Favourite 1001 Book of 2008

As the year nears its end and the lists of favourite books pops up all over the internet, I thought I'd ask . . . what was your favourite book from either 1001 list that you read in 2008?

I really enjoyed Bleak House, Alias Grace and the Poisonwood Bible, but my favourite was probably If This is a Man (aka Survival in Auschwitz).

Well, we've definitely got something in common, The Poisonwood Bible was one of my favorites this year as well... along with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings which I was surprised when I realized I hadn't read it before.

Stranger in a Strange Land was my absolute favorite of the year though.

None beat out my two favorite books ever (which happen to be on the list) A Prayer For Owen Meany and To Kill A Mockingbird. They've been favorites forever.

Oooh, tough call.

I liked best this year: Tipping the Velvet, The Folding Star, The Outsider, The Collector, and Giovanni's Room. In rough order of favouritiveness. :)

Shortlist: A Pale View of Hills, Middlesex, Suite Francaise and Slaughterhouse Five.

And the winner is: Suite Francaise. Poignant & unforgettable.

I discovered the 1001 list not that long ago, so I hadn't been purposely reading any of them this past year. A friend recommended Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's the only 1001 book I read all year (so I guess by default it's the best....!).

However, it was also the best book I read all year anyway. I think about it often; it's a disturbing book that haunts me.

I have several on my list for next year, so I will actually have to make a choice!

Mine is Anna Karenina. I was intimidated by it at first, but I loved it. Followed closely by Jane Eyre. I can't believe I made it through high school and college without reading it!

#6 - I totally agree Megan -- I loved Anna Karenina, though I was initially nervous about tackling it. Now one of my all time favorites.

I will have happy memories of curling up on a rainy weekend with Treasure Island. That was a lot of fun. I'm glad The Reluctant Fundamentalist was on the list as it was so thought provoking and wouldn't have been a book I would have picked out on my own.

The one that will stay with me the most is The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers which was so much more than I expected. Truly mystery as great literature.

Remains of the Day, I thought it was simply perfect.

My favorite books of 2008 were Beloved, A Dance to the Music of Time, Kristin Lavransdatter (the new list), If This is a Man, and Tarka the Otter. I can't pick one. If just two, then Beloved and If This is a Man. This list helped me to find so many terrific books! I can't wait until next year. :)
--BJ

Middlemarch George Eliot is simply a wonderful writer andNever Let Me Go. These two were my favourites but there were many books from the 1001 list deserving of honourable mentions.

It's tough to narrow it down to just one! These I rated as 4.5 to 5 stars:

The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope.
He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.
Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy.

I liked all the ones I read this year, although it wasn't that many.

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka
Perfume - Patrick Süskind

Those would have to be my favourites, despite loving them all. :D

To Kill a Mockingbird was most delightful.
Anna Karenina and Middlemarch were terrific. Fingersmith was a mad romp.

I read 48 1001'ers this year -whoo hoo!

two books - real short ones too but boy they pack a punch:

Seize the Day by Saul Bellow though I can't fathom why they've taken it off the list.
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf the middle section of which is one of the best pieces of literature I've ever read.

Forty-eight this year . . . that's great. I was feeling pretty good about reading 25. If this was a competition, I'd feel bad. Good thing it's not! :-)

47 off the list so far this year but I'm trying to make it a round 50 with In Cold Blood, Treasure Island and another thin one from the stack!

I'll not mention how many off the list I read this year which were removed by Mr Boxall and his friends... harummmph...

Yes, I'll not mention those removed books either, but I have noticed that I tend to be drawn to them. I'm thinking of reading exclusively from the list of "books that were on the 1001 list but aren't anymore". Actually, I still haven't seen the new edition in print--does it exist in North America? So I'm pretty much ignoring the new list.

Nickelini, there's no sign of the new edition in Australia as yet (and after I'd put it #1 on my Xmas wish list and everything, *sigh*). So I'm still working off the older list. I like a lot of the new list (I always felt the original edition leant too much towards English literature, and I'd like to read more widely), but I did lose a lot of read books in the new edition. (I guess my reading tastes lean too much towards English literature ;).

A late entry: I read and really enjoyed The End of the Affair the other day. It can be my #1 1001 book read this year, with the ones above being honourable mentions.

Definitely The Grapes of Wrath, though it was a re-read for me, but it still stood a head above all the others.

I would have to say my favorite in 2008 was Lolita and I have read 42 this year. I am now reading A Fine Balance and it just might beat out Lolita.

#22- I haven't read Mistry's A Fine Balance, but his Family Matters was a profoundly moving book for me. I was so happy to be introduced to his writing.

This a tough question. I really liked Lolita, The Satanic Verses, Midaq Alley, Ethan Frome, Summer, and For Whom the Bell Tolls. On the other hand, I am really glad I read Don Quixote (whew, what a slog) and Moby Dick, though they weren't quite as enjoyable.

Further to my post #1, I just finished Sense and Sensibility, which definitely belongs on my list of 2008 favourites.

I only read a paltry 6 1001ers this year. (Horrible, I know). My favorite was The Yellow Wallpaper. Runner-up: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

I hope to do better this year. I want to finish at least 50 from the old list.

I'd say my favourite was Wise Blood, Flannery O'connor; as this was the one I went out and got my Dad for Xmas :)

My favorites this year were The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles (a re-read), Wittgenstein's Mistress, The Third Policeman, and The Crying of Lot 49. I couldn't say which was the best out of those. Wittgenstein's Mistress was probably the most pleasant surprise. I had no expectations coming to it, and it started off very difficultly, but I eventually warmed up to it.

My favorite was Turn of the Screw followed by Atonement.

Mine was Handmaid's Tale, which was also my overall favorite fiction read for the year.

I really enjoyed Cloud Atlas also Jude the Obscure was memorable.

Wookie, are you sure the new 1001 isn't available in Oz? It's here in NZ....I'm waiting for a Borders 50% off voucher though....

k8tpie, I've been keeping an eye open every time I go to a bookshop, and no sign of it. I've also checked Abbey's website (my favourite bookshop in Sydney city, and dangerously close to my bus stop to & from work) and there's no sign of it there.

*sigh*

I'm a little late to this (and never good at picking just one favorite.)

I really enjoyed Middlemarch, Ethan Frome, Of Mice and Men, and A Day Off.

I'd give Madame Bovary honorable mention as well.

See, just not good at this...

It's never too late, Perlie. I see you have impeccable taste, your choices echo my own favourite reads.

I agree, never too late! I keep checking this thread and counting people's favorites as "nudges" for the books I haven't read.

For example, I now know I need to get a copy of Middlemarch ASAP because it was mentioned several times! It's interesting to me that most of the rest were mentioned only once - except for Anna Karenina, Ethan Frome, the Poisonwood Bible, Never Let Me Go and If This Is A Man. Out of more than 1200 books (if you count the new and old lists) it's surprising only 6 were mentioned more than once! Although, granted we didn't all read the same books this year.

I really enjoyed On Beauty and The Human Stain. Talk about page turners!