Must Read Books Of 2008, A Top 10 List... sort of

I’ll attempt to give a list of the top ten best books for 2008 sort of. I say “sort of” because there is definitely more than 10 books that deserve to be reviewed as among the best this year. As if the number “10” is some sort of magical and perfect number. Why not the top 13 other than the fact that it’s a cursed number? Have you seen how many new books are released every month? Good luck when you ever try to publish that manuscript that sits in your closet collecting dust.

This list divulges a comparison between fiction and nonfiction novels based on the opinions I’ve read and heard from others. A good book can be determined by how high it is on a bestselling list, but there’s so much more. Unless you enjoy reading a best seller like the “Flat Belly Diet” by Liz Vaccariello for fun when you already are a “Joe six pack”, a truly enchanting novel is sometimes hidden behind the covers and far down in the list of best sellers. Oprah’s book club is a fun place to start only if you weren’t apart of the boycott against Oprah for choosing to support her preferred presidential candidate. You know if Oprah is seen in Barnes and Noble with a book in her hand, that novel will shoot to at least the top fifty in seconds. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but still the books she supports are usually riveting and spiritually enlightening stories.

I’m not surprised that many of the best-sellers I reviewed I’ve seen in the hands of people I know. I trust my family members and friends to know a good book, for the most part. As for my judgment, it’s a bit biased towards the types of books I prefer. I didn’t include books involving the judiciary system or detectives – no offense Sherlock. It’s just not my cup of tea. But, if you think...

- lawyers are honest,

- playing the game “Clue"

- enjoy cross-examining your siblings

- debating with your conservative grandpa

- following the evidence to find the little surprises left by your pets

- or stories about our legal system

Then you’ll like some of these titles: Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich, The Appeal by John Grisham and 7th Heaven by James Patterson.

Finally, for the list of ten (sort of) in no particular order:

The Twilight Saga

One would assume a book is extraordinary when all three of its sister prequels have also hit the top of the charts. So what do you call a series of four books? The quadrille, wait, no that’s a card game. This quadrilogy… I don’t think that’s a real word. This trilogy plus one, maybe, began with the book “Twilight” by Stepanie Meyer giving its audience a tantalizing peek into a world with a handsome vampire and, the otherwise, rational woman, named Bella, who loved him. Bella’s love is challenged by the realization that the repercussions for loving a vampire risk her life and the safety of her loved ones. I hope this doesn’t ruin the plot, but I would assume she stays alive considering there is a sequel (just a guess). Twlight is followed by “New Moon” and “Eclipse”, respectively. The newest edition for this year is “Breaking Dawn”, but please don’t read this one first and spoil everything like I did when I read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince before the Sorcerer’s Stone, even. The stories become more dramatic and suspenseful as the audience progresses through Bella’s story from a maladroit teenager to an immortal life as a vampiress. There’s no sign of the sequel-is-always-worst-than-the-original effect here that can be observed in most movies. I assume the author could only make four because her fingers must be worked to the bone from typing each one of her 600 paged books. If you love vampires, or just enjoy love stories I give this book a thumb’s up for taking a classic theme and bringing it back from the dead.

A New Earth

You know you have a good book when a friend lends it to you and then asks for it back to read a second time when you haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. A New Earth is catching attention for its insight into awakening the purpose of the inner human spirits. The author attempts to explain and give suggestions for the betterment of human beings, which isn’t an easy feat to accomplish. Some say the book is enlightening and a must read; others say the book is too convoluted and throws around far too much scientific jargon. Perhaps the complicated nature of A New Earth helps its audience rekindle that childlike naiveté we have towards the purpose of living. In this complication I think we are supposed to find our own personal meaning. For example, science oriented people may enjoy it because it takes into account empirical investigations. This book could also relate to the message of Christians. Remember the meaning of the name “Lucifer” means bringer of light which also is another name for the devil. Christians may be skeptical of the message of this book, but I’ve heard that it can actually help guide a better understanding of the message of the messiah, Jesus who was also a teacher of wisdom. So whatever your religion I feel that Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth will assist you in a spiritual journey as best as a fellow human (who also has limited understanding) can.

The Last Lecture

There are those who face death with insurmountable terror; there are those who face death gallantly like a knight dueling with a dragon; still there are others who want their funerals to be a celebration like in New Orleans with the parade of jazz players. However one ultimately faces their impending demise, there are very few who can anticipate their deaths months or years in advance. You can call them lucky or unfortunate. Lucky if they can make peace with their loved ones and themselves. Unfortunate if they live in sheer terror afraid to accidentally set off the bomb ticking in their body. For Randy Pausch, his inner bomb was the cancer consuming his pancreas. This remarkable true story about, Pausch a young college professor with a lot to live for such as his lovely wife, three beautiful children and the career of his dreams. When this charismatic individual learned of his malignant cancer and that there was nothing the doctors could do about it, he turned his tragedy into an enlightening experience for others. He stood as a beacon to the rest of us who can learn to live a little more and breathe a little deeper. He used his inimitable ability to teach others not just in his computer science classes, but as many people as he could reach out to about loving life. Surprisingly joyful to the very end, his smile kept his unknowing children from expecting a thing was wrong with their father. No ones body will last forever, but Pausch soul will live through the words in "The Last Lecture". For being an incredible man, for his lectures on “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” and for being a ray of hope in a dark world, I recommend this book as a must read.

Eat, Pray, Love

Siddhartha depicted a tale of the Buddha and his ascetic journey towards enlightenment and eventually establishing the Buddhist faith. The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham portrayed a young man who, after the death of a friend, traveled the world breaking away from his structured life to discover pleasure and truth in his own terms. The theme is common, but what about women and their need to discover? If you love books about modern day women and their personal development (whatever that means to you) then you’ll love Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert’s audience can identify with her in a way that they could vision themselves in her shoes. Everyone struggles with self-doubt to some degree, but have different ways of dealing with their shortcomings. For Gilbert this journey forced her to face her fears and rediscover herself. Eat, Pray, Love… It’s like “Crazy, Sexy, Cool” minus TLC.

The Shack

This work of fiction captures the age old questions on the nature of suffering and why, if God loves us, does it exist. The author mixes poetry like a heavenly hymn creating this work like a flowing prayer to those in need of a clearer understanding. For the most part, critics state that most stories of religious nature are empty as they adopt the religious characteristics, but skip the more subtle meaning behind Christian beliefs. They’re like a religion without spiritual understanding or a preacher who doesn’t believe in angels. They speak the word of God, but without substance. William P. Young brings his knowledge of theology to address tragedy and the light of God’s eternity. A must read for the irrefutably religious, the irremovably spiritual, or just those with an intractably curious mind.

Brisingr

The ingenuity and creativity of the human mind never ceases to amaze me. The ability of imagination to invent a parallel universe can build regions, countries, wars, and various races of people like a portion of history lost to dilapidated century old records. The author Christopher Paolini invented Alagaesia a continent full of fantasy, medieval citizens, dwarfs, and dragons. Eragon is the main character and also the title of the first book in the Inheritance Trilogy. He starts out as a simple villager whose life is turned upside down by his friend and dragon Saphira struggling against the mighty King Galbatorix (don't ask me to pronounce it). The adventures of Eragon and his dragon battle there way through the epic journeys in Eldest, and finally Brisingr. This story is particularly great for all my science fiction nerds and junkies, but anyone can enjoy it.

Hot, Flat, and Crowded

Aw, “Green” it’s on everybody’s mind especially during the presidential election season – and no not a word of the “green” talk is about the “Green Party” or Nader, for that matter. The race to the White House has really been bringing a divide between voters in the Red and Blue parties. Our president must generate some sort of super special awesome plan if he wants to bring us out of the millions of barrels of Black Gold that we’ve “borrowed” from other countries. “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” comes from the Pulitzer-prize winning author Thomas Friedman who compares the importance of this debilitating Green issue to the 1950s Red Scare. So to make Al Gore proud, and possibly your mother, read “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” because our trees depend on it.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

A man with no words, must have a lot of thoughts. The setting itself is quite mundane – set in the rural regions of Wisconsin in the early 1900s. However, within these simple rolling plains there's an immense amount of meaning and beauty delivered from the writer. The plot shares the fictional story of a mute man and the dogs he raises on the farm. Where the character lacks voice he makes up for with the grace and tender of his personality. The dogs serve as his companions and bring an added meaning to the story’s mysterious essence. If nothing else, it’s in Oprah’s Book Club, so you gotta read it!

Audition

Barbara Walters wrote her autobiography released this year called “Audition”. There are millions of women who wish they could achieve the position and respect she earned through her life. She’s been a central reason for The View’s success over the years. A remarkable woman and a heroine for many, even though she just can’t pronounce her name all that well. If you’re a fan of strong women and need some advice for becoming one yourself, then read her autobiography. If you just like to laugh, but still enjoy a bit of history, then you’d probably rather watch Gilda Radner’s impression of the great Walters herself. Personally, I could watch the first season of Saturday Night Live and Radner’s impression as “Baba Wawa” all day. (Feel free to watch the video below). You know you’re either a legend or a laughing stock when you wind up impersonated on Saturday Night Live. Go Baba… I mean Barbara!

The Break Through: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama

Despite the controversy of the presidential race and the fact that this book is technically a 2009 book that you can pre-order I just had to go ahead and review it. It seems like it will be an interesting book and definitely something that Black Americans might appreciate. There is a severe gap between the number of minorities with professional degrees and with political power. African Americans have technically been able to vote for over 140 years, but for nearly a century that right to vote has been suppressed and thwarted by racist Americans up until the Civil Rights movement. Now a days it’s just as hard as ever to motivate young Blacks to challenge themselves or to simply register to vote. Millions of voices are going unheard and it’s depressing that Americans have fought for so long for the equality of all. Just as a final thought, this book seems encouraging and all, but why “The Age of Obama”? What are they going to do start time all over again like they did with Jesus? It really would suck for Ifill if Obama didn’t win! Regardless of who you voted for, you should be proud to live in a country that has witnessed the rise of a great leader from the minority race. If you compare it to other major countries of the world, it just doesn’t happen.