Saturday, December 15, 2007

LIST: Best Reads of the Year 2007

Did I get this done too early? Is there one more book left to blow me away? Probably not, because these were la creme de la creme, of an amazing reading year. I have no reasoning to explain how I picked these books, and next week I could pick differently. But I read all of these quickly; generally late into the night; I want to recommend all of these to people; and maybe they surprised me by sneaking up on me and being so darn entertaining.

I read so many books this year that making a top ten list of books is very difficult. I read over 130 books, so I have to pick the top 10%, and I feel the quality of my reading improved immensely this year, making this task all the harder. I looked at my librarything account and only the highest rated books, and then had to whittle that list down to ten.


  1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling This was the best book, especially if you look at how long it took me to read - not very long at all, and was such a great end to the series. It wasn't just this book, it was all seven in the series, and the ten years it took to read them all. I knew it about Snape!


  2. The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory Best page turner and historical fiction, made me interested in The Tudors, which I watched on CBC. Excellent entertainment, and I've added The Boleyn Inheritance to my tbr for next year.


  3. the perks of being a wallflower - Stephen Chbosky Best tearjerker and heartwarming novel, Charlie's voice was wonderful.


  4. I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak Best message of faith and believing in yourself


  5. Cloud of Bone - Bernice Morgan Best Canadian historical fiction, from an author who hasn't written enough yet.


  6. The Gun Seller - Hugh Laurie Best action adventure, rip roaring yarn, with comedy


  7. Never Let Me Go - Kazou Ishiguro Best dystopian novel, beautifully written and paced


  8. The Bone People - Keri Hulme Best award winner, I was completely swept into this dysfunctional threesome of terrible people, written in a style I've never read before, both beautifully lyrical and poetic


  9. Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman Best fantasy. I read a few Gaiman books, but this was my favorite. Underground London and the parallel universe he created were fabulous.


  10. Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Copeland Best Coupland book, as he is going to make my favorite author list after this year. I read a few of his and this was my favorite of the bunch. I like how all his books are so different, and I have few left to read next year. Yay!

Books that were still really really good, but didn't make top ten:

Best Children's Books I Can't Believe I Didn't Read Before:

A Wrinkle in Time
Bridge to Terabithia
The Giver
A Child's Christmas in Wales

Books I Read Quickly Because They Were So Good:

Half a Yellow Sun
My Sister's Keeper
Something Blue
Good Omens

Really Good Books That I Can't Find a Common Theme to Describe:

Arthur and George
Ordinary People
The Big Sleep
Veronika Decides to Die
The Lost Salt Gift of Blood
Istanbul: Memories and the City

4 comments:

  1. I like how you put your books into categories like that. Very cool. I also loved 'The Bone People' this year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like how you organized your Best Reads list! You definitely had some great books this year. And 130 books read...wow!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are braver than I am posting your list so early yet. Haha

    I agree with the other two commenters about your list--great categories. It sounds like you had a good reading year. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. over 130 books! oh, my! i aspire to read that many!

    the only one on your "top 10" that i've read is the HP, so i've got a bunch to add to the to-read list!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting, so nice of you to visit.

(I'll try without the letters for a while - so please dont be a spammer! Let's try no anonymous users)