By request, and late as usual, here’s the stuff I liked the best in 2008:

My favorites of the 60-odd books I read, in no particular order:

What is America?, Ronald Wright.
This is my one must-read, along with his Brief History of Progress.

How to Be an Adult, David Richo.
Some of us are late bloomers.

The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
See above.

The Secret Scripture, Sebastian Barry.
Set in my dad’s home county of Roscommon, where nothing is ever set.

A Wise Heart, Jack Kornfield.
Buddhism properly synthesized with psychology.

In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan.
Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.

The Farming of Bones, Edwidge Danticat.
I went back to novels in 2008, after stepping out on fiction for several years.

Netherland, Joseph O’Neill.
Took me right back to New York, 2001/2002, when we were waiting for more stuff to happen.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz.
Oh, Oscar…

Here Comes Everybody, Clay Shirky
He’s high on my list of White Man Pundits.

Lush Life, Richard Price.
All the L.E.S. is here.

Break, Burn, Blow, Camille Paglia.
Essays on 40+ amazing poems—even George Herbert is in here.

The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp.
Dammit, hard work is the only way.

I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy, Hafiz.
Hafiz makes me laugh.

The Orgy, Muriel Rukeyser.
Great American poet goes to Ireland’s Puck Fair in 1957.

Luck & the Irish, Roy Foster.
See today’s New York Times piece on turning luck.

Dreams From My Father, Barack Obama.
I read this long before I believed he’d make it.

And my soundtrack for the year:

I Am Shelby Lynne, Shelby Lynne

Just a Little Lovin’, Shelby Lynne

Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles

Shaft, Isaac Hayes

Little Honey, Lucinda Williams

Washington Square Serenade, Steve Earle

Pocket Symphony, Air

Rockferry, Duffy

His Best 1947 to 1956, Muddy Waters

Volume One, She & Him

The Man Comes Around, Johnny Cash

Nouvelle Vague, Nouvelle Vague

The Essential Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton

Dear Science, TV on the Radio

A bunch of Glen Campbell and the Rolling Stones.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 at 10:47 pm and is filed under Books\, Music\. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.