A completely subjective, unordered, and unorthodox mish-mash of my various favorites from 2008...
The only book I purchased BEFORE I read it:
by Kathi Appelt
Most compelling
(and, not coincidentally, most disturbing):
by Elizabeth Scott
The genre-defying wonder-book:
by Carole Boston Weatherford
Most eagerly anticipated by yours truly:
by Donna Jo Napoli
Favorite adult read:
by Garth Stein
Best biography:
by Sally Hobart Alexander and Robert Alexander
Thickest read of the year:
by Neal Gabler
(I could also label this "most seductive," seeing as it wooed me into springing for a 10-day vacation to Walt Disney World)
Best book I can't believe I didn't blog:
Ringside 1925:
Views from the Scopes Trial
by Jen Bryant
(Also, the only book I wrote notes in.
I NEVER write in books -- ask my mother.)
Best book I never would have picked up on my own:
Boy Toy
by Barry Lyga
Most enjoyable craft manual:
by Arthur Plotnik
by Mary E. Pearson
Best characterization:
by Suzanne Collins
Most informative:
by Linas Alsenas
Book I tried hardest to love with no "buts":
by Karen Hesse
Most enjoyable reading experience of the year:
by Margo Lanagan
Best niche book:
The Diary of Grand Duchess Olga Nicholiaevna: 1913
translated by Marina Petrov
edited by Raegan Baker
Best unsolicited ARC:
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
by Rodman Philbrick
Most Useful:
Ekaterinburg:
The Last Days of the Romanovs
by Helen Rappaport
Favorite backlist read:
by Karen Hesse
Best sequel:
by Sharon Creech
Book I most enjoyed buzzing about:
by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Best comeback by a long-favored author:
What on Earth Have I Done?
by Robert Fulghum
Best debut:
by Kristin Cashore
Book I would feel remiss if I didn't mention somehow:
by Laurie Halse Anderson
(How about this:
"Book that deserves a more inspired review than I managed to write"?)
Most creepy/kooky/atmospheric:
by Christine Meldrum
Book that prompted the most sniggering:
by Lois Lowry
Most eye-opening:
Why Gender Matters
by Leonard Sax
The book I can't believe I didn't see coming until it arrived:
by Donna Jo Napoli
