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message 2: by [deleted user] (last edited Dec 25, 2008 02:23PM) (new)

I didn't read any new releases this year (on purpose).

i can't really remember what I read this year, but one book that stands out is Richard Ford's The Sportswriter, which absolutely bowled me over. I don't think it's for everyone, but I loved it. The main character kinda reminded me of a mix between Kevin Spacey's character in American Beauty and Vincent Chase from Entourage for some reason.

Also, I read Gary Shteyngart's Russian Debutante's Handbook which is funny as hell. Perhaps, not as sharp as Absurdistan, but still a really good comic novel. I can't wait for his third book.

Which brings me to Kingsley Amis Lucky Jim and Everyday Drinking. Lucky Jim is a funny book. There's really no way to say it. If you like the dry, absurd humor of Office Space, you'd probably like Lucky Jim. Everyday Drinking is funny too, like a good friend when he's drunk.

And finally, Denis Johnson's Nobody Move serial novel that was published in Playboy was good. Johnson has a tendency to get pretty zany in his novels, and I think this was the work to prove it. He's always worn the Chandler influence quite loudly on his sleeve, but this is his most flagrant homage to the father of hard-boiled crime fiction. Hopefully they will publish this in a trade paperback.

i also read a bunch of poetry for this first time this year. I especially enjoyed the Coleman Bark translations of the rumi and the daniel ladinsky tranlastions of Hafez. Other than that, Bukowski and Billy Collins were constantly in tote where i went. The Raymond Carver collection of poetry All of Us was good as well.

merry christmas


message 3: by Alfonso (new)

Alfonso I can't really remember all of the books that I read this year.
Some of the best books that I read this year are:

1. The Soloist
2. Thousand Splendid Suns
3. No Country for Old Men
4. The Catcher in the Rye
5. Discovering Impressionism
6. Magic Study

1 & 2 are my top 2 picks this year. The rest are in no specific order.


message 4: by Jane (new)

Jane (janeg) I read a lot that I rated 4, but can't really remember if I liked them better than the ones I read at the end of this year. So this is just what I remember:

1. The Lord of the Rings
2. Poison Study
3. The Shadow of the Wind
4. The Princess Bride
5. The Hunger Games
6. Graceling
7. Princess Academy
8. The Art of Racing in the Rain
9. Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book
10. Flipped

Pride and Prejudice would be at the top of the list, but it's a re-read.


message 5: by Zorana (last edited Feb 25, 2009 03:47AM) (new)

Zorana I'm really getting into these group challenges/questions. My favorite books read in 2008 are:

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns
2. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
3. Water for Elephants
4. The Secret Life of Bees

Thank goodness there is ŷ.com to help me keep track of books I read because I'm sure there were more to add to my list but I can't remember them all.



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