Sunday, December 30, 2007

Best and Worst of 2007

Best and Worst of 2007
  • All the books I've read in 2007 follow the lists.
  • The date the book was reviewed here follows the title and author.
  • One book per author.
  • I didn't include any books I've re-read.
  • There were several other books I would probably place in the best of category, but I wanted to limit it to ten fiction and five nonfiction. For this reason there is an honorable mention category... and I probably could have put a few more books on that list.
  • I read the Bible daily, but this is not included in the list.
  • At this point I don't have a rating system in place, so books read earlier in the year may suffer in comparison to those read later.

Best Fiction:
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver 9/3 (This book still haunts me.)
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 8/28
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 4/1
The Cobra Event by Richard Preston 4/11
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 2/18
The Road by Cormac McCarthy 8/19
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 8/24
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 9/29
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult 3/26
Year Zero by Jeff Long 3/16

Honorable Mention:
The Memory Keeper's Daughter 2/5
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields 5/20
The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook 10/30
The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver 11/13
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle 11/20
Eifelheim by Michael Flynn 11/24


Best Nonfiction:
Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson 2/2
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls 2/6
Polio: An American Story by David M. Oshinsky 2/24
Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields 5/30
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris 9/5

Honorable mention:
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan 1/
Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim by David Sedaris 11/7
A Country Year: Living the Question by Sue Hubbell 6/23
Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel 2/4
Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel, Faith D'Aluisio 2/4


Worst books for 2007:
Nonfiction: Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris 3/13 (pure self-indulgent drivel)
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke 10/22 (had potential if it had been edited down to say 500 pages)
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos 10/8


Books read in 2007:

December:
98. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute 12/29
97. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver 12/26
96. The New Springtime by Robert Silverberg 12/24
95. At Winter's End by Robert Silverberg 12/22
94. Forever by Pete Hamill 12/19
93. Girls of Tender Age 12/16
92. A Gathering of Stars by Donald Moffitt 12/14
91. Crescent in the Sky by Donald Moffitt 12/12
90. Dirt Music by Tim Winton 12/10
87. The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon 12/3

November:
86. Blessed Are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch 11/29
85. A Perfectly Good Family by Lionel Shriver 11/28
84. The Bright Forever by Lee Martin 11/26
83. Eifelheim by Michael Flynn 11/24
82. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle 11/20
81. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak 11/17
80. The Rock Orchard by Paula Wall 11/15
79. Borrowed Finery: A Memoir by Paula Fox 11/14
78. The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver 11/13
77. Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim by David Sedaris 11/7
76. Whistling In the Dark by Lesley Kagen 11/5
75. The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett 11/1

October:
74. The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook 10/30
73. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold 10/25
72. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke 10/22
71. Fifty Acres and a Poodle by Jeanne Marie Laskas 10/14
70. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos 10/8

September:
69. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 9/29
68. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin 9/25
67. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller, Jr. 9/21
66. Deeper by Jeff Long 9/13
65. The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child 9/8
64. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris 9/5
63. I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson 9/4
62. We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver 9/3

August:
61. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 8/28
60. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 8/24
59. The Road by Cormac McCarthy 8/19
58. The Judas Strain by James Rollins 8/17
57. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood 8/11 reread

July: (moved half way across the country this month)
56. The Divide by Nicholas Evans 7/30
55. The Wall by Jeff Long 7/25

June:
54. The Bone People by Keri Hulme 6/30
53. A Country Year: Living the Question by Sue Hubbell 6/23
52. American Gods by Neil Gaiman 6/21
51. The Reckoning by Jeff Long 6/18
50. The Circus Fire by Stewart O'Nan 6/9
49. Man and Wife by Tony Parsons 6/4
48. Man and Boy by Tony Parsons 6/1

May:
47. Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields 5/30
46. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 8/28 reread
45. Dreamcatcher by Stephen King 5/26
44. Virus X: Tracking the New Killer Plagues by Frank Ryan, M.D. 5/21
43. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields 5/20
42. Level 4 Virus Hunters of the CDC by Drs. Joseph McCormick and SusanFisher-Hoch 5/16
41. Treasure of Khan by Clive and Dirk Cussler 5/10
40. The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd by Richard Zacks 5/4
39. Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly 5/2

April:
38. Blackbeard: America's Most Notorious Pirate by Angus Konstam 4/27
37. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill 4/22
36. Virus Hunter by C. J. Peters and Mark Olshaker 4/21
35. The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen 4/17
34. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston 4/13
33. The Cobra Event by Richard Preston 4/11
32. The World Rushed In by J.S. Holliday 4/7
31. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai 4/5
30. Sleeping at the Starlight Motel by Bailey White 4/2 reread
29. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 4/1

March:
28. The Great Mortality by John Kelly 3/30
27. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult 3/26
26. Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson 3/23
25. The Descent by Jeff Long 3/19
24. Year Zero by Jeff Long 3/16
23. Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris 3/13
22. The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner 3/11
21. The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester 3/8

February:
20. Triangle: The Fire that Changed America 2/28
19. Deep Storm by Lincoln Child 2/28
18. Polio: An American Story by David M. Oshinsky 2/24
17. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield 2/18
16. The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester 2/16
15. Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt 2/13
14. Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson 2/10
13. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls 2/6
12. The Memory Keeper's Daughter 2/5
11. Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel 2/4
10. Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel, Faith D'Aluisio 2/4
9. Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson 2/2

January:
8. Lisey's Story by Stephen King 1/30
7. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson 1/26
6. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs 1/24
5. Next by Michael Crichton
4. Black Order by James Rollins:
3. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
2. The Rift by Walter J. Williams
1. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

1 comment:

Maria said...

I totally agree with you on "Jonathan Strange..."!