Booking Through Thursday - The Best?

It's a week or two later than you'd expect, and it may be almost a trite question, but ... what were your favorite books from 2008?

This is a good question and one that had me pondering for a while. I read a few books that I very much enjoyed and several that were good enough, but not on my best of the year list. Let's look back and some fun reads from 2008.

History - By far the best book I read in 2008 in this category was Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. This book took more than a little time to go through, but it was worth every minute. Abraham Lincoln really was a genius and it was wonderful getting to know his contemporaries that don't always make it into the mainstream books. I do enjoy learning about all the history that I never saw in school.

Young Adult - Well, the favorite author of the year was definitely Frances Hardinge. I read both of her books this year and was delighted with both. I will say that Fly by Night was my favorite (slightly edging out Well Witched), but both books were wonderful. Fly by Night took readers to a fully-resolved fantasy world that was almost too scary. You see, books and reading were banned to most people in this world! One little, determined girl was out to change the world. She was an unlikely hero, but that is really the best kind.

Sci Fi - It wasn't the best book, but I got myself hooked on the Dresden Files series with Storm Front, by Jim Butcher. Harry Dresden is an intriguing character and I have been given promises from a friend that the series improves from the first book.

Autobiography - Okay, this was a tie and it is a tie between two totally different books. The first was Take Big Bites, by Linda Ellerbee. I just adore Linda and had a blast seeing her and Nora Ephron at the California Governor and First Lady's Conference in 2007. I had Linda autograph my copy of her latest book and enjoyed every last bite. The other favorite in this category was Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs, by Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand (and Malcolm MacPherson). Okay, the book is profane and Johnathan is probably not someone I would like to spend much time with (other than a beer, perhaps), but the book was still an interesting look at a lifestyle that I could never share.