Sunday, December 21, 2008

Best Reads of 2008

Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) from Gilmore Girls 1x12 Double Date

As of December 21, I've read 122 books. Here are my favourites, from January to December :


Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

A Room With a View by E.M. Forster

A l'Ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs by Marcel Proust

The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

The Closed Door and Other Stories by Dorothy Whipple

Saplings by Noel Streatfeild

Mistress of the Revolution by Catherine Delors

Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford

The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann

Decca : The Letters of Jessica Mitford

The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn by William J. Mann

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

The Tiger in the Well by Philip Pullman

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Quatre Soeurs : Enid by Malika Ferdjoukh

Miss Charity by Marie-Aude Murail

2008 has been the best year of my life so far in terms of books. I've discovered so many favourite authors this year and if I had read new Jane Austen, Dodie Smith or Toni Morrison books in 2008, if I had discovered Atonement by Ian McEwan, Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf and The Hours by Michael Cunningham this year, I could have just given you this list and say "that's who I am", because these are the only six favourites missing from this list. Life-changing books throughout, inspiring and rewarding reads from beginning to end. Bring on 2009 to see if I can make it even better !