Away World – Nick Harkaway
- Little Brother – Cory Doctorow
- How To Ditch Your Fairy – Justine Larbalestier
- The Likeness – Tana French
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer
- and Annie Barrows
- Parnassus on Wheels – Christopher Morley
- Into Thin Air – Jon Krakauer
- A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson
- Tomato Girl – Jayne Pupek
- Mudbound – Hillary Jordan
- The Art of Racing in the Rain – Garth Stein
- The Wreckage – Michael Crummy
- Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen
- You Went Away – Timothy Findley
- Mostly Happy – Pam Bustin
- The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
- The Road
- Interpreter of Maladies
- The Senator’s Wife
- Annie Dunne
- Last Night at the Lobster
- The Future of Love – Shirley Abbott
- Letter from Point Clear – Dennis McFarland
- Finding Nouf – Zoë Ferraris
- The Birds Fall Down – Rebecca West
- The Uncommon Reader – Alan Bennett
- A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian – Marina Lewycka
- The Dreyfus Affair – Peter Lefcourt
- Kansas in August – Patrick Gale
- The Year of Fog – Michelle Richmond
- 13 Little Blue Envelopes – Maureen Johnson (Young Adult)
- A Bride Most Begrudging – Deeanne Gist (Inspirational Romance)
- Austenland – Shannon Hale (Chick Lit)
- Cook’s Treasure – Jennifer Cooper (Romance)
- Drums of Autumn – Diana Gabaldon (Historical Fiction)
- Finding Hope – Brenda Coulter (Romance)
- Mansfield Park – Jane Austen (Classic, Romance)
- Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen (Classic, Romance)
- Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen (Classic, Romance)
- Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen (Classic, Romance)
- Spiderweb for Two – Elizabeth Enright (Childrens)
- The Broken Window – Jeffery Deaver (Suspense)
- The Sleeping Doll – Jeffery Deaver (Suspense)
- I Am the Messenger – Markus Zusak
- The Year of Living Biblically – A.J. Jacobs
- Lamb – Christopher Moore
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma – Michael Pollen
- East of Eden – John Steinbeck
But to make things even more interesting, do you have any books that you’ve read since January 1st that you’re sure will be a favorite of the year? I have a few already, like The Help by Kathryn Stockett, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffery Deaver. So what’s captured your attention so far this year?
February 26th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
I’m really enjoying Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay! I can’t imagine reading 10 OTHERS this year that would be better, pushing it off my best of list for 2009. It’s great.
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February 26th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Trish, my favourites so far for this year are:
1) Ritual by Mo Hayder
2) Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
3) Fallen Skies by Philippa Gregory
4) The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
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February 27th, 2009 at 3:42 am
So many books I haven’t heard of on the list! Must look them all up.
My 3 favourites of the years so far are Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan, The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak, and Paper Towns by John Green. I’m sure they’ll still be favourites by the end of the year. I’ll be very surprised if they’re not. But GOOD surprised, because it will mean I’ll have read books that are even more amazing, and I can’t even begin to imagine that
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February 27th, 2009 at 4:28 am
I have some I just know will be on the’09 list:
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani
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February 27th, 2009 at 4:40 am
Well, some people out there really like Neil Gaiman. Rightly so, sure, but still… Some good books on the list, some that I didn’t like too much… A nice roundup nonetheless. My favorite book so far has been “The Master and Margarita”, which, granted, is not a particularly new book. And that’s a book I know won’t be ousted so soon – it pushed its way into my favorite book slot, which is pretty hard to do…
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February 27th, 2009 at 4:53 am
I missed the original post but I do have to add:
# Molokai; Richard Brennert
# Every Last Cuckoo; Kate Maloy
# Purple Hibiscus; Adichie
# Testimony; Shreve
# Unaccustomed Earth; Lahari
# The Commoner; Schwartz
# Chosen By a Horse; Richards
# Alex and Me; Pepperberg
# The Last Lecture; Pausch
# The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid; Bryson
#The Book of Bright Ideas; Kring
# Julius Winsome; Donovan – 5/5
# The Little Giant of Aberdeen County; Baker
#The Space Between Us; Umrigar
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February 27th, 2009 at 7:08 am
Wow, what a list! Luckily I’ve already read some of them (the classics, mostly), so my TBR piles has not expanded to the size of the list.
I just posted a review of a new book that may be one of my favorites of the year, Sarah Vowell’s The Wordy Shipmates.
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February 27th, 2009 at 7:42 am
I am absolutely sure that Half of a Yellow Sun will be on my best of 2009 list.
There’s a very good chance that Crime and Punishment, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Les Miserables will also make the list.
If you would like some help with make a list like this a bit more flashy in the future please feel free to ask. I’d be happy to make an animoto slide show for you.
You can see one of mine here:
http://readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.com/2009/01/happy-600.html
Cheers
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February 27th, 2009 at 8:18 am
All Time Favorite Book is…………Drum roll Please…….
The Bible
And yes, I will read it again and again throught out the years…Ok once a year has always been my goal.
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February 27th, 2009 at 9:13 am
I’ve only read about five books on this list. A lot of the books on the list are on my TBR list.
I really liked The Help too. I’m sure it will be on my list of favorites for this year.
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February 27th, 2009 at 9:26 am
The fave books that I consider to be my core books are East of Eden, Rebecca, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Separate Peace and more recently The Terror and Drood but the rest isn’t coming to mind right now even though I know they were great.
Your list is great though and your are right, I have added a lot to my TBR list because of it.
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February 27th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I actually just finished one that I’m sure will be a favorite for the year. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach, a wonderful look at what happens to cadavers, particularly the various things that could happen to you if you donate your body to science. Oh, and I found it wildly funny too…that could just be because I have sick sense of humor.
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February 27th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Ive read a lot of these too! I am planning on reading the Help soon–it is on its way to my house now!
I also loved Sarah’s Key and Stiff!
A book not on your list that I loved in 2008: Jenna Blum’s Those Who Save Us.
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February 27th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
i adored east of eden, the book and the movie.
-amy
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February 28th, 2009 at 11:15 am
For 2008 I’m sure “Olive Kitteridge” will be on my “best of” list.
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February 28th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
My favorite so far this year is Ellen Baker’s Keeping the House. There have been a fair number of good books, but not many ‘wow’ books yet.
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March 1st, 2009 at 6:47 am
So far I’d have to say:
“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet” by Jamie Ford
“The Little Giant of Aberdeen County” by Tiffany Baker
“Fool” by Christopher Moore
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March 1st, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Great list! My favoite so far this year is Stealing Athena by Karen Essex! This will be a favorite for 2009, for sure!!
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March 1st, 2009 at 3:44 pm
What a great list of books!
Wendi
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March 2nd, 2009 at 7:17 am
I can never pick favorites. I just wait until the end of year, look at the books I rated the highest, and determine which ones still strike a chord in me.
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March 2nd, 2009 at 4:41 pm
I have two that will contend for a spot on my favorite reads list of 2009. The first was THE REDBREAST by Jo Nesbo. The second was THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY. I know, I’m late in getting to that one, but I waited 6 months for it to come from the library. It was worth the wait, though.
I also have MIND SCRAMBLER (Chris Grabenstein). I actually read it last year – Chris sent me a copy around Christmas. But it doesn’t come out until this June. So, do you think it should be on this year’s list?
I’m also anticipating some biggies down the pike here: Robert Crais will have a new Joe Pike novel out this year, Michael Koryta will have a new Lincoln Perry, and Michael Stanley will have a new Kubu. Those are sure to compete on the best of list as well!
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March 6th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
[...] Trish at Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’? has compiled a list of the books book bloggers considered their best read of 2008. Lots of good titles [...]
March 25th, 2009 at 7:09 am
I am totally with you on The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Also, two great books published in 2008 that I only discovered in 09 were THE GOOD THIEF by Hannah Tinti and THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Steig Larsson.
Wish I’d seen your 2008 list when you were asking for favorites–THE GARGOYLE by Andrew Davidson was by far my favorite read of 2008 and didn’t make anyone else’s list!
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