Best of 2008

Admittedly rather belated, but then again so am I, habitually. Without ado, the best books that I read in 2008. [Click for Good Reads page.]

1. The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss [adult, realistic]
2. The Bearskinner, by Laura Amy Schlitz [picture book]
3. Wasted, by Marya Hornbacher [memoir]
4. Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, by Kirsten Miller [young adult, adventure]
5. The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope [young adult, historical/fantasy]
6. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie [young adult, realistic]
7. God's Silence, by Franz Wright [poetry]
8. Coraline, by Neil Gaiman [middle-grade, fantasy/horror]
9. Looking for Alaska, by John Green [young adult, realistic]
10. Anne of the Island, by L.M. Montgomery [young adult?, realistic]
11. Song of the Sparrow, by Lisa Ann Sandell [young adult, verse, historical/fantasy]
12. The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt [middle-grade, realistic/historical]

Favorites books of 2007

So I'm finally back at school, and in this brief quiet before classes start I looked through my records of books I've read, and out of the ones I read for the first time this year, my absolute favorites were:

Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery -- The kind of story that I finish reluctantly and would want to live in: humorous, warm, and satisfying.
Honeymoon in Purdah, by Alison Wearing* -- One of my favorite books of any year. A beautifully told account of the months the writer spent traveling in Iran, posing with a male friend as a couple on their honeymoon. So poetic and so funny, with a cast of unforgettable characters, and always fascinating. I couldn't put it down. "A delightfully insane jaunt through contemporary Iran."
The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner* -- Cool pseudo-ancient Greek setting, with a seriously well-crafted plot, including an absolutely delicious twist
Blood Red Horse, by K.M. Grant * -- A thoroughly engrossing, perfectly plotted YA novel set in England and the Holy Lands in the time of the Third Crusade
Book of a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale -- Hm...I'm struggling as to what to say, heh.
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, by Anne Fadiman* -- A collection of brilliant essays on all the various aspects of book-loving. Tremendously funny and insightful.
Pyongyang, by Guy Delisle -- A graphic non-novel about the author's time working (he's a French cartoonist) in the North Korean capital. Hilarious and fascinating.

But there were a bunch of others which were also quite good, and I couldn't let those go without mention:
A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor
A Maze Me, by Naomi Shihab Nye
American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang
Culture Shock! Israel, by Dick Winter
A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue, by Wendy Shalit
The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo
13 Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson *
Acceleration, by Graham McNamee *
Avielle of Rhia, by Dia Calhoun
Drowned Wednesday, by Garth Nix
Sir Thursday, by Garth Nix
Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld
Pretties,by Scott Westerfeld
Specials, by Scott Westerfeld
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith *
The Kalahari Typing School for Men, by Alexander McCall Smith
I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You, by Ally Carter
Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, by Ally Carter

*denotes mature/mature-ish content

P.S. I added some blogs to my list over there --> ^