FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2008
In December, we asked you to tell us which books you most enjoyed reading last year. Here is the list with some of your comments.  Enjoy!

ADULT

TEEN

CHILDREN'S

TOP TEN

1. Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski  
   I don’t want the story to end. Captivating story, enthralling characters & many literary references. Much to dig into & explore. I felt every word. I did not like the ending, but the writing was wonderful.

2. Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer 
   Realistic look at WWII. Often humorous, despite serious topic. Wonderful characters & sense of place.

3. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri 
   Brilliant writer on the cultural gulf. Each poignant story builds upon the previous.

4. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
   Charming search for spiritual direction & worldly pleasure.

5. Outliers: the Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell 
   Common sense truths woven into a thesis on success, turning on light bulbs of understanding & recognition.

6. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson 
   Eye-opening look at the people of Pakistan. Makes you open your heart and become more compassionate. An inspiration to teach love, instead of hate.

7. Belong To Me by Marisa de los Santos 
   Not exactly chick-lit. Interesting characters with a universal theme.

8. Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls 
   Really sad memoir.

9. A Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
   For Dickens fans, melodrama with an irresistible orphan.

10. Netherland by Joseph O’Neill
    Outsider’s view of 21st century New York.
    
    
    

    OTHER MOST POPULAR

    Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd 
    Great story. Really good for book clubs.
    
    American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
    Compelling. New food for thought about Laura & GW Bush. Behind closed doors in a political marriage.
    
    The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
    Like a beautiful piece of art. Provoked thought, emotion & conversation. Different, fresh & new.
    
    Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker
    Creative& new approach to history.
    
    Indignation by Philip Roth
    Crafted so beautifully that it transcends the depressing story.
    
    Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
    I had to check online to verify the horrific ending.
    
    Lush Life by Richard Price
    Good, fast read.
    
    Man in the White Sharkskin Suit by Lucette Lagnado
    Marvelous evocation of Cairo around WWII
    
    Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
    So subtle & beautiful.
    
    Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
    Great story in lyrical prose.
    
    The Shack by William Young
    Great for spirituality.
    
    Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder
    Epic, detailed biography.
    
    Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
    Great insights.
    
    A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hoseini
    Family love & friendship through an Afghanistan lens.
    
    Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
    Pulls you into a world that is new to you.
    
    
    MORE

    1776 by David McCullough
    A lot I didn’t know About the American Revolution.
    
    A Mercy by Toni Morrison
    Beautifully written. Compelling characters.
    
    Alex & Me by Irene Pepperberg
    Talking parrots don’t get any better or more loveable.
    
    Ali and Nino by Kurban Said
    
    All Rise by Robert Fuller
    
    Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount
    If you love language, dip into this book.
    
    Always By My Side by Jim Nantz
    
    And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks by Jack Kerouac
    
    Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
    Simple yet compelling & moving story. You do not have to be a dog lover to love this book.
    
    Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen
    Remarkable debut novel.
    
    Atonement by Ian McEwan
    
    Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
    
    Away by Amy Bloom
    Wonderful & bittersweet.
    
    Beach house by Jane Green
    
    Beach Road by James Patterson
    
    Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
    
    Benjamin Franklin: an American Life by Walter Isaacson
    
    Big House by George Colt
    
    Big Necessity by Rose George
    Important!
    
    Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
    
    Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
    Unique.
    
    Champlain’s Dream by David Hackett Fischer
    
    City of Refuge by Tom Piazza
    Lyrical novel about New Orleans & Katrina.
    
    Color of Water by James McBride
    
    Condition by Jennifer Haigh
    
    Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl by Susan McCorkindale
    Hysterical. Laugh out loud.
    
    Cost by Roxanna Robinson
    
    Country Called Home by Kim Barnes
    Story of failed idealism of the 1960s.
    
    Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
    Gets inside the minds of both men & women.
    
    Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig
    Real page-turner that threw in a bit of U.S. history.
    
    Deaf Sentence by David Lodge
    
    Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles
    
    Diary of a Bad Year by J.M. Coetzee
    
    Diary of Mary Berg by Mary Berg
    Moving Holocaust memoir. The reader grows up with the author.
    
    Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
    Great story of courage.
    
    Duma Key by Stephen King
    Gripping & horrific narrative.
    
    Eight by Katherine Neville
    Mystery through past & present surrounding a chess set.
    
    Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
    Absolutely affirming of life, books & music.
    
    Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
    Great for any age. Thought & conversation provoking.
    
    Escape by Carolyn Jessop
    
    Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
    One of the most beautiful & poignant books ever.
    
    Fire by Katherine Neville
    Suspenseful.
    
    Forever War by Dexter Filkins
    Unimaginable.
    
    Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
    
    Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
    
    Franklin and Lucy by Joseph Persico
    His loves did not diminish his greatness as a leader.
    
    Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg
    Convincing view behind the closed doors of the admission office at Wesleyan University.
    
    Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel
    
    Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
    Not your usual page-turning thriller.
    
    Gone-away World by Nick Harkaway
    
    Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda N Adichie
    
    Have You Found Her by Janice Erlbaum
    
    Helena by Evelyn Waugh
    
    Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed
    History as novel. Great re-creation of plantation life.
    
    Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
    
    His Excellency George Washington by Joseph Ellis
    
    Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
    It is a great book because it has adventure.
    
    Home by Marilynne Robinson
    Deep emotions of family relationships on a small canvas. Leaves an indelible impression.
    
    House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper
    
    House on Tradd Street by Karen White
    If you love Charleston SC, old houses & ghosts, this is for you.
    
    How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gill
    Simple & sweet.
    
    Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg
    
    I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass
    Sisters through the years-bound together by family in spite of their differences.
    
    Iceberg by Clive Cussler
    
    In an Instant by Lee Woodruff
    How a family pulls together during a tragic event.
    
    In Spite of Myself by Christopher Plummer
    He can act! And he can write!
    
    Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt
    
    Kingmakers by Karl Meyer
    This is the book George Bush should have read.
    
    Kite Runner by Khalid Hoseini
    
    Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
    Inspiration for all.
    
    Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan
    Pure delight.
    
    Lay of the Land by Richard Ford
    Epic view of America in 2000 through the life & thoughts of a realtor.
    
    Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
    
    Likeness by Tana French
    Totally satisfying suspense.
    
    Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
    
    Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly
    
    Look Me in the Eye by John Robison
    Good insight to what it’s like to have Asperberger’s disorder.
    
    Maps and Legend by Michael Chabon
    Terrific collection of the author’s thoughts.
    
    Marley & Me by John Grogan
    Awesome & funny.
    
    Master of the Delta by Thomas Cook
    Psychological thriller about a prominent Southern family.
    
    Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
    Mean Marti Manning by Scott Stein
    
    Mermaid Chair by Sue monk Kidd
    
    Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
    
    Most Famous Man in America by Debby Applegate
    Fascinating life & times of Henry Ward Beecher.
    
    Most Wanted Man by John LeCarre
    Not his best, but a lot of fun from the greatest spy novelist ever.
    
    Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard
    
    My Best Friend’s Girl by Jane Koomson
    
    My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
    
    Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
    Compassionate & “on target” description of Indian-American life in the suburbs.
    
    Nine: Inside he Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
    
    Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
    Thought-provoking.
    
    On Beauty by Zadie Smith
    
    On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
    
    Paper Marriage by Susan Kay Law
    
    Peculiar Grace by Jeffrey Lent
    His past of drug use & communal living catch up with a solitary blacksmith in Vermont.
    
    Peony in Love by Lisa See
    Beautifully written & heart-rending.
    
    People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
    Fascinating story.
    
    Picasso by John Richardson
    Continuing saga of the great artist & the 20th century.
    
    Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev
    
    Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
    Smooth writing from beginning to end.
    
    Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder by Vincent Bugliosi
    Straightforward. No spin. Necessary.
    
    Random Family by Adrian LeBlanc
    
    Reader by Bernard Schlink
    
    Relentless Pursuit by Donna Foote
    Revealing account of a year in the life of four "Teach for America" teachers.
    
    Remembering Laughter by Wallace Stegner
    
    Road Home by Rose Tremain
    Heart-warming without being saccharine with an unusual plot.
    
    Run by Ann Patchett
    Could not put it down.
    
    Second Glance by Jodi Picoult
    
    Second Violin by John Lawton
    Illuminating.
    
    Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller
    
    Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen
    Re-working of his trilogy & winner of fiction National Book Award.
    
    Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron
    
    She Got Up Off the Couch by Haven Kimmel
    
    She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
    
    Single in Suburbia by Wendy Wax
    Fun summer reading.
    
    So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell
    Fascinating quasi-memoir brings you back to the middle west of the early 1920s.
    
    Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
    Creepy with great description.
    
    Summer by Edith Wharton
    Takes place in the mountains of New Hampshire. A comfortable read.
    
    Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson
    
    Take the Cannoli by Sarah Vowell
    
    Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
    
    They Cage the Animals at Night by Michael Jennings Burch
    
    This Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust
    Brilliant study of the impact & meaning of the Civil War.
    
    Together by Tom Sullivan
    Special relationship of a dog and a blind man.
    
    Torture Team by Philippe Sands
    Great reporting.
    
    Triangle by Katharine Weber
    Historical fiction account of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.
    
    Tried by War by James McPherson
    Great read about Lincoln.
    
    Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell
    Dynamics of a family & how events can change their lives.
    
    When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson
    
    When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
    Fabulously funny.
    
    Where Have All the Soldiers Gone? By James Sheehan
    Lifted by the whole concept of the last two centuries.
    
    White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
    
    Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Marakami
    
    Widower by Georges Simenon
    Not Inspector Magritte. Like Camus’ The Stranger, only better.
    
    World Too Near by Kay Kenyon
    Evocative science fiction.
    
    World Without End by Ken Follett
    
    Wrecking Crew by Thomas Frank

	Marta Campbell, Head of Collection Management
	Tel: 203-291-4842	E-mail: mcampbell@westportlibrary.org