Reading is Fundamental

A selection of books I read in 2008. Recommendations for 2009? Put 'em in comments.

1. Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris (Good, but needed an editor. Could have slashed fifty pages and gotten the same -- or even better -- result.)
2. The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta (Not his best (those honors still go to Election and Little Children), but worthwhile.)
3. Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago by Mike Royko (He built the Machine. Blago got piggy with it.)
4. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (Evocative, ethereal, proves the adage "Less is More".)
5. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (The reasoning is inductive, not deductive.)
6. Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner (The place was a rat's nest of dysfunction from Day One. I think Attaturk would like this one.)
7. The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard J. Evans (What's a cold dark winter without Nazis?)
8. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King (Recommended by Atriot Gromit. Read the Holmes in prep for this.)
9. Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (Funniest book I read this year, which reminds me -- I need to read more Amis.)
10. The Trillion Dollar Meltdown by Charles R. Morris (a/k/a "Derivatives for Dummies". How we got where we are today. Thanks, Wall Street!)
11. The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kuntsler (Christ, he's cranky. And his book is fascinating.)
12. Netherland by Joseph O'Neill (Writes about New York like an out-of-towner. Still, I won't soon forget Chuck Ramkissoon.)
13. Look at Me by Jennifer Eagan (A woman next to me on the subway recommended it -- although said Eagan's The Keep is even better.)
    
14. What Happened to Anna K. by Irina Reyn (Anna Karenina reimagined among the Russian immigrants of circa 2008 Queens.)
    
15. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (The Way We Live Now is the way we live now. Highly recommended.)
    
16. Nixonland by Rick Perlstein (The roots of our Republican-engineered Heart of Darkness.)