PopSyndicate.com

It’s that time of year again.  What are the best and worst books of 2008? The Pop Syndicate book critics take a moment to list their favorite and least favorite reads of the year.  What were you favorites? 

John Geysen

Best Books of 2008

1. Man in the Dark: A Novel by Paul Auster:
Not the place to start with Mr. Auster but great. Few authors can pull you in so completely. I only wish he would finish his stories within the stories.

2. A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn - the Last Great Battle of the American West by James Donovan:
A vivid account of the Battle of Little Bighorn. Wonderful for history buffs and it offers insight into the wars we are fighting today.

3. How Fiction Works by James Wood:
A nod to the English major in me. But everyone can benefit by learning more about how.. well how fiction works. Whether you read comics or literary fiction it will increase your enjoyment.

4. All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays by George Orwell:
You know George Orwell from Animal Farm and 1984, now check out his penetrating nonfiction

5. Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson by William McKeen:
A levelheaded but not overly dense examination of an all time great. There are lessons in here for any aspiring writer.

6. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham:
Fitting with a new President coming into office. American leaders once kicked ass.

7. Hellboy Library Edition, Vol. 1 and 2 by Mike Mignola:
I had to include these (graphic novels have made the jump to literature anyway) gorgeous collections.

8. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments by David Foster Wallace:
Although from 1998, this collection was back on shelves after David Foster Wallace passed away this year. Dying always perks up sales of the back catalogue.

9. The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals by Jane Mayer:
A scary look into how you’ve been kept “safe.”

10. Vampire Zero: A Gruesome Vampire Tale by David Wellington.
My last spot goes to Wellington who keeps churning out fantastic literary pulp.

Worst Books

1. Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman:
This one could have been on my best of list. It isn’t really a worst list book. But I love his journalism and never miss his Esquire columns so when I wasn’t blow away I felt let down. I’ll give it another chance.

2. McCain’s Promise by David Foster Wallace:
Makes my list because I bought this book thinking it was something new. Only later did I find it was a repackage of a previous feature already include in A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again. AND it costs about the same as that entire anthology.

3. Faith in my Fathers by John McCain.
Back out for the campaign. A must read but the hero in that book wasn’t the same man who ran for President.

4. 2666 By Roberto Bolaño
A doorstop with plodding sentences. I find Bolaño’s work oppressive but I’ll keep trying. Makes it because so many others will put it on their Best of 2008 lists.

5. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat That Changed the World by Vicki Myron:
The title tells you everything you need to know. Cashing in on that Marley and Me BS.

Angela Wilson

Below are my top ten picks for 2008, along with an equal number of notables that deserve a look. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

1. The Follower by Jason Starr
2. No One Heard Her Scream by Jordan Dane (Avon)
3. Die Smiling by Linda Ladd
4. A Match Made in Hell by Terri Garey
5. The Rule of Won by Stefan Petrucha
6. Twisted by Andrea Kane
7. Ghost at Work by Carolyn Hart
8. Gun Work by David J. Schow
9. The Reach by Nate Kenyon
10. Legacy by Jeanne C. Stein

Other notables:

1. Jinx by Jennifer Estep
2. Rock to the Top by Dayna Steele
3. Sleeveface: Be the Vinyl by Carl Morris & John Rostron
4. How to Survive Your Freshman Year by Bernstein & Kauffman (updated edition)
5. Fire Fish by Davy Lui
6. Skin and Bone by Kathryn Fox
7. Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of BTK, The Serial Killer Next Door by the Wichita Eagle
8. Simply Irresistible by Ellen T. White
9. Vampire, Interrupted by Lynsay Sands
10. Freezer Burn by D. H. Dublin
  11.  Written in Blood by Sheila Lowe

Four worst books for my 2008:

Real Vampires Have Curves by Gerry Bartlett - I read this in 08 hoping for a great new vamp series. What I got was a book I barely was able to finish. The protagonist needed cheese with her wine.

Private Collection: A History of Erotic Photography (1850-1940) by Cressida Connolly
A great compilation that lacks context that would make this a great collection. Instead, the stand along photos are just… there.

Worst Presentation of a Classic:
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis - The Movie Edition offered nothing unique or fun, just a bunch of pages with text. C.S. Lewis’ classic deserved better than this production.

The Devil Inside (Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist, Book 1) by Jenna Black - It came out the end of 07, but I didn’t get to it until 08, which is why it makes this list. I cannot believe this series will be on its fourth book in 09. UGH!

Stefan Halley

Best of 2008 Books

1. Seven Days of Peter Crumb by Jonny Glynn
2. Takeover by Lisa Black
3. Big Black Penis by Shawn Taylor
4. Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow
5. The Best American Comics of 2008
6. Gun Work by David Schow
7. Twisted by Andrea Kane

Worst Books

V: The Second Generation by Kenneth Johnson
Fifty-to-One by Charles Adair

 

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