A Year in Books, Part I

Word Up had a bit of trouble coming up with a favorites list for 2006. As much as we love us some literature up in this blog piece, it's not as though we're only consuming new, contemporary fiction. There's always new-to-us classics to discover, not to mention long-published tomes that have been on our must-read lists for months. So without getting too self-explanatory, and with thanks to the kind people at the Boston Public Library who deal with my overdue fees each week, here are my picks for the best books I've read this year.

BEST OF 2006:

Special Topics in Calamity Physics - Marisha Pessl

TOP 10 (new and old) OF 2006:

1. The Secret History - Donna Tartt

2. Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

3. The Keep - Jennifer Egan

4. House of Sand and Fog - Andre Dubus III

5. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

6. Runaway - Alice Munro

7. Crime and Punishment - Dostoevsky

8. Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood

9. While I Was Gone - Sue Miller

10. The Brambles - Eliza Minot