Booking Through Thursday: Best Books of 2008

From Booking Through Thursday

It’s a week or two later than you’d expect, and it may be almost a trite question, but…what were your favorite books from 2008?

If I had to pick one single best book of 2008, I would say The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It’s fantastic, creepy, shocking, gripping, and so much more, all at the same time. After I finished, I was bookless for a few days as I tried to find something that could follow it. So good.

The best older book I finally read was Watership Down by Richard Adams. I don’t know how rabbits can be so enthralling, but my goodness, they can.

As for newer fiction, I adored Ariana Franklin’s Mistress of the Art of Death books. There are technically only two so far (Mistress of the Art of Death and The Serpent’s Tale), but I read the galley of the third one (Grave Goods), which will be out early this year. It was my favorite of the three, so keep an eye out for it!

My non-fiction favorites from 2008 are all along the same theme. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, and Made from Scratch by Jenna Woginrich are all excellent books that have all impacted my life in a positive way. Anyone interested in being more involved in where the things in his or her life come from should check these books out.

And there you have it…my favorite books of 2008!

Back!

Well, computer troubles and then holiday madness have kept me away for far too long. I’m back now, on my shiny new Mac, and ready for 2009.

I’m hesitant to make resolutions. If we were playing Word Association and you said “New Year’s Resolution,” I’d say “fall off the wagon.” They’re associated with failure for me, not because of past experience but because of our culture, I think. And so I’ve made goals instead.

The only goal that applies to this blog is, of course, the book-related one. I have too many books (surprise!). I’ve already built myself one new bookshelf in the past year, and now I have a two-foot stack of new acquisitions that won’t even fit on my shelves.

The silly part is that I haven’t even read probably three quarters of the books I own. People look at my collection and ask me, “Oh, how was this one?” and I sheepishly admit I’ve not yet read it. I move far too often cart around so many unread books.

And so my book goal for 2009 is to always be reading at least one book from my own shelves. I know I won’t be able to resist all the new books I see at work or the recommendations of friends, so I won’t limit myself to books I own. But I’ll always be reading one.

If it catches my attention in the first 50 pages, I’ll read it, then decide if it’s something I’d read again or lend to someone. If so, it stays; if not, it gets sold or donated. If the book in question can’t even make it 50 pages, I’m letting myself set it aside. Life is too short to read uninteresting books.

First up is Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo, a novel that’s due out later this month. The premise is a complete historical swap: 400 years ago, Africans enslaved Europeans, not the other way around. The novel is told by Doris, a British woman who was captured and sold into slavery in Africa.

I’m about 60 pages in, and thus far the combo of current oppressed state versus nostalgic flashbacks reminds me of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (in a good way!). More on that once I finish!

Teaser Tuesdays: “The Sky Village” by Monk and Nigel Ashland

Sky Village by Monk and Nigel Ashland (cover)From Teaser Tuesdays
TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
  • You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
  • Please avoid spoilers!

Well, after finishing The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (last week’s teaser), I was a bit at a loss. I wandered around bookless for a few days, trying to find something to follow up that amazing book. I finally pulled the first book of The Kaimira Code series, The Sky Village, off the shelf at work, and I’m really liking it. It’s the start of a new series by Monk & Nigel Ashland, and so far I really like it. Here’s a taste:

“‘I can’t believe this,’ she said, her finger still tingling. Somehow, all this time, the Tree Book had been sharing stories about real kids. But why?”

Booking Through Thursday: Conditioning

From Booking Through Thursday

Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way around make you flinch or squeal in pain?

I like my books to end up in about the same condition they were in before I started reading them when I finish. If I picked up a book at a library sale that’s in not-so-good condition, I’m less careful with it and mind less if the spine is already cracked or a page or two folded.

However, I will NOT do these things myself. If I have a new or fairly new book that I’m reading, I’m very careful with it. No bending the cover around, no dog-earing the pages. Other people can do whatever they want to their own books; it doesn’t bother me. But the minute they start doing them to ones they’ve borrowed from me–intentionally or not–I am not a happy camper!

I guess it’s because even though I read my books (meaning they’re not just for decoration), they take up so much of my wall space when I’m not reading them that I want them to look nice. Books are an investment that I paid for, so I like to spare them unnecessary damage.

Teaser Tuesdays: “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (cover)From Teaser Tuesdays

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

  • Grab your current read.
  • Let the book fall open to a random page.
  • Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
  • You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
  • Please avoid spoilers!

From The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, an amazing and creepily scary read about the fusing of reality TV with teen gladiators under the government’s command…

“The people begin to point at us eagerly as they recognize a tribute train rolling into the city. I step away from the windows, sickened by their excitement, knowing they can’t wait to watch us die.”

It’s really good. In a really creepy, gives-you-a-lot-to-think-about sort of way.