Thursday, November 29, 2007

The Ten Best Books of 2007

Well, they're the ten best books of 2007, according to the New York Times -and they say all kinds of strange things. The sad thing is that I have read not a single one. That's got to be a first. Here's the list. Should I read any of these, oh wise ones, or just start over in 2008?



  • Man Gone Down; Michael Thomas
  • Out Stealing Horses; Per Petterson
  • The Savage Detectives; Roberto Bolano
  • Then We Came to the End; Joshua Ferris
  • Tree of Smoke; Denis Johnson
  • Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone
  • Little HEathens: Hard TImes and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression; Mildred Armstong Kalish
  • The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the SUpreme Court; Jeffrey Toobin
  • The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh: A Woman in World History; Linda Colley
  • The Rest is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century; Alex Ross

1 comment:

breadchick said...

I have read six of the ten thanks for long business trips...

Little Heathens and The Nine are excellent. Except The Nine will get your dander up my dear so don't read it when you can't slam the book down, primal scream at the stupidity of "certain" people, and walk away (ala I was at 36,000 feet over the Atlantic, I couldn't exactly open a window and get some fresh air).

I wasn't impressed with "The Rest is Noise" so was surprised to see it here.

"Then We Came to the End" has a great plot and good concept but after about the first 90 pages the joke wears thin.

If it was me (and knowing a few other things), I'd skip most of them and focus on books that make you feel good right now because not too many of these will do that.