- What fiction book (or books) would you nominate to be the best new book published in 2007?
(Older books that you read for the first time in 2007 don’t count.)- What non-fiction book (or books) would you nominate to be the best new book published in 2007?
(Older books that you read for the first time in 2007 don’t count.)- And, do “best of” lists influence your reading?
In some ways this is a really easy question. It means going to the handy-dandy spreadsheet I mentioned in last week's answer and filtering for all book published this year and then for the highest grades, and then picking one right? Right?
Well, it's the picking one part that is difficult! So, below is a list of the best fiction books published this year, that I have read. For those that I have reviewed, click on the link to see what I said about them at the time!
- The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith - I love this series. Can't wait for the next book which is going to be called The Miracle at Speedy Motors
- A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini- incredibly moving story of two women's struggle for happiness in Afghanistan
- City of Glory by Beverly Swerling - Fantastic story set in the early days of New York.
- The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani - Historical Fiction set in 17th century Persia. Really good read.
- Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer - I loved this! Such a relief to have liked this one so much when I thought Don't Look Down was so average.
- The Boar Stone by Jules Watson - A really fitting conclusion to the trilogy. Can't wait to see what this author comes up with next!
- Silver Wattle by Belinda Alexandra - I had only read one book by this author previously, and liked it but not loved it. In this story it feels to me as though Belinda Alexandra really came of age!
- The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies - Shortlisted for the Booker. I really enjoyed it!
- Barbed Wire and Roses by Peter Yeldham - I added this to my TBR list because I loved the cover! Fortunately I enjoyed what was inside the cover as well.
- The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall - Another gorgeous cover...another great read!
- Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon - I didn't really love the first Lord John book, but I did really love this one!
- The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt - Best romance published this year for me!
It's kind of weird actually. Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade was only one of two books that I rated as a 5/5. If I was to go back and rerate my books now, I probably would pick one or two of the above list as rating better (Barbed Wire and Roses and maybe one or two others), including even one book that isn't in the above list! The Persimmon Tree by Bryce Courtenay had some major flaws, but it is the most memorable book I have read in the last six to eight weeks! However, my ratings are very much a gut reaction to what I felt as I closed the last page of the book, so I will leave then as they are!
Wow...that was a lot of typing, and I haven't even answered part 2 of the question.
The best non fiction book I read that was published this year, was definitely Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. One of these days I will write a review to tell you all why I enjoyed it so much.
As to whether I take any notice of Best Of lists. I don't necessarily take more than a superficial look at the ones that come out from places like Amazon and from newspapers. I do however love reading the best of lists from other bloggers! Can't wait to see what is on everyone's lists!
Wow, if you've got that many nominations to make, you must have done some serious reading this year!
ReplyDeleteI forgot I read Lord John too. Oops.
ReplyDeleteCool I haven't read any of the books you nominate so I have some research to do and some new titles for my TBR list thanks!
ReplyDeleteI read two from your list. Hosseini and Beah!
ReplyDeleteHowever I forgot to mention the latter in my list.
I plan to read A Thousand Spendid Suns and The Good Husband opf Zebra Drive. But that is quite an impressive list.
ReplyDelete