brea list: books of 2008.
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 at 10:52 am
i had a lot of trouble with this for two reasons: 1) i don’t read books when they come out so i actually didn’t read that many 2008 books and 2) including comics means that it went way over top 10. oh well. it’s my damn list.
in no particular order except that i sort of grouped them by type (but only sort of):
1) human: the science behind what makes us unique by michael gazzaniga - an easy-to-read science book that you can impress your friends with by learning a few facts from. all about how humans are cool but animals are also kind of cool - in other words, what makes us all different. i loved this book. if you already know a lot of science stuff and want something a little heavier, i’d go with microcosm: e. coli and the new science of life by carl zimmer
2) stolen innocence by elissa wall - the autobiography of a woman who grew up under warren jeffs’ rule. i’d suggest it for a vacation-type time when you won’t have to worry about making time for it. once you start it, you won’t be able to put it down.
3) prison profiteers by paul wright - non-fiction book full of essays on the private prison system in the u.s. super informative even if you already know stuff about the subject. if you don’t know anything about the subject, then i think you should read it right away.
4) the political mind: why you can’t understand 20th century politics with an 18th century brain by george lakoff - mr. lakoff, my hat is off to you for explaining many things about politics to me that i didn’t understand. although a lot is very logical, i’m glad someone put it down in a book. all about the manipulation of language by government.
5) kluge by gary marcus - another book that pointed out things i feel like i knew, but hadn’t thought about. why do you drive across town to save $25 on a $100 microwave but not $25 on a $1000 flat screen tv? gary marcus tells you why. i carried this book around and read excerpts to people just to blow them away.
6) say you’re one of them by uwem akpan - do you like crying while reading a book of short stories? then this is for you! also pretty educational and a damn well-written book about poverty and war in africa.
7) the boat by nam le - devastatingly depressing but amazing short stories. one of the few books that made me put it down for a while to “take a break” due to its intensity.
when you are engulfed in flames by david sedaris - again, david sedaris puts out a book that i can’t put down. you’ll laugh and feel embarrassed and feel nostalgic all at the same time. he never ceases to amaze me in his brilliance.
9) notes on a life by eleanor coppola - a family of geniuses puts out another genius item. this is mrs. coppola’s fascinating first-person history of many years within the family. it’s great. made me wish she had a blog. can we start some sort of campaign to make that happen?
10) audition by barbara walters - i knew nothing about barbara walters when i picked this up and now i feel like we have a lot in common. well, maybe not, but i relate to her. and she is a very smart business lady who has been in the business back when there weren’t women in it.
11) wormwood: gentleman corpse by ben templesmith - the only comic i know of that has a worm in a various corpses running around saving the world. that, my friends, should qualify it for all top book lists.(if you just had a moment of wondering what other corpses i’m referring to, please read wormwood: it only hurts when i pee. there, you will see the corpse of a little girl.)
12) swallow me whole by nate powell - a beautiful and touching graphic novel about family and mental illness. get ready for some sadness and happiness all at the same time.
13) local by brian wood and ryan kelly - i could have put a bunch of stuff up here by brian wood but i chose local just because of it’s amazingness and massiveness. although i feel like i specifically relate to brian’s stuff because we came from similar music scenes, i think anyone could relate to it. some of the best writing out there.
14) buffy the vampire slayer: wolves at the gate by drew goddard, georges jeanty and joss whedon - this year, buffy becomes a lesbian. i’m for it. let’s be honest though - if it has the name of joss whedon on it, i’m for it.
15) x-factor: the only game in town by peter david, pablo raimondi and valentine de landro - i’ve really fallen for the x-factor characters. maybe playing a superhero myself helps with that but overall, i think they are really well-developed and likeably. plus, this includes the one where everyone almost dies in a giant fire. pretty frightening.
16) fables vol. 11: war and pieces by bill willingham and mark buckingham - hurray! we won…err.. fables win! spoiler alert! i’ve been waiting a while to see what happens to the poor exhiled fables and you finally find out here. well worth the wait. if you’ve never read this series, it’s time to start. hurry - before it become a tv show.
although this book came out a year ago, water for elephants by sara gruen was the best fiction book i read this year. so it gets an honorable mention because i didn’t know about it til 2008 so it’s like it just came out to me.
I’m with you when it comes to not reading books in the year they were actually released. I was going to say my favorite (non-graphic) novel of 2008 was either “Gentlemen of the Road” by Michael Chabon or “I Love You Beth Cooper” by Larry Doyle, but they were both released in 2007. I am putting together an extensive list of my favorite comic book series of 2008 though.
As far as non-fiction goes, I’d say “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” by Thomas Friedman. Friedman does a great job of explaining the problems, scaring the crap out of you, and then offering solutions.
I’m reading LOCAL now, I’m enjoying it so far. I try not to read a graphic novel all it one sitting. I like to savor them a bit. It’s occasionally torturous closing the book. As far as Brian Wood’s concerned, I had read the first few issues of DMZ when that first came out, but I couldn’t really get into it. It may just be that all Vertigo books read better in the trade format, but I’m finding LOCAL much more compelling than DMZ.
“Wolves at the Gate” has been my favorite Buffy Season 8 story arc so far. Drew Goddard was my favorite Buffy/Angel writer not named Joss Whedon. He wrote my favorite Buffy episode ever, the Anya-centric “Selfless”. “The troll is doing an Olaf-impression!” “Hide your babies and your beadwork!” I love that you go into Wolves at the Gate, thinking the title is a metaphor and then you open the cover and the first two pages have Xander saying, “Those are wolves. We got wolves at the gate.” That cracked me up. I don’t think Buffy is technically a lesbian though. I think it’s more a one-night fling-thing. I think Joss is heading towards a Buffy/Xander romance. But it’s Joss Whedon, so it’s hard to tell.
I like X-Factor too. It’s a nice twist on the traditional X-Men team book. I like the idea of the detective agency. It’s kinda like a superhero/mutant version of the early seasons of ANGEL. And I love Madrox’s shirt. And I want Layla Miller back already! She knows stuff!
I haven’t got myself caught up on Fables yet. I can’t remember what the last trade I read was. So you kinda spoiled it for me. I can’t get too angry though, I really wasn’t expecting them to lose the war. That would sorta kill the book, wouldn’t it? I’m hoping it involves Boy Blue using the Vorpal Sword again. I love the “Snicker-snack!”
Erik Redins last blog post..Midseason Report Card: Heroes
[...] currently Daphne the Speedster on Heroes (and a high point to this season, if I may), posted her Best Books of 2008 list on her blog (Spoiler alert for the most recent Fables trade at the link). It wound up being much [...]
“My list of the best book/comics that I read in 2008 (that probably didn’t come out in 2008)” in no particular order
Stranger in a strange land (man raised on Mars comes back to Earth and must start understanding just what it means to be human.)
By Jaz Moore
1) Cell by Stephen King (all about how technology is the death of the human race)
2) Coraline by Neil Gaiman ( little girl goes into a dark version of her world)
3) Fables volume 1 ( murder mystery set in a hidden magical community)
4) Preacher ( sooo awesomely weird, deviant, and gory)
5) God is dead ( About how god takes the form of a pakistani woman and is accidentally killed and how the world reacts when it finds out. Thought provoking!)
6) Last man XY (all the men in the world die mysteriously except for one)
7) The looking Glass Wars ( Alternative take on the Alice in Wonderland stories)
9) Snow White, Blood Red ( Collection of short stories, each of which is a non-rated modernization of famous fairytales)
10) The Grave Yard Book (gothic version of the Jungle Book)
I read so much more and I know I’m forgetting many but this is what I could come up with right now!
Don’t get me wrong, I was all for Willow being a lesbian and all, but I think it’d just be overkill to do it with Buffy too. As a Joss/Buffy fan, I really think it’d just be too shameless, and IMO Joss is just so much better than that. Plus, I like the idea of the Buffy/Xander thing happening.
Anyway, I’m just happy “Buffy” still exists in some form. Really, really miss that show…
Hey you. Just posted on my site about your Web Blog nomination for Best Celebrity Blogger and voted for you. Give your readers a heads up to vote for you by the 13th, lady!
http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-celebrity-blogger/
Lis Fiess last blog post..Child lovebirds elope to Africa
Korey, I don’t think you have to worry. The Buffy lesbian hook-up seemed more a product of crazy circumstances than a total shift for the character. She’s living in a castle full of slayers and the only man is Xander. Buffy knew Satsu was in love with her after the whole Sleeping Beauty incident in the first story arc. And she hadn’t gotten laid in a long, long time. This all lead to some hot lesbian slayer action, but it definitely didn’t come across as a permanent thing.
I miss Buffy too, but at least we’ve got Whedon’s new show Dollhouse starting in February. And he’s got Tim Minear and Jane Espenson aboard on the writing staff.
Erik Redins last blog post..My Favorite Wii Games of 2008
I read a few books last year, but these are the ones I remember!
Long Way Down (Ewan McGregor & Charlie Boorman)
Long Way Across (Ewan McGregor & Charlie Boorman)
By Any Means (Charlie Boorman)
Mass Effect: Ascension
On your list, Kluge sounds cool!
I’ll probably put a review or so on my website! http://www.Njackson.co.uk
NathJ89s last blog post..TV - DeadSet Episode 1
I was with you on Local but you lost me with Barbara Walters. Also, apparently I was reading this blog backwards.
Paul DeBenedettos last blog post..008 Friday Wrap-up
Brea, you like Fables and Wormwood? Too cool. I hope Fables on tv is done well and not ruined.
Kluge sounds interesting. Gotta check it out.
If you haven’t already, Blindness by Jose Saramago is a great book. Was a movie with Julianne Moore (haven’t seen it yet).
Jons last blog post..Utter Randomness
My favorite book that I got “last” year (it’s weird to think of 08 as last year!) I didn’t get until December 30th! it was a christmas present from my brother, called The Woman with a Worm in Her Head: And Other True Stories of Infectious Disease by Pamela Nagami, MD. It’s a really awesome read, and its not all clinical. You get right in with the stories, and also learn! Haha, on the same “medical” genre, but much more goofy; The Hypochondriac’s Pocket Guide to Horrible Diseases You Probably Already Have, by Dennis DiClaudio. There are no words to describe the awesomeness of this book. I highly recommend BOTH books.
I’m currently working on The A to Z of Infectious Disease and Phantoms of the Brain! I blame House for this slightly morbid love of infectious disease.
ok, so i think the big question is