Welcome to my inaugural holiday buying guide post, also known as my best of 2007
except that it doesn’t really cover 2007. What I’ll be doing here providing a list of the best reads featured on Rat’s Reading from Thanksgiving 2006 through Thanksgiving 2007, posted just in time for you to go out and buy holiday gifts for people on Black Friday. I won’t rank books, but I will limit the number so it isn’t just a list of all the books I liked this year. Also, it’s not limited to books published during this time frame; the list comes from books featured here during the time. It’s actually only been in the last year where I’ve even attempted to read recently published books.
And now for the list:
Non-Fiction
- Silk Road To Ruin, Ted Rall
- I loved this combination travel and geo-politics book about the central Asian countries by left-wing cartoonist Ted Rall. Don’t let that label
left-wing
throw you off if you are right-wing or just off-put by political polemics. It isn’t a polemic. It’s just a great exposition of the a very interesting culture and an explanation of the weird politics. (review) - What Jesus Meant, Garry Wills
- Think you know what Christian dogma is? Think again. Whether you are of an atheist/agnostic or a theistic bent, this book will probably open your eyes to a new view of Christianity. (review)
Fiction
- The Blade Itself, Joe Abercrombie
- Read this one for the great characters, and for a portrayal of a medieval magical fantasy world that immerses the reader in the grit and dirt, rather than showing everything from a distance. The only major drawback is that it is the first of a trilogy, and story told is but a part of a larger story. Buy only if your reader has the patience to continue with the rest of the series (which isn’t out yet). (review)
- Blindness, José Saramago
- Writing with a signature style, no quotations and no names for characters, Saramago tells the story of a band of survivors in an unnamed city suddenly struck blind. As with all post-apocalyptic tales, there’s a strong theme of how humanity turns to an
every man for himself
ethic when stripped of civilization’s restraint. I’m not convinced that this is inevitable, but it makes for a good read in this case. (review) - Gun, With Occasional Music, Jonathan Lethem
- A great combination of science fiction and mystery in a noirish Dickian dystopia. Lethem combines talking kangaroos, arrested development super-intelligent babies, and a gumshoe to great effect. (review)
- Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson
- Denis Johnson’s stories will draw you in with their drug-induced yet highly lucid language. I didn’t always know what was
real
and what wasn’t, but I didn’t really care either. (review) - Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
- Story of a student who clings to her friends through school and afterward, with the added twist that the children are all clones and treated differently by the general population. Very differently, though not with disgust exactly. You’ll need to read it to find out exactly how they are treated. (review)
- Un Lun Dun, China Miéville
- Norman Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth with more cool monsters. It’s technically young adult, but you’ll want to read this for yourself too. (review)
Bonus Worst Book of the Year
And here I note the absolute worst book I’ve read in the last year that’s still in print. Buy this for the person you don’t really like, your office gift-swap, or just for humor value.
- Cannery Village: Company Town, K. Mack Campbell
- K. Mack Campbell was for years a fishing industry insider. Uniquely positioned to make a dry subject exciting, Campbell utterly failed. In fact, I think he made the history of cannery villages on the coast of British Columbia even duller. (review)
If none of these suggestions fit your gift-buying proclivities, you can always buy Amazon gift certificates. And if you want to buy me something (hint hint!), here’s a link to my Amazon wish list. I’ve helpfully prioritized these books even!
Photo by Buzz Andersen used under a Creative Commons BY-NC license.
