Monday, January 5, 2009

Ten Favorite Books of 2008


Here they are in no particular order..I've read a lot of them at least twice..yeah I'm weird like that. They're not necessarily published in 2008, but most of them were published at least in the last ten years.

Careless In Red by Elizabeth George: The much anticipated EG book dealing with Inspector Lynley's life after the death of Helen Clyde. I skipped the book before it, What Came Before He Shot Her as it didn't really deal with Lynley. I also recommend the brilliant With No One As Witness...

Thursday Next: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde: The fifth Thursday Next novel. Friday is now a teenager and Thursday has to convince him to join the ChronoGuard to save the world. This is the first of a four-part series...I cannot wait for the next book!!

A Rose For The Crown by Anne Easter Smith: The fictional account of one Kate Haute, thought to be the mistress of Richard of Gloucester (later Richard III), the last Plantagenet king. (Interesting fact: Richard III was the last English king to die in battle).

The Girl With No Shadow by Joanne Harris: The continuation of Chocolat. Vianne and Anouk are in Paris with an evil presence between them. Full of magic. But I can't taste the chocolate in this book. I could in Chocolat.

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir: The fictionalized story of Lady Jane Grey "The Nine Day Queen". Yes, she gets beheaded in the end. At 16.

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory: The story of Henry VIII's fourth and fifth wives, Anne Of Cleves And Katherine Howard. (Do you know how to memorize how all his wives fared? Easy...Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, lived!)

Chasing Shakespeares by Sarah Smith: The story of two scholars searching for the real Shakespeare, revolving around the theory of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford as the author of Shakespeare's plays.

The Courts Of Love by Jean Plaidy: The story of Eleanor Of Aquitaine, her crazy husbands and equally crazy kids. Plaidy kept mentioning hair shirts when talking about Thomas Becket, which drove me nuts!

False Impression by Jeffrey Archer: My favorite author since forever. Art theft is at the heart of this book. I also recommend his books As The Crow Flies and Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less.

The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore: Classic CM complete with clueless angels, zombies and crazy townspeople on the eve of Christmas. And a talking bat. I highly, highly recommend the brilliant Lamb, The Gospel According To Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, one of my all-time favorite books.

Crap, ten books already?? As you can see I was quite into the Tudor time period especially towards the end of the year, and the books mentioned above are all fiction. I don't do so well with non-fiction or self-help. So over chick-lit. I wish Peter Mayle would come out with another book on Provence. I'm also resolving to read more Irvine Welsh.

So, these are some of my favorite books of 2008. Can anyone recommend other good books?

1 cheer(s)!:

Jen (MahaloFashion) said...

Thanks for the recommendations, i'll see if i spot anything next time i'm at chapters :)