Books Read in 2008

This is the list of books I read in 2008, in the order that I read them. For an explanation of my rating system, see here.

The Green Man by Kingsley Amis (out of print; 3/5)

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (4/5)

The 39 Steps by John Buchan (3/5)

Anne Frank’s Diary by Anne Frank (3/5)

Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (3.5/5)

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (4/5)

Dreamers of the Day by Mary Russell (reviewed here; 2/5)

The First Salute by Barbara Tuckman (3/5)

The Human Factor by Graham Greene (3.5/5)

Scavenger Reef by Lawrence Shames (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

Silas Marner by George Elliott (3/5)

Ex Libris by Ross King (3/5)

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (reviewed here; 4.5/5)

Foreigners by Caryl Phillips (reviewed here; 2.5/5)

A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming (3.5/5)

Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes by Howard Lenhoff (reviewed here; 3/5)

Fascination by William Boyd (3/5)

The Shack by William Young (notes here; 4/5)

Best Interests by George Mead (unpublished manuscript)

The World to Come by Dara Horn (3.5/5)

Naked by David Sedaris (3/5)

Kiss Kiss by Roald Dahl (3.5/5)

Power to the People by Laura Ingraham (3/5)

Switch Bitch by Roald Dahl (3/5)

Jeeves in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse (a.k.a. Joy in the Morning; 3.5/5)

The Bone People by Keri Hume (reviewed here; winner of the Booker Prize; 3.5/5)

A Fairly Honourable Defeat by Iris Murdoch (notes here; 4/5)

The Motive by John Lescroart (3.5/5)

Worst Case Scenario by Joshua Piven (2/5)

Returning to Earth by Jim Harrison (3.5/5)

The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever (reviewed here; winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; 3.5/5)

How to Find Morels by Milan Pelouch (reviewed here; 4/5)

Cocktail Time by P.G. Wodehouse (3/5)

The Confession by Olen Steinhauer (3.5/5)

Look Great, Feel Great by Joyce Meyer (reviewed here; 3/5)

The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (3.5/5)

Hard Times by Charles Dickens (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child (3/5)

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe (reviewed here; on the Modern Library Top 100 list for nonfiction; 3/5)

Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy (reviewed here; 3/5)

Crescent City by Belva Plain (reviewed here; 2.5/5)

The Big Oyster by Mark Kudansky (3/5)

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman (4/5)

The History of Love by Nicoli Krauss (4/5)

How Far Can You Go? by David Lodge (reviewed here; on the Anthony Burgess list; 4/5)

Beethoven was One-Sixteenth Black by Nadine Gordimer (reviewed here; 3/5)

Jeeves and the Old School Chum by P.G. Wodehouse (3/5)

The Suspect by John Lescroart (3.5/5)

Thank You Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (3.5/5)

Franklin and Lucy by Joseph Pescipo (reviewed here and here; 3.5/5)

Dear Zoe by Philip Beard (3/5)

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (reviewed here; 4/5)

The Size of the World by Joyce Silber (reviewed here; 2.5/5)

Boomsday by Christopher Buckley (3/5)

Off to the Side by Jim Harrison (4/5)

Sick as a Parrot by Liz Evans (3/5)

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (4.5/5)

The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse (3.5/5)

The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg (3/5)

Hallam’s War by Elizabeth Payne Rosen (reviewed here; 2/5)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (4/5)

The Trial by Franz Kafka (2/5)

O, How the Wheel Becomes It by Anthony Powell (3.5/5)

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (reviewed here; 3/5)

Bridge of Sighs by Olen Steinhauer (3.5/5)

The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy (3/5)

Resistance Fighter by Jorgen Keiler (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

Errors and Omissions by Paul Goldstein (3/5)

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (3/5)

The Fracture Zone by Simon Winchester (3/5)

Decorating Journal by Nina Campbell (3/5)

The House of Mondavi by Julia Flynn Siler (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie (3/5)

America, America by Ethan Cannin (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

John Paul the Great by Peggy Noonan (4/5)

Night by Elie Wiesel (4/5)

Neon Rain by James Lee Burke (3.5/5)

Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn (2.5/5)

Siddartha by Herman Hesse (reviewed here; 2/5)

Terrorist by John Updike (3.5/5)

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (4/5)

The Wonder Spot by Melissa Banks (3/5)

7 Wheelchairs by Gary Presley (reviewed here and here; 3/5)

Candide by Voltaire (2.5/5)

Country Living 500 Quick & Easy Decorating Projects & Ideas by Dominique DeVito (3/5)

House Beautiful 500 Sensational Ways to Create Your Ideal Home by Kate Sloan (3/5)

John Stuart Mill: Victorian Firebrand by Richard Reeves (reviewed here and
here; 3/5)

The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler (3.5/5)

Cut to the Chase by Stuart Levine (3/5)

The Spirit of the Place by Samuel Shem (reviewed here; 2.5/5)

Everyman by Philip Roth (3/5)

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver (3.5/5)

Moby Dick by Herman Melville (reviewed here; 4/5)

The English Major by Jim Harrison (reviewed here and here; 3.5/5)

Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (2.5/5)

Kane and Able by Jeffery Archer (3/5)

The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy (3/5)

A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane (3/5)

Absolute Zero by Chuck Logan (3/5)

To the Hilt by Dick Francis (3/5)

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler (3/5)

Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome Jerome (3/5)

Heaven’s Prisoners by James Lee Burke (3.5/5)

Abbeville by John Fowler (reviewed here; 3/5)

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson (winner of the National Book Award; 4/5)

Station Wagon in Spain by Frances Parkington Keyes (3/5)

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan (3/5)

The Islands of Divine Music by John Addiego (reviewed here and here; 3.5/5)

West with the Night by Beryl Markham (on the Modern Library Top 100 nonfiction list; 3.5/5)

Creating a Class by Mitchell Stevens (4/5)

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (3/5)

Living in the Arts and Crafts Style by Charlotte Kelley (3/5)

In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefeld (reviewed here; 2.5/5)

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (5/5)

Christmas Stories by Charles Dickens (2.5/5)

Scratch Beginnings by Adam Shepard (reviewed here and here; 3.5/5)

The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud (notes here; 3/5)

Murder Alfresco by Nadine Gordon (3/5)

So Many Books, So Little Time by Sara Nelson (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

The Lambs of London by Dan Ackroyd (3/5)

Justice Denied by Marci Hamilton (reviewed here; 3.5/5))

The Facts by Philip Roth (3.5/5)

Villages by John Updike (3/5)

The Amish Cook at Home by Lovina Eicher (3/5)

Nothing to Lose by Lee Child (3/5)

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (winner of the Booker Prize; 4.5/5)

Tomorrow by Graham Swift (3/5)