Top 10 Read - 2008

Looking back, the year 2008 was one of change for me. I became a running freak (well, sort of), completed my first year under the new management at work (yes, I survived the manpower cut!), read the most number of books (well, definitely so, by a long mile), bought a digital camera and indulged in photography (well, finally!), and the list goes on. So without further ado, here is my top 10 read for 2008:

1) All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (I think this is a must-read and a brilliant anti-war novel.)
2) The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby (It's Jean-Dominique Bauby's humility that stirred the core of my soul.)
3) The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (A poetic gem! Enough said.)
4) Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter by Shoko Tendo (I think this autobiography utterly deserves all the praises.)
5) Lions in Winter by Wena Poon (She is undoubtedly my literary find of 2008. I lost count how often I felt tempted to buy it from the bookstore. Her next collection is a must-buy - oh, that I promise!)
6) A Room With A View by E.M. Forster (Such sublime writing, this Englishman!)
7) Watchmen (graphic novel) written by Alan Moore; Art by Dave Gibbons (Honestly, I can't imagine the much-anticipated movie being more impressive than the novel.)
8) Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes (My first science fiction, and a classic, definitely!)
9) The Chrysalids by John Wyndham (I look forward to more read by John Wyndham in 2009!)
1o) Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima (My challenge of 2008 - all of 389 pages. Book review in progress.)

In actual fact, I was torn between some of my selections this year and several other titles, such as Yiyun Li's A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis (graphic novel), Hermann Hesse's Demian and perhaps, Haruki Murakami's After Dark, all much worthy of mention.

Here is wishing all a very happy New Year!