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Best and Worst

W

Wabbit

New Member
Well, the year is almost over now. What's the best and worst you have read?

What is the...

  • Best Novel
  • Worst novel
  • Best non-fiction
  • Worst non-fiction
  • Most original
  • Best children's fiction

I would say best novel is Kiss of the Spider woman by Manuel Puig and the worst is The Doomsday Brunette by John Zakour & Lawrence Canem. Although it did have the best title! But the novel. There are just now words enough for it's crapness!

Best and worst fiction. I actually haven't read any this year. Unless you count stuff on the net. I read a lot of non-fiction stuff over a wide range of subjects on the internet.

Most original is, for sure, The Encyclopedia of Snow by Sarah Emily Miano.
 
I guess on "worst non-fiction", I'll have to say "Fever Pitch" written by Nick Hornby. It has nothing to do with the author or the writing or anything, it's just me who picked up the wrong book. ;)

On the rest, I need to do some thinking... :)

By the way, can you add "Best children's books"? :D (I read Madonna's "The English Roses" and it was marvellous.) :D
 
Maya said:
I guess on "worst non-fiction", I'll have to say "Fever Pitch" written by Nick Hornby. It has nothing to do with the author or the writing or anything, it's just me who picked up the wrong book. ;)

On the rest, I need to do some thinking... :)

By the way, can you add "Best children's books"? :D (I read Madonna's "The English Roses" and it was marvellous.) :D
Click to expand...

Ok, added "best children's fiction! lol
 
1)War and Peace
2)To Have and Have Not/Da-Vinci Code/Angels & Demons
3)Treatise on Human Nature
4).......
5)Was
6)The Giver
 
The best novel this year is "Legend of Drizzt Book I: Homeland" By RA Salvatore

Worst is probably one I bought for school use. "Far North" by William Hobbs

Best Non-Fiction eh? hmm....Probably "Walk Two Moons" by a author I can't quite remember the name of (Left the book in school over the holdiays) It might have been Sharron Creech now that I think about it....

Worst Non-Fiction? Easily, "It's Good to be the King...Sometimes" by Jerry "The King" Lawler....

Most original....Woh, thats a tough one...Probably "Make or Break Spring" by Janet McNaughton.

Best Children's Fiction is easily "Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix" by JK Rowling
 
Not sure I can make a good contribution but I'll try....

Er best fiction... Really have no idea. Just sooo many. Possibly The Shining by Stephen King, but really... No idea.

Worst fiction... Well I read half of an Anne Rice book called, I think, Violin. It was depressing and boring.

Best non-fiction... Possibly John Simpson's books, although I once read a fascinating book about Eva Perón for my degree but have long since forgotten the title and author.

Worst non-fiction.... No idea

Best kids' fiction... His Dark Materials trilogy
 
Best Fiction goes to...Jose Saramago's Blindness
Worst Fiction...Ann Ripley's Death at the Spring Plant Sale. Nothing particularly bad about it, I just found it rather dull :eek:
Best Non-Fiction...Leap of Faith by Queen Noor. I found it very interesting and learned a few things along the way.
Worst Non-Fiction...This one was hard, because all of the non-fiction I read this year was good, but it's In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson because it was about 100 pages too long. It kind of dragged at the end.
Most Original...If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino. A very unusual approach.
Best Children's Fiction...An Orange for a Bellybutton by Haruo Fukami. My five year old son thinks it is hilarious.
 
Best Novel - DaVinci Code

Worst novel - No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (got the name wrong on the other thread)

Best non-fiction - Icebound (thanks for the recommendation!)

Worst non-fiction - Didn't find one.

Most original - Well, mine of course! ;)

Best children's fiction - HP & Order of the Phoenix
 
Best Novel - The Stone Angel or The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Worst novel - Two Georges
Best non-fiction - The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough
Worst non-fiction - n/a
Most original - Blindness by Jose Saramago - Could also be best novel.
Best children's fiction - n/a (didn't read any)
 
Best Novel - The Pursuit of Happiness by Douglas Kennedy
Worst novel - That Certain Age by Elizabeth Buchan
Best non-fiction - A Short History of Almost Everything by Bill Bryson (think that's the title, anyway).
Worst non-fiction - The Olive Season by Carol Drinkwater
Most original - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (and a strong contender for Best Novel, IMO)
Best children's fiction - Re-read the Hobbit this year, does that count?
 
* Best Novel: The Once and Future King - T.H. White
* Worst Novel: A Little Magic - Nora Roberts
* Best non-fiction: The Prince - Machiavelli
* Worst non-fiction: The newspaper probably... but then again, that might be conisdered fiction
* Most original: Tailchaser's Song - Tad Williams
* Best children's fiction: The Neverending Story - Micheal Ende
 
Not necessarily published in 2004, but read by me in 2004.

Best Novel......Dennis Lehane - Mystic River
Worst Novel.....Dean Koontz - Twilight Eyes
Best Non-Fiction....Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything
Worst Non-Fiction.... None
Most Original....??? - can't say I've read anything truly original this year
Best Childrens.....Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
 
* Best Novel: Dune by Frank Herbert
* Worst novel: Visions of Sugar Plums by J. Evanovich
* Best non-fiction: The Alchemists: Magic into Science by T. Aylesworth
* Worst non-fiction: N/A
* Most original: The Great Train Robbery by Crichton
* Best children's fiction: The Year of the Griffin by D. W. Jones
 
Well I didn't read many published this year, but I did read quite a few older titles:


Best fiction: The World According To Garp - John Irving (just pipping Eugenides' Middlesex. I guess this takes the most original title as well- it's still nearly impossible to describe Garp.
Author to watch - Michel Faber
Worst fiction: The Charm School - Nelson DeMille

Best non-fiction: Angela's Ashes: A Memoir of a Childhood - Frank McCourt (just pipping Beevor's Stalingrad)
Worst non-fiction: Band of Brothers - Stephen E. Ambrose (though to be fair I haven't read more than 6 or 7 non-fiction books this year).

Best children's fiction: I need to abstain from this one as I haven't read many this year. I refuse to give it to Nix for Sabriel as I thought it was dull, and Ender's Game was a reread.
 
Best Novel = Blindness by Jose Saramago (it became an instant favorite)
Worst novel = The Silent Lady by Catherine Cookson
Best non-fiction = Vancouver by D. Cruise and A. Griffiths. It may not qualify as non-fiction, but portions of it are accurate (as the stories unfold around actual events)
Most original = Blindess for sure. Saramago's brilliant use of punctuation really draws you into the story
 
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