The books that I read in 2008

Since 2008 is over, I am going to preserve this list here. I think that I did pretty well, with a total of 54 books (some of which were fairly light-weight, I must admit, but some were long and/or tough reads.) My favorites on this list are the Sarah Vowell books (I just finished reading Assassination Vacation, and may write an entry on this wonderful book.) I also liked the Michael Pollan books.

My goal for 2009 is to read as many books as I did in 2008, and I want to include six American or British "classics."

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. Score: 4/5.

Everybody Into the Pool, by Beth Lisick. Score: 5/5.

In America by Susan Sontag. Score: 4/5 (it took me a while to get into it, though....)

Good Catholic Girls: How Women Are Leading the Fight to Change the Church, by Angela Bonavoglia. Score: 4/5.

Helping Me Help Myself, by Beth Lisick. Score: 5/5.

Slouching Towards Bethlehem, by Joan Didion. Score: 5/5.

The Reach of a Chef, by Micheal Ruhlman. Score: 4.5.

In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. Score: 5/5.

The Bastard of Istanbul, by Elif Shafak. Score: 4.5/5.

Best Food Writing 2004, Holly Hughes, Ed. Score: 4/5.

Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess, by Gael Greene. Score: 1/5.

Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain. Score: 5/5.

Embroideries, by Marjane Satrapi. Score: 3/5.

Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello, by Graeme Thomson. Score: 5/5.

The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan. Score: 5/5.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, by Elizabeth Gilbert. Socre: 3.5/5.

The Sound and the Fury, by william Faulkner. Score: 2/5 for level of reading enjoyment; 5/5 for the literary quality of this book.

The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield. Score: 4/5 (I usually do not read that kind of book, but it was highly entertaining.)

God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer, by Bart D. Ehrman. Score: 3.5/5 (does not really shed much light on this problem.)

Pilgrims, by Elizabeth Gilbert. Score: 4/5 (better that Eat, Pray, Love, I thought.)

Best Food Writing 2007, Holly Hughes, Editor. Score: 5/5.

Les Ch'tis : On va ch'tout vous dire, by Claire L'Höer. Score: 3/5 (a study, by a serious scholar, on why Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis was such a hit movie.)

Et après..., by Guillaume Musso. Score: 2.5/5 (Musso is a bestselling author in France, I really don't understand why.)

Seras-tu là?, by Guillaume Musso. Score: 2.5/5 (ditto.)

Rubrique Abrracadabra, by Tous les caïds de la bédé (sauf Gotlib). Score: 4/5 (a nice tribute to Marcel Gotlib.)

Mémoires d'outre-mère, by Guy Bedos. Score: 4/5.

L'Amant, by Marguerite Duras. Score: 5/5.

En quête de soi, by T.K.V. Desikachar. Score: 4/5 (On yoga and its spirituality. I never read this kind of book!)

Mille soleils, by Dominique Lapierre. Score: 4/5.

Les Bienveillantes, by Jonathan Littell. Score: 4/5 (I will probably write about this controversial book.)

Petite Anglaise, by Catherine Sanderson. Score: 4/5 (I actually liked this book quite a bit.)

You Shall Know Our Velocity, by Dave Eggers. Score: 5/5 for the writing style, 3/5 for the narrative.

Hard Eight, by Janet Evanovich. Score: 2/5. I thought that her writing sucked.

The Partly Cloudy Patriot, by Sarah Vowell. Score: 5/5. What's not to love about this book?

White Noise, by Don DeLillo. Score: 5/5.

Take the Cannoli: Stories From the New World, by Sarah Vowell. Score: 5/5 (Sarah Vowell is my new obsession!)

Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami (translated by Jay Rubin.) Score: 5/5. I violated one of my golden rules by reading a book in translation...

Libra, by Don DeLillo. Score: 4/5

The Sopranos, by Alan Warner. Score: 2/5 - nothing to do with the HBO series, deemed brilliant by the critics, it aims at shocking, I just found it really disgusting.

The Book of Other People, Zadie Smith, Editor. Score: 4/5

Istanbul: Memories and the City, by Orhan Pamuk. Score: 5/5

Ma Vie-en-vrac, by Marcel Gotlib and Gilles Verlant. Score: 4/5

Rock Criticism from the Beginning: Amusers, Bruisers And Cool-Headed Cruisers, by Ulf Lindberg & Al. Score: 4/5

French and Americans: The Other Shore, by Pascal Baudry. Score: 3.5/5

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz. Score: 4/5

When You Are Engulfed in Flames, by David Sedaris. Score: 5/5 (I love David Sedaris!)

Snow, by Orhan Pamuk. Score: 4/5.

Le Procès-verbal, by J.-M. G. Le Clézio. Score: 5/5

Ritournelle de la faim, by J.-M. G. Le Clézio. Score: 5/5

Voix sans issue, by Céline Curiol. Score: 5/5

Letters of Transit: Reflections on Exile, Identity, Language and Loss, by André Aciman & Al. Score: 5/5

As You Were Saying: American Writers Respond to Their French Contemporaries, by Fabrice Rozié (Editor), Esther Allen (Editor), Guy Walter (Editor). Score: 4/5.

Best Food Writing 2002, Holly Hughes, Editor. Score: 4/5