So far...

Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook
Pobby and Dingan by Ben Rice
Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas
Of a Boy by Sonya Hartnett
The Grass Harp by Truman Capote
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Dafoe

Adam

Sheri, I never seem to read the same books as the majority of RP'ers but must say that first for humour and 'cleverness' Gone with the Windsors by Laurie Graham.
For quality of writing, the short stories of Alice Monroe in Runaway.
Lastly as I had to wait 14 months for it to arrive from the library and because it was worth waiting for Frankie and Stankie by the South African writer Barbara Trapeido.

In no particular order...

Peace Like a River - Leif Enger
The Brief History of the Dead - Kevin Brockmeier
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
CorelliÂs Mandolin - Louis de Bernieres
Affinity - Sarah Waters
The Woman in Black - Susan Hill
The Hard Way - Lee Child
The Stolen Child - Keith Donohue

Reading my list, I noticed I haven't read many "really good books". The only ones that stand out are:
Small Island by Andrea Levy (actually I read it in December but I finished early in January)
Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
a step behind,
The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
Timbuktu by Paul Auster

grelobe

In no order:

The Historian - Kostovo
Shadow of the Wind - Zafon
Music & Silence -Tremain
Birds Without Wings -des Bernieres
Will in the World - Greenblatt
The Turn of the Screw -James

>Gone with the Windsors by Laurie Graham.

Ok, you've sold me!

I have lots of 'ok' books on my list. But the absolute best books would include:

>The March by EL Doctorow

>Anja the Liar by Thomas Moran

>Birds without wings by Louis de Bernieres

>Cloud Atlas David Mitchell

>Music and Silence Rose Tremain

In no particular order:

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe - Fannie Flagg
When the Emperor Was Divine - Julie Otsuka
Brick Lane- Monica Ali
Middlemarch - George Eliot
Death of a Red Heroine - Qiu Xialong
Excellent Women - Barbara Pym
Less Than Angels - Barbara Pym
A Blade of Grass - Lewis De Soto
Parnassus on Wheels - Christopher Morley
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer

Steeplechase by Jane Langton

It's been a really great year so far. These are only in order of reading:

The Turtle Warrior by Mary Ellis
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Sorrow's Anthem by Michael Koryta
You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett
The Fallen by T. Jefferson Parker
The King of Lies by John Hart
Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
The Stolen Child by Keith Donahue
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax

Shoot. That should be The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen.

Unless the quality of Book Thief takes an unexpected nose dive, I'd probably add that to the list as well. I'm at the half way point. I was thinking I'd take this book on vacation with me Wednesday, but I'll have it done by then. Must. Keep. Reading.

If you mean the best book published this year, then probably Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. Though I did enjoy The Night Watch by Sarah Waters as well.

If you mean the best book I have read this year, then BSG is still up there - but also Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and perhaps English Passengers. And Kafka on the Shore by Murakami - but I may have read that last year - it's difficult to be sure....

The best book I have ever read was "Lives of the Monster Dogs" by Kirstin Bakis
There was another book about dogs by the author of watership down, but I can't remember it's title.
And keeping with the current theme, a book from my younger days that I still enjoy for a few rainy nights. "WerewolveSS" by Jerry & Sharon Ahern, which is basically about nazi's who who use werewolves to attempt a world-takover. It's very amusing. There are parts that I could do without, like the constand need to explain in detail the main female character's clothing. But it's a good book for a bit of light reading.

I looked once, I looked again. It's a tough call to name favorites. I promised myself I would try to make better reading choices as the years went by but this year has not been a year of memorable reads.

The one stand-out great read was The Turn of the Screw, Henry James. There are so many ways to look at it, none of them wrong. Every reading would probably result in new discoveries or new opinions.

For lack of better candidates, these are my other favorites so far with the sincerest hope that the second half of 2006 will yield better results.

1. Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer - shocking and informative, but not awesome.
2. Shadow Divers, Robert Kurson - this book is an exception to the disclaimer typed above - it will stay with me a long time.
3. Sixpence House, Paul Collins - just what I was looking for at the time, but not overly memorable.
4. The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester - interesting in a "Jeopardy trivia question" kinda way. Glad I read it, but not a great book.

PAM

I'm on #77 for the year but as I look over the titles there are not very many that I think belong on this list. I guess I would include, in no particular order
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron

and the funniest was The White House by Christopher Buckley

I generally consider my best reads as ones I've read during the year no matter when they were published. I just don't get around to reading that many newly published books.

However, I was right - to my list above, add Book Thief.

Just finished A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell...beautiful book, very sad at times, but inspiring overall-the story of the extreme lengths gone to by Italian peasants, parish priests and nuns and members of the Italian military to protect Jews during the German occupation of northern Italy.

I must be reading the wrong books this year. I've read several I liked very much, but none I truly loved. Oh well, the year is not over yet.

Paula

I finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon a couple of days ago, and I am adding it to my favorites list.

I too loved Shadow Divers and recommended it to several people - a rarity for me. Also the oft-mentioned collections of stories about dogs, Woman's Best Friend edited by Megan McMorris, foreward by Pam Houston. And 26.2 by Katherine Switzer, a history of the marathon. All my favorites were non-fiction!

With respect to *new* books, I'd say A Long Way Home by Sebastian Barry, a beautiful, lyrical book about a young Irish soldier during WWI. It reminded me of Kazuo Ishiguro in its quietness and sense of place.

Another book soon to be translated into English, Rebel Without Borders by Marc Vachon, the autobiography of an orphan mistreated in countless foster homes who becomes a thug and drug addict, but then reforms and joins Doctors Without Borders, and has been at the center of all of the world's important crises in the past 20 years. Very very inspiring, and a fascinating look into the world of a humanitarian worker. He's now building schools in Indonesia, I believe.

Although I've read several books this year and enjoyed most of them, I can't say that there have been many that really stood out for me. Those that did stand out include:

The King of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner
The Queen of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner
The Wandering King - Laura Gallego Garcia

I did not include any re-reads when I looked back through my list for 2006, just the ones I'd read for the first time.

Venusia - yes, I agree - I thought A Long Long Way (I think you'll find that's the correct title!) was marvellous. Not often I have tears in my eyes when I read a book, but that one did it to me. It was a Booker Prize short-list last year, and I would have been delighted if it had won. I ought to add it to my re-read list.

rouan, I just read The King of Attolia last week, and it immediately went to the top of the list for me too. The other standouts are Octavia Butler's last book, Fledgling and Kurt Vonnegut's book of essays, A Man Without a Country.

cheryl

I didn't have as much time to read this year (as I did my student teaching and then a long-term sub after graduation). However, I've at least gotten to read some good books...favorites so far:

*The Secret Life of Dust...I didn't realize how much I learned until seeing related issues come up later on a tv program.

*1776...I'm not a huge fan of reading history, but this was well written. Again, I learned quite a bit.

*The Blue Sword...a fantastic sequel to TH&TC. I very much enjoyed this book.

If I may, I'll mention a book that you've probably already read: Wild Swans by Jung Chang. I stumbled upon it last spring and it's become one of my all-time favorite books. The author relates her family's story from before the Communist takeover of China and up through the Cultural Revolution. This is a powerful, inspiring book that shook me to my bones. Were any of you affected by it as well?
Thanks.
Diane

Diane,
I liked Wild Swans too. I think it's a poignant book, which gives an insightful look into 'modern' China. Jung Chang has a new book out as well - a biography of Mao Zedong.

Adam

>Wild Swans by Jung Chang

Diane, I was in London when I saw that in a bookstore. Despite having several books for the trip already, I knew I had to get it. Not only an incredible story of the three women, but a very readable and well researched history of the times. Another book you might like is Legacies by Bette Bao Lord (her husband was the US ambassador to China ). She has first hand stories of a great part of the same history, esp during the cultural revolution (I took a class in college about Chinese History with a professor who thought the cultural revolution was the best thing since sliced bread. I didn't know better then, but if I was a student now I would not have been able to be quiet)