Best Books of 2008 Complete Holiday Book Recommendations 2008

Best Books of 2008 Complete Holiday Book Recommendations 2008

NPR.org, November 19, 2008 · Below you can find the complete list of recommended reading for the 2008 Holidays. To print this list, choose the "Print Page" icon in the upper right-hand corner. Click on the titles to read an excerpt from the book.

Recommended by Nancy Pearl
("Books Beneath The Reading Radar")

Alice in Sunderland: An Entertainment, by Bryan Talbot, hardcover, 319 pages, Dark Horse Comics, list price: $29.95

Borges and the Eternal Orangutans, by Luis Fernando Verissimo, translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa, paperback, 144 pages, New Directions, list price: $13.95

The Broken Shore, by Peter Temple, paperback, 368 pages, Picador, list price: $14.00

Firmin, by Sam Savage, illustrated by Michael Mikolowski, paperback, 162 pages, Coffee House Press, list price: $14.95

The Ghost in Love, by Jonathan Carroll, hardcover, 320 pages, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, list price: $25.00

The Ginseng Hunter, by Jeff Talarigo, hardcover, 192 pages, Doubleday, list price: $21.95

The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin's Secret Service, by Andrew Meier, hardcover, 304 pages, W. W. Norton & Company, list price: $25.95

Previously, by Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Bruce Ingman, hardcover, 32 pages, Candlewick Press, list price: $16.99

Recommended by Karen Grigsby Bates
("Five Books To Give Yourself This Year")

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, Random House, Hardcover, 558 pages, list price $26.00

Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas, St. Martin's Press, paperback, 336 pages, list price: $13.95

I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass, Knopf, hardcover, 304 pages, list price: $24.95

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, Knopf, hardcover, 352 pages, list price: $25

Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach by Meryl Gordon, Houghton Mifflin, hardcover, 336 pages, list price: $28.00

Recommended by Laurel Maury
("Best Superhero Graphic Novels Of 2008")

Read a graphic excerpt of Joker by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo, hardcover, 128 pages, DC Comics, list price: $19.99

Read a graphic excerpt of The Death Of Captain America, Vol. #1, #2, & #3 by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting and Mike Perkins, paperback, 464 total pages, Marvel Comics, list prices: $14.99 (vol. #1 and #2); $19.99 (vol. #3)

Read a graphic excerpt of Runaways: Dead End Kids by Joss Whedon and Michael Ryan, hardcover, 152 pages, Marvel Comics, list price: $19.99

Read a graphic excerpt from Black Summer by Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp, paperback, 192 pages, Avatar, list price: $24.99

Read a graphic excerpt of Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, hardcover, 168 pages, DC Comics, list price: $24.99

Recommended by Maureen Corrigan
("Best Books Of 2008")

Netherland, by Joseph O'Neill, Knopf, hardcover, 272 pages, list price: $23.95

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, Knopf, Hardcover, 352 pages, list price: $25

Say You're One of Them, by Uwem Akpan, Little, Brown & Co., hardcover, 368 pages, list price: $23.99

The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery, translated from the French by Alison Anderson, Europa Editions, paperback, 336 pages, list price: $15

Indignation, by Philip Roth, Houghton Mifflin, hardcover, 256 pages, list price: $26

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination, by Elizabeth McCracken, Little, Brown & Co., hardcover, 184, list price: $19.99

White Heat: The Friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson by Brenda Wineapple, Knopf, hardcover, 416 pages, list price: $27.95

World War II Writings by A.J. Liebling, edited by Pete Hamill, Library of America, hardcover, 1,100 pages, list price: $40

Recommended by Troy Patterson
("Best Collections Of Literary Letters 2008")

Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence Between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, edited by Thomas Travisano with Saskia Hamilton, hardcover, 928 pages, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. List price: $45

Can You Ever Forgive Me?: Memoirs of a Literary Forger, by Lee Israel, hardcover, 144 pages, Simon & Schuster. List price: $19.95

Dear American Airlines, by Jonathan Miles, hardcover, 192 pages, Houghton Mifflin. List price: $22

Graham Greene: A Life In Letters, edited by Richard Greene, hardcover, 480 pages, W.W. Norton. List price: $35

The Timewaster Letters, by Robin Cooper, paperback, 192 pages, Chicago Review Press. List price: $11.95

Recommended by Booksellers to Susan Stamberg
("Booksellers' Picks For Your Holiday Lists")

All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays, by George Orwell, hardcover, 416 pages, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. List price: $25

The Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven Galloway, hardcover, 256 pages, Riverhead Books. List price: $21.95

Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman, hardcover, 257 pages, Simon & Schuster. List price: $24

Esther's Inheritance, by Sandor Marai, translated by George Szirtes, hardcover, 160 pages, Knopf. List price: $24

The Ecco Anthology of Contemporary American Short Fiction, edited by Joyce Carol Oates, paperback, 784 pages, Harper Perennial. List price: $18.95

The Economist Book of Obituaries, by Keith Colquhoun and Ann Wroe, hardback, 409 pages, Bloomberg Press. List price: $29.95

The Gargoyle, by Andrew Davidson, hardcover, 468 pages, Doubleday Publishing. List price: $25.95

Gone Tomorrow, by P. F. Kluge, hardcover, 368 pages, Overlook Press. List price: $25.95

The Man Who Invented Christmas, by Les Standiford, hardcover, 256 pages, Crown Publishing. List price: $19.95

Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan, hardcover, 336 pages, Workman Publishing Inc. List price: $22.95

The Oxford Project, photographs by Peter Feldstein, text by Stephen G. Bloom, hardcover, 264 pages, Welcome Books. List price: $50

Pinocchio, by Carlo Collodi, translated by Geoffrey Brock, introduction by Umberto Eco, afterword by Rebecca West, paperback, 208 pages, New York Review Books Classics. List price: $14

Serena, by Ron Rash, hardcover, 384 pages, Ecco. List price: $24.99

So Brave, Young, and Handsome, by Leif Enger, hardcover, 287 pages, Grove/Atlantic. List price: $24

A Splintered History of Wood: Belt Sander Races, Blind Woodworkers, and Baseball Bats, by Spike Carlsen, hardcover, 432 pages, HarperCollins. List price: $24.95

Recommended by John McAlley
("The Big Pictures: Best Gift Books 2008")

ABC3D, by Marion Bataille, hardcover, 36 pages, 7.5 x 5.9 inches, Roaring Brook Press, list price: $19.95

Annie Leibovitz At Work, by Annie Leibovitz, hardcover, 240 pages, 9.5 x 7.5 inches, Random House, list price: $40.00

Art of the Modern Movie Poster, by Judith Salavetz, Spencer Drate and Sam Sarowitz with text by Dave Kehr, hardcover, 16 pages, 13.25 x 11.3 inches, Chronicle Books, list price: $75.00

Dilbert 2.0: 20 Years of Dilbert, by Scott Adams, hardcover in slipcase, 576 pages, 13.5 x 10.5 x 2 inches, Andrews McMeel Publishing, list price: $85.00

The Nancy Book, by Joe Brainard, hardcover, 144 pages, 9.75 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches, Siglio Press, list price: $39.50

The New York Times: The Complete Front Pages: 1851—2008, introduction by Bill Keller, hardcover, 456 pages and three DVD-ROMs, 15 x 12 inches, Black Dog & Leventhal, list price: $60.00

Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs By Writers Famous & Obscure, edited by Smith Magazine, hardcover, 256 pages, 7.25 x 5 x 1.1 inches, Harper, list price: $16.95

The Oxford Project, photographs by Peter Feldstein, text by Stephen G. Bloom, hardcover, 264 pages, 12.8 x 10 x 1.2 inches, Welcome Books, list price: $50.00

Over: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point, by Alex S. MacLean, introduction by Bill McKibbon, hardcover, 336 pages, 13.2 x 9.2 inches, Abrams, list price: $45.00

Performance: Richard Avedon, hardcover, 304 pages, 13 x 10.5 inches, Abrams, list price: $75.00

The Phaidon Atlas of 21st Century World Architecture, by the editors of Phaidon Press, hardcover, 800 pages, 19.2 x 16.1 x 2.5 inches (without case), Phaidon Press, list price: $195.00

A Road Trip Journal, photographs and text by Stephen Shore, limited edition hardcover, 256 pages, 17.2 x 12.1 x 2.1 inches, Phaidon Press, list price: $250

Seen Behind the Scene: Forty Years of Photographing on Set, by Mary Ellen Mark, hardcover, 264 pages, 11.6 x 8.7 inches, Phaidon Press, list price: $59.95

State By State: A Panoramic Portrait of America, edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey, hardcover, 574 pages, 9.25 x 6.25 inches, Ecco, list price: $29.95

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments, by David Foster Wallace, paperback, 368 pages, 9 x 6 x 1 inches, Back Bay Books, list price: $14.99

Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far, by Stefan Sagmeister, paperback, 246 pages, 9.5 x 7 inches, Abrams, list price: $40.00

Wham-O Super-Book: Celebrating 60 Years Inside the Fun Factory, by Tim Walsh, paperback, 192 pages, 8.5 x 8.5 inches, Chronicle Books, list price: $19.95

Recommended by Maureen Corrigan
("Top Five Crime And Mystery Novels Of 2008")

The Chinaman, by Friedrich Glauser, translated from the German by Mike Mitchell, paperback, 186 pages, List Price: $14.95

Death Vows, by Richard Stevenson, paperback, 212 pages, List Price: $14.99

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson, translated from the Swedish by Reg Keeland, hardcover, 463 pages, List Price: $24.95

Small Crimes, by Dave Zeltserman, paperback, 272 pages, List Price: $14.95

The Long Embrace: Raymond Chandler and the Woman He Loved, by Judith Freeman, paperback, 368 pages, List Price: $14.95

Recommended by Alan Cheuse
("Give A Book (And Yourself) This Holiday Season")

Dear Darkness, by Kevin Young, hardcover, 216 pages, List Price: $26.95

Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life, by John Adams, hardcover, 352 pages, $26.00

John Lennon: The Life, by Philip Norman, hardcover, 822 pages, $34.95

Just After Sunset, by Stephen King, hardcover, 384 pages, $28.00

Katherine Anne Porter: Collected Stories and Other Writings, by Katherine Anne Porter, hardcover, 1100 pages, $40.00

Still Alive!: A Temporary Condition , by Herbert Gold, hardcover, 250 pages, $25.00

Stories, by Doris Lessing, hardcover, 680 pages, $26.00

Supreme Courtship, by Christopher Buckley, hardcover, 304 pages, $24.99

Who We Were: A Snapshot History of America, by Michael Williams, Richard Cahan, & Nicholas Osborn, hardcover, 240 pages, $45.00

Recommended by T. Susan Chang
("The 10 Best Cookbooks of 2008")

660 Curries: The Gateway to Indian Cooking, by Raghavan Iyer, paperback, 816 pages, List Price: $22.95

Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, hardcover, 208 pages, List Price: $29.95

How to Cook Everything: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food (Completely Revised 10th Anniversary Edition), Mark Bittman, hardcover, 1,056 pages, List Price: $35.00

A Master Class: Sensational Recipes from the Chefs of the New England Culinary Institute, by Ellen Michaud, hardcover, 292 pages, List Price: $35.00

The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories, and Opinions from Public Radio's Award-Winning Food Show, by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift, hardcover, 352 pages, List Price: $35.00

The Spice Merchant's Daughter: Recipes and Simple Spice Blends for the American Kitchen, by Christina Arokiasamy, hardcover, 240 pages, List Price: $29.95

Secrets of the Red Lantern: Stories and Vietnamese Recipes from the Heart, by Pauline Nguyen, hardcover, 344 pages, List Price: $40.00

The Sweet Melissa Baking Book, Recipes from the Beloved Bakery for Everyone's Favorite Treats by Melissa Murphy, hardcover, 256 pages, List Price: $27.00

Ten: All the Foods We Love and 10 Perfect Recipes for Each, by Sheila Lukins, paperback, 416 pages, List Price: $19.95

Two Dudes, One Pan: Maximum Flavor from a Minimalist Kitchen, by Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo, paperback, 240 pages, List Price: $24.95

Recommended by Jessa Crispin
("Best Foreign Fiction, 2008")

Senselessness, by Horacio Castellanos Moya, translated from the Spanish by Katherine Silver, paperback, 142 pages, List Price: $15.95

Kieron Smith, boy, by James Kelman, hardcover, 432 pages, List Price: $26.00

2666, by Roberto Bolaño, translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer, hardcover, 912 pages, List Price: $30.00

Metropole, by Ferenc Karinthy, translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes, paperback, 279 pages, List Price: $14.95

The Lost Daughter, by Elena Ferrante, translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein, paperback, 204 pages, List Price: $14.95

Recommended by Simon Maxwell Apter
("Best Political And Current Affairs Books Of 2008")

The Forever War, by Dexter Filkins, hardcover, 384 pages

An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action for the Twenty-First Century, by James Orbinski, M.D., hardcover, 448 page

Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America, by Rick Perlstein, hardcover, 896 pages

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals, by Jane Mayer, hardcover, 400 pages

The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century, by Steve Coll, hardcover, 688 pages

Recommended by John Freeman
("Migration And Memory: Top Five 2008 Books")

Netherland,, by Joseph O'Neill, hardcover, 272 pages, $23.95

Basrayatha: The Story of a City, by Muhammad Khudayyir, paperback, 176 pages, $15.95

Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri, hardcover, 352 pages, $25.00

Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape, by Raja Shehadeh, paperback, 224 pages, $15.00

Blood Dazzler, by Patricia Smith, paperback, 90 pages, $16.00

Recommended by Laurel Maury
("Best Graphic Novels Of 2008")

Skyscrapers of the Midwest, by Joshua W. Cotter, Adhouse Books, 282 pages, $19.95

Local, by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly, Oni Press, 374 pages, $29.99

Good-Bye, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Drawn and Quarterly, 204 pages, $19.95

Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope, by Emmanuel Guibert, First Second, paperback, 304 pages, $24.00

Heavy Liquid, by Paul Pope, Vertigo, 256 pages, $39.99

Recommended by Maureen Corrigan
("Best Books For A Transformative New Year")

The Tribes of America: Journalistic Discoveries of Our People and Their Cultures, by Paul Cowan, The New Press, 311 pages, list price: $16.95

Hunger of Memory, by Richard Rodriguez, Dial Press, 1982, Paperback 2005, 212 pages, list price: $15.00

American Crucible: Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century, by Gary Gerstle, Princeton University Press, paperback, 2002, 454 pages

The Wordy Shipmates, by Sarah Vowell, Riverhead Books, 254 pages, list price: $25.95

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97212769

null