You enjoy the book reviews of the Pop Syndicate critics but now you’re dying to know what they thought were the best books of last year.  Thankfully, they were willing to list them out for us.  Here are the books Angela, John and Stefan thought were the best books of 2006.

Angela Wilson

1. Memory in Death by J.D. Robb
2. Snow Angel by Michael Graham
3. Novelist’s Boot Camp by Todd A. Stone
4. Mortal Faults by Michael Prescott
5. Body Heat by Katherine Gabrera
6. I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris
7. Post Secret compiled by Frank Warren
8. Lisey’s Story by Stephen King
9. Podcasting for Dummies by Tee Morris and Evo Terra
10. Raven’s Prey - Vintage Jane Ann Krentz on a reissue in December 2006. It’s still worth a look.

John Geysen

1. Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson - A wild ride that puts you right in there with John Wilkes Booth. A great American story.

2. The Gang That Wouldn’t Write Straight: Wolfe, Thompson, Didion, Capote, and the New Journalism Revolution by Marc Weingarten - All my heroes in one book. The story of how Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, Gay Talese, Hunter S. Thompson, Joan Didion, John Sack, Truman Capote and Michael Herr reshaped American journalism.  A must read for anyone into New Journalism.

3. The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley - Historian Douglas Brinkley well researched account of Hurricane Katrina. Heartbreaking and Infuriating.

4. Decoding the Universe: How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, from Our Brains to Black Holes by Charles Seife - Impossible to put down even for those intimidated by science.  Quantum mechanics, black holes and the end of the universe. You won’t look at the world the same way after reading it.

5. This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession (Hardcover) by Daniel J. Levitin - Another bit of heavy thinking. Don’t know why you can’t get that song out of your head. Read this.

6. THE LOOMING TOWER: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 By Lawrence Wright - Complete account of 9/11 and the events that led to it. Great piece of Journalism. 

7. Only Revolutions by Mark Danielewski - Confusing, intense. Indecipherable, Ambitious . But still compelling

8. One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey ‘,The Kid’, Ungar, The World’s Greatest Poker Player PAPERBACK by Nolan Dalla, Peter Alson - The man was a self destructive genius. It’ll have you out chasing your dreams.

9. Feeding the Monster: by Seth Mnookin - The inside story about how the Boston Red Sox won the World Series. Documents the 2001 sale of the team, player trades and acquisitions, and plans for the future.

10. Mark Twain: 10 Books in 1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom Sawyer Abroad, Tom Sawyer, Detective, Huckleberry Finn, Life On The Mississippi, The Prince ... Roughing It, and Following The Equator.  Perfect for your Mark Twain fix. A nice collection.

Stefan Halley

I didn’t read ten books that I would highly recommend to people.  I’ve got a shorter list of really good books that you should read.

1. The Ruins by Scott Smith - One of the best horror books I’ve ever read.  It’s fast paced, creepy and exciting. Who knew vines could be so vicious.

2. Twilight by William Gay - Southern fiction when done well is amazingly good.  Gay’s third book is a riveting story of small town politics and Southern culture out of control.

3. Pick Me Up by Jeremy Leslie and David Roberts - Technically a childrens book but I defy anyone to not enjoy reading this book.  If you could put the internet in print form, it would be this book.

4. Defiance by Alex Konanykhin - Truth can be stranger than fiction. Alex Konanykhin’s life has been something out of a James Bond film.  Complete with spys, double crosses and military cover ups, Defiance is just begging to be made into a movie.

5. The Road by Cormac McCarthy - McCarthy has created one of the more depressing and riviting books I’ve read.  This one of the better post-apocalyptic books I’ve ever read.

6. The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor - Part of a trilogy, The Looking Glass Wars is Alice in Wonderland with a more military spin.  Very inventive, I can’t wait for parts two and three.

7. Presidential Doodles by Cabinet Magazine and David Greenberg - Proving that our country’s leaders are also human, Presidential Doodles is filling the odd scribblings of our former leaders. 

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