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Best Books Read in 2008 and Total Books Read

Dec 23, 2008
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I've got a bit of spare time at work today so I thought I'd share with you the books I enjoyed most this year.

1. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I found the prose in this book achingly beautiful and was captured by it's passionate depiction of an unrequited love. It follows Florentino Ariza courtship of Fermina Daza and her rejection of him and marriage to another man, and their following long lives apart. He never gets over his love for Fermina, obsessing about her throughout his life and trying to escape the pain with a multitude of liasions with other women. Love in the Time of Cholera is a fantastical romance containing thoughts on love, rejection, life and old age. I read this book in anticipation of the film but enjoyed it so much I haven't been able to bring myself to watch an adaptation of it which I'm sure will disappoint me no matter how good it is.

The Host

2. The Host by Stephenie Meyer

While Meyer is definately not in the same league as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, this was one of the most addictive impossible to put down books I read this year. Her writing may be simplistic and plot driven and her depiction of females in both this book and her Twilight series has copped a lot of flak but as far as trashy, compulsive, holiday reading goes this is up there with the best. Meyer blends sci fi and romance in this tale of an Alien worm posessing a human and becoming entangled in a love triangle with her boyfriend. Essentially an interspecies love triangle but involving only two bodies.

Rebecca (Virago modern classics)

3. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Having seen the Hitchcock movie first and fallen in love with it I was determined to get around to reading this classic in 2008. Despite already knowing the books twist I fell in love with it. It's overtones of anxiety and horror appealed to my gothic loving tastes immensely. My copy had a very interesting forward on the book from a feminist perspective too which was so fascinating.

Peony in Love: A Novel

4. Peony in Love by Lisa See

It's difficult to describe why this was one of my favourites without giving away it's twist, so I'll just say I enjoyed this trip through traditional China from the point of view of a young girl and it's interesting but entertaining look at traditional Chinese funeral rites and spiritual beliefs.

To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)

5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Being the book lover that I am I was beginning to feel a bit guilty to have never cracked open the covers of this classic, or even seen the movie. This year I got around to it, more to see what all the fuss is about than out of actual interest in it. It's so effective in creating a child's point of view and so gripping and thought provoking that it's one of my new all time favourite books.

Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure

6. Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure by Sarah McDonald

Of the three travel memoirs I've read this year (also A Season in Red by Kirsty Needham and 90 Day Geisha by Chelsea Haywood) this was my favourite. It details Australian journalist Sarah McDonald's few years living in India with her foreign correspondent boyfriend. It's funny, pretty fast paced touching and informative. Sarah's spiritual journey as she researched all the different spiritual paths in India was incredibly interesting. I really recommend it to anyone who is into travel writing.

Other Books Read in 2008:

7. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan.

8. Animal Farm by George Orwell.

9. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

10. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

11. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.

12. Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

13. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan.

14. A Letter to D by Andre Gorz.

15. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

16. Emma by Jane Austen.

17. The Boat by Nam Le.