2008 Books Read

In an attempt to make the blog a little more navigable (not to mention my year-end best of 2008 reads decision easier), I've decided to add a post of 2008 reads categorized by rating. I'll provide a link on the left-hand sidebar under my current reads in case anyone wants to come back and find something specific ;>).

5 roses (My Favorite) reads:
1. Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts
2. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
3. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
4. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
5. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

6. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
7. The Hollow by Nora Roberts
8. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
9. Writing Romance by Vanessa Grant
10. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
11. Shelter Me by Juliette Fay


4.5 roses (Highly Recommended) reads:
1. The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson
2. Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson
3. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
4. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
5. Lord of the Fading Lands by C.L. Wilson
6. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
7. Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
8. Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
9. Tribute by Nora Roberts
10. Don't Tell by Karen Rose
11. Have You Seen Her? by Karen Rose


4 roses (Excellent) reads:
1. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
2. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
3. Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich
4. Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs
5. A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber
6. Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
7. Mariner's Compass by Earlene Fowler
8. First You Run by Roxanne St. Claire
9. Dead Girls Are Easy by Terri Garey
10. Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb
11. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
12. Shore Lights by Barbara Bretton
13. Phantom Pleasures by Julie Leto
14. Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb
15. Divine Evil by Nora Roberts16. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

3.5 roses (Very Good) reads:
1. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
2. The Sign of the Book by John Dunning
3. Coaching the Artist Within by Eric Maisel
4. Obsessive Genius by Barbara Goldsmith
5. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
6. Time Bandit by Andy & Jonathan Hillstrand
7. The Stanislaski Sisters: Natasha & Rachel by Nora Roberts
8. The Stanislaski Brothers: Mikhail & Alex by Nora Roberts
9. Waiting for Nick by Nora Roberts
10. Considering Kate by Nora Roberts
11. It's Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong & Sally Jenkins
12. Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper
13. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
14. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
15. Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb
16. Welcome to the Great Mysterious by Lorna Landvik
17. Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg
18. Must Love Dragons by Stephanie Rowe
19. Bump in the Night by J.D. Robb and others
20. Holes by Louis Sachar
21. How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen
22. Holiday in Death by J.D. Robb


3 roses (Good) reads:
1. The Bookman's Promise by John Dunning
2. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
3. Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
4. Kitchen Privileges by Mary Higgins Clark
5. Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
6. The Pink Magnolia Club by Geralyn Dawson
7. The Return Journey by Maeve Binchy
8. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
9. A Pirate Looks at Fifty by Jimmy Buffett
10. Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins
11. Over My Head by Claudia Osborn


2.5 roses (Okay) reads:
1. Paddy Clarke Ha, Ha, Ha by Roddy Doyle
2. Red Helmet by Homer Hickam
3. The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay
4. The Bookman's Last Fling by John Dunning
5. Biblioholism by Tom Raabe
6. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
7. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne


2 roses (So-So) reads:
1. Lickety-Split by Kathy Hogan Trocheck


1 rose (Not my cuppa tea) reads:
1. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
2. Right from the Gecko by Cynthia Baxter


0 roses (Did not finish) reads: None of these were bad books, I just wasn't in the mood at the time. I'll try them again later.
1. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
2. The Language of Genes by Steve Jones
3. The Wisdom of Bones Alan Walker
4. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe