what to read

I collect book recommendations from friends, blogs, and reviews. They end up in my librarything catalog marked toberead. I add another tag for the ones I can borrow locally and mark ones that I can mooch on Bookmooch. Naturally, quite a few have no interest when I finally get around to them, or turn out to have been misrepresented to me.

And then there are the books that catch my eye in the best-of-the-year lists. I've learned to restrain myself with them. Too often I feel I ought to read rather than want to read them and, when brought to hand, disappoint. That said, Ralph Luker writes that history books dominate both the NY Times nonfiction list and the TLS list this year, so maybe, for a change, I'll find fewer ought-to's and more want-to's.

Here are the best-of lists I've found so far.

- Guardian: Season's readings
- Times (UK): The Times Books Christmas Special
- TLS: TLS Books of the Year 2008
- ALA YA:Best Books for Young Adults 2008
- NY Times: 100 Notable Books of 2008
- NY Times: Notable Children’s Books of 2008
- Telegraph (UK):Chistmas books
- Telegraph (UK):Christmas books: history
- NY Times blog post: Picking the Notable Books of the Year

{Source: Guardian. Caption: Detail from the Madonna Della Rondine by Carlo Crivelli. Image: The Art Archive}

{Source: Telegraph. Caption: Christmas past: Anothy Fletcher's 'Growing up in England' is highly recommended}