Stephen King's Best Books of 2008

At the end of every year, Stephen King lists his "best of" in his columns in Entertainment Weekly, which I always eagerly await. One week he will do best movies, another will be best music, and my favorite, of course, are the books. For those who don't read EW, I wanted to share the joy! Let the record show...I love this guy. I received "The Stand" from a boyfriend in junior high (what a cool gift, huh?) and never looked back. I've always felt that Uncle Stevie must have had access to some serious drugs while writing his books, but you just can't take anything away from his creative genius. With that said, you can imagine that his recommendations aren't always mainstream, and might actually be a bit twisted, but I'm OK with that. He has never let me down. I have not read anything on this list for 2008, but I plan to, adding yet more books to my TBR list. My request goes out to all of you (I know you are out there, even though many of you aren't commenting!!!) to let me know if you have read any of these books. If not, look for my reviews through 2009! Here they are, with a short description from Stevie.

10. The Good Guy - Dean Koontz While not his best, this book is supposed to be very "Hitchcocky".

9. Old Flames - Jack Ketchum Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction, raised to the 10th power.

8. The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo - Stieg Larsson Cold case involving a missing girl, plus a whole lot more.

7. Hollywood Crows - Joseph Wambaugh Sequel to Hollywood Station, a funky read with a believable murder plot.

6. Heartsick/Sweetheart - Chelsea Cain Hannibal Lechter-ish with good writing and a ferocious sense of humor.

5. Nixonland - Rick Peristein Sweeping non-fiction epic about the 60's.

4. The Tenderness of Wolves - Stef Penney A search for a missing boy, a love story and historical mystery. Compared to Life of Pi or The Secret Life of Bees.

3. When Will There Be Good News - Kate Atkinson The third novel featuring P.I. Jackson Brodie with an undescribable plot. Lots of tangled threads and narrative wizardry.

2. The Garden of Last Days - Adre Dubus III Terrifying, unputdownable, and best novel so far about 9/11.

1. Novels of Robert Goddard British mystery/suspense novelist who provides missing heirs, stolen fortunes, mistaken identities, raffish con men, hot sex and cold-blooded murder over 15 novels.