Best Books of 2008, in which our critics name their top picks for the year. We'll add new lists throughout the holiday season.
NPR picks the year's best books, including fiction, history, cooking, graphic novels and memoirs.
December 17, 2008 · You know you have a terrific book in your hands when you encounter language or elegantly presented research that startles you into fresh awareness; you know it when the atmosphere of a novel doesn't leave you for days, or years.
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December 16, 2008 · Don't let the capes and external underwear fool you; no longer escapist entertainment, superhero comics capture the timbre of the times as no pollster can. And this year, the mood is dark.
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December 15, 2008 · Dear reader, sitting down with a collection of letters — or a vivid reflection on them — affords a singularly intimate encounter with a writer, so please give a look to these exercises in mail bonding.
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December 12, 2008 · If reading a story is — as John Gardner said — like falling into a vivid and continuous waking dream, then is giving a book like giving someone a dream? Reviewer Alan Cheuse puzzles over the perfect books for your loved ones this year.
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November 20, 2008 · Reading shouldn't be work; it should be pleasure, even as it teaches us something about ourselves, or about the world of history and time.
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December 11, 2008 · Small-town America may or may not be the heart of the country, but it sure is at the heart of many of the books suggested by the independent booksellers this year.
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November 18, 2008 · To swipe the immortal lines uttered by Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, a great mystery should take "the lid off life and let [you] look at the works." Maureen Corrigan's picks for the top five crime novels of the year do just that.
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December 8, 2008 · This holiday season, as we stand at the brink of a new administration, there's a thrill of history in the air. These books will help anyone, whatever his or her politics, understand what the nation has come though to reach this moment.
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December 1, 2008 · Works of humor, wisdom, supreme originality and stunning ambition top Jessa Crispin's foreign fiction list. Engage the global conversation with these five novels from five countries.
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December 4, 2008 · No longer only for kids, geeks, nerds and aging baby boomers longing for a second childhood, graphic novels are showing themselves a medium of startling breadth and grace. Don't call them a genre anymore; cutting-edge graphic novels exist for everyone.
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November 26, 2008 · The events of 2008 raised a raft of controversies to national consciousness. These powerful books wrap the issues in compelling narratives — and provide the perspective of history.
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December 3, 2008 · Nothing bridges the gap between here and there, then and now like a story. These powerful, personal books examine the exile's life and celebrate lost cities of memory.
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November 24, 2008 · The season of giving makes us think big, and that means picture books — from coffee-table extravaganzas to smaller stuff that's big on surprise and ambition.
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November 23, 2008 · If there's any unforeseen upside of the economic crisis, it's this: People are cooking again. This year's collection of cookbooks promises surprisingly delicious weeknight dinners that don't dirty every pot you own, made from ordinary ingredients.
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November 25, 2008 · A novel about a notorious Florida outlaw and a history of Thomas Jefferson's hidden slave family were among the winners at the 59th annual awards.
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