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December 9, 2008 at 11:00 AM
The Books of '08
Customers peruse the goods at The Strand bookstore in New York, Jan. 2, 2008. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Customers peruse the goods at The Strand bookstore in New York. (AP)

The best, most riveting story of this year may not have been between the covers of a book at all. Reality was a big contender for the high-drama, rich-narrative prize in 2008.

And yet, the books kept coming — and charming, and diverting, and illuminating.

“Black Flies.” “Beautiful Children.” “Stray Dog Winter,” “The Art of Racing in the Rain.” “Netherland.”

Dexter Filkins sent front-line dispatches on “the forever war.” A deaf mute named Edgar Sawtelle got the critics and Oprah singing praises. Jhumpa Lahiri was back. Toni Morrison found “Mercy.”

We’ve called in some great readers for their picks of the great reads of 2008. And we’d like to hear yours.

This hour, On Point: One big whack at the best books of 2008.

You can join the conversation. What book kept you reading late into the night this year? What got the rave reviews in your book club? Which books are you wrapping up for holiday presents?

Guests:

Joining us from New York is Liesl Schillinger, a regular contributor to The New York Times Book Review and a columnist for the Times’ Style section. She also writes for New York magazine, Slate, and O magazine.

Joining us from St. Louis is Kris Kleindienst, co-owner of Left Bank Books, an independent bookstore. A fixture in St. Louis since 1969, the enterprise is expanding with a second location opening tomorrow.

And from Santa Monica, Calif., we’re joined by Mark Sarvas, host of the literary blog The Elegant Variation. His book reviews have appeared in the Los Angeles Review, The New York Times, The Denver Post, and elsewhere. His debut novel, out this year, is “Harry Revised.”

More links:

The New York Times has posted its picks for the Ten Best Books of 2008, along with its 100 Notable Books of the year. Meanwhile, its Paper Cuts blog surveys some of the other notable lists around the web.

The Washington Post offers a gallery of its Ten Best Books of the Year.

And here are our guests’ lists of favorite and noteworthy books of 2008…

Kris Kleindienst:

- American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski
- American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, by Jon Meacham (hear the On Point interview)
- The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, by Annette Gordon-Reed
- The Wordy Shipmates, by Sarah Vowell
- The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein
- The Hour I First Believed, by Wally Lamb
- The Oxford Project, by Peter Feldstein and Stephen Bloom
- Annie Leibovitz at Work, by Annie Leibovitz (hear the On Point interview)
- Books: a Memoir, by Larry McMurtry

Mark Sarvas:

- Netherland, by Joseph O’Neill
- Nobility of Spirit: A Forgotten Ideal, by Rob Riemen
- Reappraisals, by Tony Judt
- How Beautiful It Is And How Easily It Can Be Broken, by Daniel Mendelsohn
- The Journal of Jules Renard, by Jules Renard
- Paris Review Interviews, Volume III, edited by Philip Gourevitch
- Immovable Feast: A Paris Christmas, by John Baxter
- Stray Dog Winter, by David Francis
- State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America, by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey
- The Complete Robuchon, by Joel Robuchon

Liesl Schillinger:

Novels and short stories:

- Black Flies, by Shannon Burke
- The Sacred Book of the Werewolf, by Victor Pelevin
- Family Planning, by Karan Mahajan
- Beautiful Children, by Charles Bock (hear the On Point interview)
- Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri
- Our Story Begins, by Tobias Wolff
- Playing with the Grown-ups, by Sophie Dahl
- The Grift, by Debra Ginsberg

Non-fiction:

- Stalin’s Children, by Owen Matthews
- Thrumpton Hall, by Miranda Seymour
- The Three of Us, by Julia Blackburn
- Going Hungry, edited by Kate Taylor
- Thin Is the New Happy, by Valerie Frankel

Of interest:

- His Illegal Self, by Peter Carey
- Atmospheric Disturbances, by Rivka Galchen
- The Road Home, by Rose Tremain
- The House on Fortune Street, by Margot Livesey

 
  • http://www.sarahmontgomerydesign.com Sarah Montgomery

    “Last Night at the Lobster” by Stewart O’Nan. It’s an absolute gem – short, sweet, and BEAUTIFULLY written.

  • Mark P.

    My choice for book of the year is DANGEROUS LAUGHTER by Steven Millhauser. Although it is not a novel, these stories transport the reader over the 200 or so pages. As absorbing as any novel I’ve read in recent history. Millhauser and this book were on the cover of the New York Times Book Review back in February.

    A quick question: why is that story collections sell so poorly as compared to novels? I believe that it makes some sense that in today’s shortened-attention-span world, shorts would begin to take over…

    Thanks!

  • Barbara Nordin

    Schillinger meant to write “Thin is the New Happy,” not “Skinny is the New Happy,” in her nonfiction list.
    Barbara Nordin

  • Vijay

    The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon:
    A superb novel set in Chicago 100 years ago.

  • Mireille Lang

    My choice for this year would be THE SPACE BETWEEN US, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, SHANTARAAM, PRODIGAL SUMMER.

    Happy reading,

  • Garrett

    I would have to say one of the most relevant books of the year is certainly DESCENT INTO CHAOS by Ahmid Rashid. The book talks of the history of Pakistan and Afghanistan from 9/11 up until the present day and paints a very vivid picture with what is wrong in that region today and seems to lead directly into the Mumbai terror attacks.

    In my opinion there is no better book in terms of making sense out of the most dangerous region of the world. This book is extremely relevant today and will continue to be well into the future as the United States and the rest of the world struggle to bring order to the chaos that only seems to worsen.

  • P Woolley

    I guess this came out last year, but I would recommend “And Then We Came to the End” by Jonathan Ferris (sp?), now in paperback. It’s newly relevant, given that it deals with an advertising firm facing massive layoffs. It’s very funny, yet at the same time captures so many truths about work, work relationships, and life. I work at home and miss having colleagues, so I loved it — but my husband, whose colleagues are too much with him, also laughed out loud and loved it too.

  • Mary Van Vleck

    One of my favorite books this year came out in October or November of this year, titled, While in Darkness There is Light, Idealism and Tragedy on an Australian Commune by Louella Bryant.

    This is the story of Howard Dean’s younger brother, Charlie Dean, who disappeared in the jungles of Laos in the 1970s. Charlie was a wealthy young man, private schools and college, after which, disillusioned with the Vietnam War and Life in America in general, he went off with several friends and founded a commune in northern Australia. Eventually he left to travel throughout Asia and disappeared. From diaries, log books and recollections of his friends and family, Ms Bryant has written a compelling story of what did or might have happened to Charlie. I could hardly put it down, until it was finished. A quick read, 229 pages.

  • PW

    I love this discussion, Tom. It’s enormously useful, fun, and soothing in hard times. Please do the book thing more often!

  • Tiger

    There are snoozers…and then there are SNOOZERS.

    btw…when is wbur going to point out on air that Blagojevich is a DEMOCRAT?

  • jeff

    “Enough.” by John C. Bogle, founder of Vanguard Mutual Fund Group. The subtitle is “true Measures of Money, Business, and Life” He eloquently covers the issues regarding the current meltdown, and what real wealth is, He lays out (to quote a chapter title” our problem with “Too much 21st century values, not enough 18th century values.”

  • Barney

    The Leper Compound – Paula Nagle

    Super American – short stories – Anne Panning

    The Gateway – T.M. McNally

    To Close to the Falls – memoir- Catherine Gildner

    Two Marriages – 2 novellas – Philip Lopate

    The Pyramid- Henning Mankell

    One Tongue Singing – Susan Mann

  • Pilar

    Murder in the Rue de Paradis – Cara Black

  • david wright

    “We walk a mile in the collar of Enzo, the dog.”

    Tom just popped out with that, in the middle of some turgid, pretentious, cliche-ridden passages from the “Best Books.” I thought, At last, a little something that’s sharp, and fresh, and apt. That’s why I listen to your show, and don’t read too many of the “Best Books.”

  • P. Kauffman

    THe Book Thief by Martin Zuzak. I couldn’t put it down and didn’t want it to end.

  • Rachel

    Does Mark Sarvas read books written by women? He sure didn’t bother to pick any female authors.

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