MetaChat - My favorite books of 2006

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28 December 2006

My favorite books of 2006 My top books of the year... This list is guaranteed to be incomplete. I'm sure I've forgotten to mention something, but as the year ends, these stick out the most.→[More:]

King Dork by Frank Portman, reimagines Catcher in the Rye as a punk rock detective story for teens. If you grew up nerdy and obsessed with music, you might see yourself reflected in this book.

Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, filled with all the fun of an encyclopedia set, condensed for easy carrying.

Winkie By Clifford Chase stars a Teddy bear which wishes itself to life and is then blame for terrorism and all the crimes of humanity in this excellent satire.

Pirates! in an Adventure With Communists by Gideon Defoe, A light-hearted take on Marx, Piracy, and Wax Museums. The third in a thoroughly enjoyable series.

Smonk by Tom Franklin Kurt Vonnegut meets the dirty south in this darkly comic Western that doesn't quite take place in the west.

Truck by Michael Perry, I gave a copy of this book to my father-in-law and kept one for myself and we both enjoyed it. It's a meditation on life in a small wisconsin town, gardening, women, and in turn life.

Conservatize Me by Jon Moe The only political book released this year that was both funny and (mostly) even-handed.

Skinny Dipping in the Lake of The Dead by Alan Deniro This was my favorite book from the year. The writing borders on poetry and takes science fiction and fantasy in new directions.

post by: drezdn at: 17:59 | 5 comments

Please Hope Me!

posted by drezdn 28 December | 18:00

drezdn, I like your list. It's eclectic and fun.

I read a lot of crap in 2006. My goal for 2007 is to read less crap.

posted by LoriFLA 28 December | 18:27

does it have to be books published this year?
if not, i enjoyed:
- galatea 2.2 (richard powers) - another excellent book by powers, who can write "literature" about a world that includes science.
- hayek's challenge (bruce caldwell) - an "intellectual biography", clearly explaining the hayek's wide interests, his evolution, and, finally, considers how they can be used by the left.
- persona non grata (jorge edwards) - an account of cuba that also sheds light on the chilean revolution; a good (but perhaps too optimistic) explanation of how chile might have been different.

posted by andrew cooke 28 December | 19:33

The Portman, Hodgman, and Defoe were all excellent indeed. My other big favorites from 2006 were Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" (grim post-apocalyptic travelogue? HELLS YES) and Chris Ware's latest two volumes of Acme Novelty Library (which continues to be just as stark and funny and mildly unsettling as it's always been).

This year also marked the first time I read Infinite Jest, and my first exposure to the Jeeves and Wooster novels. Though neither the Wallace or Wodehouse actually came out in 2006, both authors brightened my year immensely.

posted by Greg Nog 28 December | 23:17

I didn't read as much fiction from new writers published in 2006 as I'd like--I spent the year reading non-fiction and catching up on classics.

The two new works of fiction I enjoyed most this year were Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl, and Wizard of the Crow, by Ngugi wa Thiong'o. But neither is to everyone's taste, I think. (On the other hand, what worthwhile reading is?) Pynchon's Against the Day is on my shelf, to be started this weekend, and I expect in advance that that'll make my list.

In non-fiction, Kevin Phillips' American Theocracy and Mark Bowden's Guests of the Ayatollah were my favorites.

As for books I read this calendar year, my favorite, and one of the best books I've ever read in my life, is the recent English translation by John E. Woods of Thomas Mann's Joseph and His Brothers. If you like sprawling postmodern novels of the David Foster Wallace/Neal Stephenson type--well, this is like those, except oh so much better. I almost want to say that it's better than Pynchon, but that seems like sacrilege.

Other favorites--

Charles Burns--Black Hole

David Mitchell--Cloud Atlas

Paul Beatty--The White Boy Shuffle

Theodore Dreiser--An American Tragedy

Lauren B. Davis--The Radiant City

Vasily Grossman--Life and Fate

Camilla Gibb--Sweetness in the Belly

posted by Prospero 29 December | 10:04

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