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Your best books of this year.

saliotthomas

saliotthomas

New Member
It's now or never.

What are they, or just the one?

Here is mine.

The Classic heavyweight

Lawrence Durrell-Justine/Balthazar
Umberto Eco-The name of the rose
Isaac Bashevis Singer - The Slave
Mika Watari-Nuori Johannes
Evelyn Waugh-Brideshead Revisited
Miklos Banffy-They were found wanting
Marguerite Yourcenar-A coin in nine hand
Marguerite Yourcenar-Alexis-Le coup de graceRomain Gary-La vie devant soi(Momo)

The all American boys

Richard Yates-Revolutionary roadPhilipe Roth-Americain Pastora
Jim harrison-A good day to die
Larry Brown-Father and son


The odd ones
Pierre Michom- The origine of the world
Alberto Moravia-Two-a phallic novel
Torgny Lindgren-The way of the snake
Arto Paasilinna-The year of the hare
Penelop Fitzgerald-The Blue flower

The Fictional Non fiction
Amin Maalouf-Identités Meurtières
Joane Didion-The year of magical thinkingBruce
Chatwin-In Patagonia

Good fun
Richard Stark-Comebackand all the Westlake really
Chester Himes-Real cool killer
Patrick Rambaud-The exile

miscellaneous

Jacques spitz-the eye of purgatory
Colm Toibin-The master
Per Petterson-Out stealing Horses
Charif Majdalani-The history of the big house
 
My best reads of 09
classics:
The Old Man and The Sea - Hemmingway
To Kill a Mocking bird - Harper Lee

Great Fiction:
the plot against america - phillip roth
life of pi- yann martel
a fraction of the whole - steve tolz
a thousand acres - jane smiley
gilead - marilynne robinson

historical fiction:
the given day - dennis lehane

crime + fun fiction:
black dahlia - james ellroy
the terror - dan simmons
dixie city jam - james lee burke
 
So far mine would be the following:
The Jewel of Seven Stars - Bram Stoker
The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Children of Hurin - J.R.R. Tolkien
Rampant - Diana Peterfreund
The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle

However, there are still a few more days left of the present year so I have the chance to add to this list. ;)
 
The ones that stood out.

The Frontiersmen - Allan W. Eckert
The Informers - Bret Easton Ellis
The Wasp Factory - Ian Banks
City of Thieves - David Benioff
The Book of Skulls - Robert Silverberg
An American Childhood - Annie Dillard
Island - Aldous Huxley
The Lathe of Heaven - Ursula K. Le Guin
The Terror - Dan Simmons
 
From the 40 or so listed on my blog up above, first place undoubtedly goes to:

Clarice Lispector - The Stream of Life​

Then, close second, a challenging but finally an utterly fascinating play:

Samuel Beckett - Waiting for Godot.​

Followed by three novels which were complete joys to read:

J.D.Salinger - Franny and Zooey

Philip Roth - Ghost Writer

Bernard Beckett - Genesis​

And then a book with simply beautiful poetry:

William Harmon, Ed. - The Classic One Hundred Poems​


Roberto Bolano's 2666 is still in progress, but seems unlikely to make the cut. Maybe something else will yet squeeze in.
Till next year.
Cheers!
 
General Fiction:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Girl in a Swing by Richard Adams
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin
Freddy and Fredricka by Mark Helprin
Memoir From Antproof Case by Mark Helprin
The Stranger by Albert Camus
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Fantasy:

Little, Big by John Crowley
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip
The Tawny Man Trilogy by Robin Hobb
Jurgen by James Branch Cabell


Science Fiction:

The Door Into Summer by Robert A Heinlein
The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

I hope I didn't forget any good ones.
 
so far mine are the following:
The krewe hunters series by Heather Graham
Beachroad by James Patterson
Lisa Gardner Hide,and Alone
 
Leviathan - Paul Auster
Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
Black Lung Captain- Chris Wooding
Fevre Dream - George R. R. Martin
 
So far, with three months to go, out of a total of about 40 books read so far:

The Memory Chalet - Tony Judt
The Summer Without Men - Siri Hustvedt (Kindle)
Remainder - Tom McCarthy
Embassy Town - China Mieville
Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters - J.D. Salinger
The Hunters - James Salter
By Nightfall - Michael Cunningham
The Pedersen Kid - William Gass

Hopefully a couple more will turn up before year's end.
 
There is a thread around here mentioning the best thrillers of the year, and I listed two by Stuart Neville. Collusion and The Ghosts of Belfast.

But other favs would be:

Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Memory Chalet by Tony Judt
Augustus by Anthony Everitt
Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
The Stalin Epigram by Robert Littell
Sister by Rosamund Lupton
Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton
 
Just three for me so far:

The Old Man and The Sea - Hemmingway
To Kill a Mocking bird - Harper Lee
Never Let Me Go - Ian McEwan
 
The Girl Who Kicked A Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson

Pride And Prejudice - Jane Austen

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling

First Blood - David Morrell

The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
 
The Coming Of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert Howard was the best "book" I read this year probably. It is a book with a bunch of short stories about Conan. It is actually the first book in a trilogy.

Besides, that, I enjoyed all of the Game of Thrones series by George R.R. Martin. Five books ranging from 800-1000 pages? yes please.

The Grey Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima was also really good.
 
The Heroes by Joe Ambercrombie
The latest book in his First Law fantasy series.

Out of all the crap I've read this year that is the only one I gave a 8 or higher out of 10 too. Lots of mediocre books this year.
 
So far I only have two 5 star ratings in 2011 (but the year ain't over yet)

Time to Hunt - Stephen Hunter
To The Last Man - Jeff Shaara
 
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