This the only year-end post I’ll write; just a summary of my book reading list from 2008.

Some quick details:

Total Books Read: 78. This is down a bit from 86 last year.

Fiction: 57. Non-fiction: 21.

That ratio is still weighted a little heavily toward fiction, I think, but when I know how shallow and quick some of those novels were and how long and think some of the non-fiction was… well, it evens out.

Favorite novel of the year: A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffery Archer. This was far and away the best, most enjoyable story I read all year. It’s essentially a modern-day retelling of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo. What sold me on it, though, was that there were characters you could really root for. Good guys that were really good. Honorable supporting characters who remained honorable. Such a good story. I should put it on reserve at the library again.

Runner up: The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

Favorite non-fiction of the year: This is tough because non-fiction spans such a range of subjects. Some high points, though:

Worst book of the year: How Would Jesus Vote? by the late D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe. I thought my blog review of it was bad until I read Ron’s review. He said, in short:

The book is awful. Simply awful. I can’t stress to you how amazingly awful this book is. Do not buy, read, or borrow this book. I will likely use my copy for kindling in the fireplace this winter.

I love Ron.

OK, that’s enough book wrap-up for this year. I’m contemplating a change in format for book reviews next year, doing a full post on each book and cross-posting them to Amazon to build a little bit of reviewing credibility there. Dunno, it’s just a thought. [No, Geof, I’m not doing it entirely because you changed the format of GNM.]

Next year’s list will still exist in some format. First book on it will be an old one by Stephen Baxter. Almost finished it for 2008, but not quite.