While I rev up my engine to get the next installment about my favourite books of 2008 written, I am giving you this space so you can tell each other which books really hit the right spot for you in 2008!
Hello Sharon, I have quite a few favourites but the most used book in 2008 (and in 2009 for sure) is a bilingual dictionary, because I'm trying to learn a new language!
My favourites for 2008 would be Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. Though the subject matter could be boring to some, I think Joshua Ferris successfully outlined the my true feelings of the modern working world to perfection so I had a strong connection to the book. I also enjoyed The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. I think he did a tremendous job in keeping me awake way past my bedtime. And of course, The Last Lecture by Randy Paush wins my vote for the best non-fiction book. This book truly changed my life.
Best novel: 1. Devil's Place, Brian Gomez 2. Legacy, Shahriza Hussein
Stories: 1. Ripples and Other Stories, Shih-li Kow 2. Kasut Biru Rubina, Sufian Abas
Can't think of local non-fiction books that I enjoyed all that much. Most of the published ones seem to be recycled newspaper columns anyway. But special mention must go to Things In Common by Syed Akbar Ali.
My favourites for 2008 are;- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Book Theif by Markus Zusak, Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, Firethorn by Sarah Miklem. I also enjoyed:- Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris. I could go on. Just found your blog by looking at World Music- a love of mine. I'll call again.
haha amir, you premepted me 'cos i'd choose those 2 as my favourite local novels too and paln to write about them within the next day or two. am angry with myself at being so slow posting up thoughts about books read while you go and review 'em even before i know they exist!! am really looking forward to shi-li's books
kareina - if you go live there then please take me with you!!!
PDD - yes but the BEST???
alice - thanks. of those i think i fancy "the book thief" most.
ms ulat buku - yes randy pausch inspires me too. and i have the joshua ferris book which i want to read very much
hi Lynne, very nice to meet you - yes the world music is a passion and i have a v big CD collection but haven't added to it much recently
Hi Sharon, if you're a book mad Brit living in Malaysia, how about reading a fictional book about how industry is doing back in the UK. Try An Agent For Change, available at www.eloquentbooks.com/AgentForChange.html
Heat by Bill Buford - Hilarious & sometimes shocking account of this ex-New Yorker editor's education as a chef at a top NY restaurant. A comprehensive history and background to Italian culinary history is weaved into the story. The amount of research involved is astounding. My most ENJOYABLE read of 2008.
Mr Pip - Most of your readers have probably beat me to this. It is amazing how Lloyd Jones gets into the mind of a 13-year-old Polynesian girl.
A Malaysian Journey - 2008 was also the year I first picked up this Malaysian classic. I even wrote to Rehman to thank him for writing it, so moved was I by his feelings, which I share, of our tanahair.
It's not a book published in 2008 (it was 2007), but I read it last year, and of all the ones I've read this was the most satisfying and thoroughly delicious language-wise. The Yiddish Policeman's Union is my pick for last year. Chabon is the man!
The "Zahir" by Paulo Coelho must be the best book I've read in 2008, not so much its literary quality but the impact it has on others. I read and gave it to a friend who had a serious life dilemma. The book helped her make a decision, which she is now so happy about.
Motivated by me, my 10 year old niece is already reading Coelho's "By the river piedra, I sat and wept".
I like Persepolis, too. And was half way reading Preeta's "Evening is the whole day" but havent completed.
Another favourite was an old book I read by Anais Nin (yes, I am into erotica! so easy to get them in Bangkok!).
But looking at the comments above, my, I do need to catch up with reading loads of other good book :)
Happy New Year and Great Book Reading in 2009 to Sharon and others, too :)
While I rev up my engine to get the next installment about my favourite books of 2008 written, I am giving you this space so you can tell each other which books really hit the right spot for you in 2008!
17 comments:
Hey Sharon, mine are as follows:
FICTION
=======
A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
NON-FICTION
===========
Chasing Daylight by Eugene O'Kelly
Book by Book by Michael Dirda
Stupid Ugly Unlucky and Rich by Richard St. John
Hello Sharon,
I have quite a few favourites but the most used book in 2008 (and in 2009 for sure) is a bilingual dictionary, because I'm trying to learn a new language!
I have the place where I want to live: http://vimeo.com/2295261
My favourites for 2008 would be Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. Though the subject matter could be boring to some, I think Joshua Ferris successfully outlined the my true feelings of the modern working world to perfection so I had a strong connection to the book.
I also enjoyed The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. I think he did a tremendous job in keeping me awake way past my bedtime.
And of course, The Last Lecture by Randy Paush wins my vote for the best non-fiction book. This book truly changed my life.
David Peace's Tokyo Year Zero is one of the worst books I've read in any year.
- Poppadumdum
Local books, 2008
Best novel:
1. Devil's Place, Brian Gomez
2. Legacy, Shahriza Hussein
Stories:
1. Ripples and Other Stories, Shih-li Kow
2. Kasut Biru Rubina, Sufian Abas
Can't think of local non-fiction books that I enjoyed all that much. Most of the published ones seem to be recycled newspaper columns anyway. But special mention must go to Things In Common by Syed Akbar Ali.
My favourites for 2008 are;-
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Book Theif by Markus Zusak, Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, Firethorn by Sarah Miklem. I also enjoyed:- Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris. I could go on.
Just found your blog by looking at World Music- a love of mine. I'll call again.
haha amir, you premepted me 'cos i'd choose those 2 as my favourite local novels too and paln to write about them within the next day or two. am angry with myself at being so slow posting up thoughts about books read while you go and review 'em even before i know they exist!! am really looking forward to shi-li's books
kareina - if you go live there then please take me with you!!!
PDD - yes but the BEST???
alice - thanks. of those i think i fancy "the book thief" most.
ms ulat buku - yes randy pausch inspires me too. and i have the joshua ferris book which i want to read very much
hi Lynne, very nice to meet you - yes the world music is a passion and i have a v big CD collection but haven't added to it much recently
Hi Sharon, if you're a book mad Brit living in Malaysia, how about reading a fictional book about how industry is doing back in the UK. Try An Agent For Change, available at www.eloquentbooks.com/AgentForChange.html
Enjoy, Xavier
Heat by Bill Buford - Hilarious & sometimes shocking account of this ex-New Yorker editor's education as a chef at a top NY restaurant. A comprehensive history and background to Italian culinary history is weaved into the story. The amount of research involved is astounding. My most ENJOYABLE read of 2008.
Mr Pip - Most of your readers have probably beat me to this. It is amazing how Lloyd Jones gets into the mind of a 13-year-old Polynesian girl.
A Malaysian Journey - 2008 was also the year I first picked up this Malaysian classic. I even wrote to Rehman to thank him for writing it, so moved was I by his feelings, which I share, of our tanahair.
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine
It's not a book published in 2008 (it was 2007), but I read it last year, and of all the ones I've read this was the most satisfying and thoroughly delicious language-wise. The Yiddish Policeman's Union is my pick for last year. Chabon is the man!
Mine would have to be Tom Rob Smith's Child 44. The other books I enjoyed reading this year were not published in 2008. They are:
- Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.
- The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Hakawati was one of the better books this year.
- Poppadumdum
Hi Sharon,
These are mine for 2008:
- The World Without Us - Alan Weisman
- The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver
!! so many great books to check out. I read a lot of Italo Calvino this year, and looking for more.
Hi Sharon --
I've moved to Hong Kong but am still reading!
After much thought, decided on Peter Godwin's "When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa" (2008) as the best book I read last year.
Others that were in the 'race' include the following:-
- Pat Conroy's "My Losing Season" (2002)
- Lisa See's "On Gold Mountain: the One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family" (1995)
- Pete Brown's "Three Sheets to the Wind: One Man's Quest for the Meaning of Beer" (2006)
And all five crime novels by Qiu Xialong, an author I only belatedly 'discovered' in 2008.
The "Zahir" by Paulo Coelho must be the best book I've read in 2008, not so much its literary quality but the impact it has on others. I read and gave it to a friend who had a serious life dilemma. The book helped her make a decision, which she is now so happy about.
Motivated by me, my 10 year old niece is already reading Coelho's "By the river piedra, I sat and wept".
I like Persepolis, too. And was half way reading Preeta's "Evening is the whole day" but havent completed.
Another favourite was an old book I read by Anais Nin (yes, I am into erotica! so easy to get them in Bangkok!).
But looking at the comments above, my, I do need to catch up with reading loads of other good book :)
Happy New Year and Great Book Reading in 2009 to Sharon and others, too :)
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