My Top 10 Books for 2008

All you who know me know that I love reading. Books are my drug, my escape, my love, my secret obsession. I love to read. I am not high literature, nor low. I will read anything I can get my hands on short of cereal boxes and toothpaste tubes (though my husband will read those...) I love fiction and non-, biographies and short stories, mysteries and junkie vampire romance novels Here are the books that left a lasting impression on me in 2008:

1) Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi: This graphic novel tells of growing up in Iran under the Shah. It is heartbreaking, beautiful AND a fantastic education about Iran. I could not get it out of my head.

2) Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance, by Ian Buruma: I have loved Ian Buruma since I was a graduate student in Japan, where he wrote funny, insightful, fantastic non-fiction about Japanese culture, from sex to WW II. This book is a return to his native country, and offers a fascinating look at the inherent contradictions between Muslim culture and democracy. It raises frightening questions about our limits to tolerance, and what effect Muslim immigration will ultimately have on Europe.

3) Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali: This book should be considered a companion to Buruma's book. The murdered Van Gogh produced Ali's provocative documentary, "Submission" about women in Muslim culture, and was stabbed to death for it. Ali is an African Muslim who was raised all over Africa under various versions of Islam, eventually ending up in Holland, where she became an outspoken critic of Muslim culture, and was elected into the Dutch parliament. She is a provocateur, but her book will leave you changed forever.

4) All For a Few Perfect Waves: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora, by David Rensin: I love surfing, and reading about surfing, and I have watched Dora in a million surf movies over beer and burritos. He is a God, a ballerina on a surf board. He was a strange character and this book could make you love or hate him. My husband finished it seeing him as a con man and a cheap bastard, which is true, but I think a true surfer will recognize his devotion to living a free life, to the ocean he loved, and to the search for the perfect wave (which he found!). He feels pure, and for that reason inspiring to me. This oral history pieces together stories from all the surfing greats all over the world.

5) The Sum of Our Days, by Isabelle Allende: not her best book, but anything by Allende is gold to me. I read this book in Stinson Beach, three weeks after the death of my friend. Allende walked the same hills in Marin, and looked out over the same Bay as me as she mourned her own daughter. What can I say, I love this woman.

6) Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami: A whimsical tale and love story set in sixties Tokyo that has a dreamy quality to it, and also hints at the mysteries and pain of loving someone who is mentally ill. The book made me so nostalgic for Tokyo and the mountains around Kyoto it hurt.

7) Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollen: If you haven't read this book, DO IT!!! It will change the way you think about food forever. It is painful, uncomfortable, and will make it difficult to ever shop in a supermarket again, and yet, you will be inspired to eat local, support small farmers, and you understand more about our economy, oil, and agribusiness than you ever thought you wanted to know--but you WILL!!! He shows how we have broken down farming from the circularity and sustainability that were once part and parcel of the practice, and reminds us of the joys of eating food that you harvest and prepare yourself. To me this section read like poetry. My promise to myself: I will go hunting for wild mushrooms.

8) Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky: This manuscript was found in the last couple of years, decades after Nemirovsky was shipped off to a Nazi death camp, never to return. Her meditations on war are haunting in their accuracy, and also an evocative love letter to France.

9) Steve Hagen's book on Buddhism (title to come tomorrow) This book is so small it could fit in your pocket practically. It is a simple, clear, no nonsense introduction to Buddhism that will leave you inspired and clear. I am reading more about Buddhism after Natalie's death and this book spoke to me. I keep it by my bed side to dip into and keep me centered.

10) Miss Hempel Chronicles, by Sarah Shun Lien Bynum: This exquisite collection of short stories is an ode to teaching, to growing up, but most of all it is a collection of stories told in such perfect prose that you want to go slowly and savor every word, every paragraph, like a small gelato that will be gone toooo soon. It is a reminder of what writing can be, the way Jhumpa Lahiri is.

What were YOUR favorite books of 2008???
Send them to this crazy book-lover please!