A Look Back at 2007

I meant to write this entry sometime in late December and/or early January but as usual, I’m running a bit behind schedule. However, I wanted to get this list down before 2008 turned into 2009. So, my challenge to you is this (I feel so like John Cusack in High Fidelity right now). What were your top ten favorite books in 2007? They don’t have to be the best books you read, the ones reeking of literary merit, but rather what were the top ten books that sucked you into their world, stuck with you long after you finished them, and/or were a sheer joy to read? Here’s mine . . . in no particular order . . . well, not quite.

Case Histories: Kate Atkinson
On the surface a detective novel, but really so much more.

Dies the Fire: S.M. Stirling
Though he is not the best writer ever, the “what-if” scenario Stirling sets up in this book is one that continues to haunt me.

The Wire in the Blood: Val McDermid
I came to this writer through the British TV series based on her books and though I’m a sucker for Robson Green (the actor playing Tony Hill), I’m an even bigger sucker for McDermid’s writing. I can’t say what it is about the way she makes Tony Hill and Carol Jordan come alive on the page, but I love it.

The Tin Roof Blow-Down: James Lee Burke
Read this book set in post-Katrina New Orleans, watch Spike Lee’s documentary When the Levees Broke, and get really, really angry.

Heart-Shaped Box: Joe Hill
A well-constructed horror novel that just hit the spot.

Territory: Emma Bull
Bull reimagines Tombstone (Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, etc) as involving sorcery of an elemental kind and the result is an intriguing, fast-paced novel that ends way too soon.

Bridge of Sighs: Richard Russo
Richard Russo's latest novel again centers on small town life in a layered, multigenerational way. At the center of the story lies the relationship between three friends--Louis C. Lynch (Lucy), Sarah Berg, and Bobby Marconi but that is the center from which many radiated stories are explored. You're in the hands of a master storyteller and it all goes down smoothly.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: J.K. Rowling
Do I even need to say anything here? This is the book that I anticipated with a growing impatience last spring and when I finally got it in my hot little hands last summer, I did the hermit thing—retreated to my house and didn’t stop reading until I had finished it.

Away: Amy Bloom
Amy Bloom's novel grabbed me from the very beginning and elicited a mixture of emotions including, "Damm. Why can't I write like this?" It's the story of Lillian Leyb's journey through many worlds in the United States of the 20's--the Yiddish theatre scene in New York, the back alleys of Seattle, an "Agrarian Work Center for Women," and the wilds of Alaska. In less than 250 pages, Bloom pulled me to places I won't easily forget and did so with a short story writer's economy and grace.


World War Z: Max Brooks
It’s hard to describe a book as your favorite if it gave you nightmares, but truly this book affected me the most of any I read this last year. It’s set up as an oral history, a series of interviews with a diverse group of people from all over the world, and it explores the events surrounding a zombie “epidemic” that much like SARS and the bird flu begins in China. With its pandemic and The Band Played On echoes, this book is just realistic enough to make you profoundly uneasy. Even if you doubt that a zombie disease could infect mankind, you might start wondering when we will see that 1917 flu resurface again.

Okay, now that I’ve weighed in, it’s your turn. Give me your lists.