Word Nerd read a lot in 2005. Not every book is brilliant, or life-changing, or just plain well-written. But out of the list of books from this year, the winners surface.
And here they are:
10. Day of the Triffids, John Wyndham (sci-fi)
9. A Gun for Sale, Graham Greene (literary fiction)
8. Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman (fantasy)
7. Queen of the South, Arturo Perez-Reverte (literary fiction)
6. Ragman and Other Cries of Faith, Walter Wangerin (memoir, fiction, essays)
5. Can Man Live without God, Ravi Zacharias (Christian apologetics)
4. Griffin and Sabine, Nick Bantock (epistolary fiction with REALLY good art)
3. Magnificent Defeat, Frederick Buechner * (Christian spirituality)
2. Watership Down, Richard Adams (fiction)
1. Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller (memoir/Christian spirituality.)
A little bit about the list that's worth mentioning.... This list would have been a lot different if Word Nerd had limited the list to first readings of books. Neverwhere, Griffin and Sabine, and Watership Down have all been read before but still rise to the top of the "best of" list because they are that good.
Word Nerd has already blogged about Blue Like Jazz, so if you're curious, you can read this post, which includes a link to the first chapter of the book.
Queen of the South won out a close tie with Perez-Reverte's Captain Alatriste, which was the subject of this blog entry. Queen of the South won though because Word Nerd has never seen an author write a version of himself into the story as well as Perez-Reverte seems to embody the unnamed Spanish journalist narrator in this novel.
If you're looking for a book to fill the rest of the holidays, these would great places to start.
* This title is not available through the Oshkosh Public Library.
2 comments:
What an eclectic list. I love seeing all of the different genres enjoyed by one person.
Hehe... yay for Watership Down making the list!
I loved this book in middle/junior high/high school... I lost count at 8 readings... :)
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