The best book of the year

Saramago's Death With Interruptions

Per Petterson's Out Stealing Horses (cheating a bit with the year, but what the heck)

'Resolution' by Robert Parker (who writes the Spenser mysteries). It is a sequel to 'Appaloosa'. Both are old style westerns and very good reads. I don't read a lot of fiction, but would recommend both.

MM

By far: Atonement, by Ian McEwan.

The English Patient, by Michael Ondaatje.

Will, by Christopher Rush. (It's got some weak moments, but overall, it's impressively done.)

Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff, was a lot of fun to read.

Oops, I guess Sedaris isn't technically fiction. I'm sure he takes occasional liberties with the truth, though.

I was late to the party and didn't read Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay until this year, but that'd be my #1 recommendation.

The Crying of Lot 49

III said:

I was late to the party and didn't read Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay until this year, but that'd be my #1 recommendation.

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Quoted for truth. It's golden.

I want to give somebody WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN FLAMES by DAVID SEDARIS. It's like all his other books...remarkably wonderful.

One that leaps to mind for me is Madapple by Christina Meldrum. It's marketed as YA, but a very compelling read no matter your age.

I am an addict when it comes to both Sedaris and Chabon. I read Wonder Boys about 10 times. Same with Sedaris's ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY.

A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotsen. It's in the teen section but it's a fantastic read. I immediately went out and purchased all of the Ibbotsen books I could find.

Another one I loved is Into The Wilderness by Sara Donati.

I actually thought the latest by Sedaris-- When You Are Engulfed in Flames-- was a disappointment. I'm a huge fan, by the way, and have enjoyed all his other books. Me Talk Pretty One Day and Naked were probably his best.

I recommend pretty much anything by Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan-related), Amy Tan (Chinese-American mother-daughter themes), Jodi Picoult (explores relationships intimately), Nick Hornby (hilarious), and Haruki Murakami (alternate realities, what-ifs, Japanese).

Ditto to Hosseini and Amy Tan.

The best novels I've read this year are The Kite Runner and The Bonesetter's Daughter, by those same authors, respectively; Innocent Traitor, by Alison Weir; and Peony in Love, by Lisa See.

I actually read all of Amy Tan's novels this year, and I recommend all except The Kitchen God's Wife, and perhaps Saving Fish From Drowning. They aren't bad novels by any stretch, they just aren't her best works.

I haven't gotten around to reading much Sedaris yet, but I loved Holidays on Ice. It was a great read to start off the holiday season with.

Lets see...I'm loving the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The writing certainly is not top-quality, but the stories are imaginative and fun.

Hm...gee, looks back through my goodreads page, there's a lot I haven't enjoyed reading this year more than I have...

Oh, here we go. House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones. I LOVED this book. It was fantastic. Quirky young adult fantasy at it's best.

I liked Vellum by Hal Duncan quite a lot. I've been meaning to read Ink, the sequel, but I can never find it when I'm out and about.

I also enjoyed The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, and Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, the same guy who wrote Fight Club.

Speaking of 'best book,' has anyone read Bolano's 2666? Does it live up to the hype?

MaggieUC said: A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotsen. It's in the teen section but it's a fantastic read. I immediately went out and purchased all of the Ibbotsen books I could find.

I think it's great that this book is out in full force once again. I loved loved her books when I discovered them a while back (as in a decade or so??). I guess it just shows that they've got staying power and can still be relevant to the modern reader. Like you, I was so glad that she wrote other books!

DeNiro's Game by Rawi Hage. Dublin Impac award winner this year. Beatiful Book, great story.

An old one but fantastic, The Curious Incident of the Dog At Night-time.

Any book by Andy McNab. They're thrillers, it's a series but the books stand alone well enough. Ex SAS soldier writing about an ex SAS soldier. Fantastic, authentic, gritty. A Main character that is oh so flawed but you can't help but love him.

I'm way too late for anyone's Christmas list, but still...

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.