3 Favorite Books of 2007 - The final tally

Sixty-eight authors, editors, agents and critics responded to this year's poll, producing a diversity of favorite books that was quite impressive. The majority of the 200+ selections were unique, with only a handful showing up on more than one person's list.

Here are those books that did appear multiple times:

7 picks:

5 picks:

4 picks:

3 picks:

2 picks:

There was also more than 1 pick for:

Thanks to everyone for playing! We'll probably do it again next year.

January 08, 2008 in 3 Favorites of 2007 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

3 Favorite Books of 2007 - Part 13

Read this post to see what this is all about. For more favorites, see here. This is probably the last batch of these for 2007.

Sean Chercover, author of Big City, Bad Blood

Allison Brennan, author of Killing Fear

Harley Jane Kozak, author of Dead Ex

Ralph Pezzullo, author of Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander (with Gary Berntsen)

Simon Kernick, author of A Good Day to Die

January 06, 2008 in 3 Favorites of 2007 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

3 Favorite Books of 2007 - Part 12

Read this post to see what this is all about. For more favorites, see here.

Paul Levine, author of Trial and Error

  • Gustavo Arellano - ¡Ask a Mexican!. The Hispanic culture of Southern California fascinates me. In this non-fiction collection, Arellano manages to be hilarious, informative, and profane, an irresistible mix.
  • Joseph Wambaugh - Hollywood Station. It's GREAT to have Wambaugh back. His feel for the cop house is as solid as when he was a LAPD sergeant. Mean streets with dark humor.
  • Charles Dickens - Bleak House. This kid is gonna hit big once he learns to trim out all the excess verbiage!

Alafair Burke, author of Dead Connection

James O. Born, author of Burn Zone (pub. date 2008)

  • Michael Connelly - Echo Park. Great, sincere, accurate police novel.
  • Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game. Classic sci-fi which stands up to the test of time.
  • James Bradley - Flags of Our Fathers. A memorable view of one of the Marines' finest moments.

P.J. Parrish, author of A Thousand Bones

  • Diane Setterfield - The Thirteenth Tale. I read this on recommendation from a friend when I was looking for something entertaining. Didn't expect to like this book; was initially put off by its filigreed, slightly precious style but then got sucked in. The southern gothic transplanted to England.
  • Graham Robb - The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography, from the Revolution to the First World War. As a Francophile, I like any book that tries to explain the French. This one does so through the unique prism of France's geography and fractious history and concludes that even the French don't understand the French. And that they are very much like us Americans in many surprising ways.
  • Stephen King - Lisey's Story. A confession: This is the first King novel I have read. (I did read his On Writing.) I got it because I was chairing the Edgar banquet and Steve was our Grand Master. This book was nothing like I expected, which is always a good reason to love a novel. And it tore my heart apart.

Jason Pinter, author of The Guilty (pub. date 2008)

  • Charlie Huston - The Shotgun Rule. Brutal, bloody, brilliant. A Dangerous Man was on my "Best of '06" list. At this point I would read a pile of discarded cocktail napkins from Huston.
  • Junot Diaz -  The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. There are some novels that when you finish, you simply close the cover and start hunting for your next read. Then there are books like this one where, when you finish, you simply sit there stunned.
  • Robert Crais - L.A. Requiem. It took me too long to get to this book, but it was worth the wait. Joe Pike is the rare enigma who when light is shed on his past, he somehow becomes even more captivating.

Chris Mooney, author of The Missing

CJ Lyons, author of Lifelines (pub. date 2008)

  • Toni McGee Causey: Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day. Rollicking fun tangled with a touch of romance and a main character who is smart and savvy but also a magnet for chaos. A delightful, laugh-out-loud read.
  • Gillian Flynn - Sharp Objects. The first person narration was so painfully honest that it allowed her to cross into territory that readers might otherwise not accept; well-written, dark, edgy and disturbing but illuminating.
  • Ed Gaffney - Diary of a Serial Killer. Despite the melodramatic title (I'd guess that Gaffney wanted to call it Conflict of Interest since that's the recurring theme), this book provides humor, mystery, thrills, and you can just tell that Gaffney had a helluva good time writing it. From a writer's point of view, the way he plays with time and reader expectations makes it all that much more delightful.

Marcus Sakey, author of The Blade Itself

  • Michael Cunningham - Flesh and Blood. Cunningham accomplishes more with a sentence than many can with a chapter, and his empathy knows no limits.
  • Chuck Hogan - Prince of Thieves. My favorite of the crime novels I've read this year -- textured, tense, and believable, with some unforgettable scenes.
  • Sara Gruen - Water for Elephants. It'll make you laugh and then break your heart. I loved this book.

December 27, 2007 in 3 Favorites of 2007 | | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

3 Favorite Books of 2007 - Part 11

Read this post to see what this is all about. For more favorites, see here.


Robert Ferrigno, author of Sins of the Assassin (pub. date 2008)

  • John Connolly - Bad Men. Nothing beats a horror thriller by a guy who can actually, you know... write.
  • Vali Nasr - The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future. In 2006, the new Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee admitted he didn't know the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni Muslim. The outgoing Republican chairman said the same thing. Read this and you'll be smarter than any of the geniuses charting our foreign policy.
  • Don Winslow - The Winter of Frankie Machine. Because I like a guy who can kill you in any of a hundred ways, or make you the perfect breakfast.

David Morrell, author of Scavenger

[Note: Due to his leadership position in ITW, David didn't want to discuss any current thrillers.]

  • FAA's Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. This hasn't been a typical reading year for me. In March, I started taking flying lessons, and there's an enormous amount of studying involved. My nose has been stuck in this book.
  • Stuart Woods - Chiefs. I also revisited some old favorites and liked them every bit as much as I did the first time.
  • Thomas Tryon - The Other

M.J. Rose, author of The Reincarnationist

Because I can't follow directions well, I gave the questions sub-categories.

  • Paula Cohen - Gramercy Park. Best undiscovered book discovery in 2007.
  • Javier Sierra - The Lady in Blue (translated from Spanish). Best book foreign book of 2007.
  • Heather Terrell - The Chrysalis. Best debut of 2007.

Tom Nolan, frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal's Leisure & Arts page and the editor of The Archer Files: The Complete Short Stories of Lew Archer, Private Investigator by Ross
Macdonald

Kasey Michaels, author of Bowled Over

  • Terry Pratchett - Guards! Guards! I read Terry Pratchett every year -- whatever is new, and at least one older book. This year that older book was Guards! Guards! My very first Pratchett, and still my favorite. Now, hearing his announcement, I know I'm going to treasure my Pratchett collection even more.
  • Joseph Finder - Killer Instinct. I attended my first ThrillerFest this year and sat in on a panel that included nominees for Thriller of the Year. I was struck by Joseph Finder as he answered questions -- he just seemed to "have it all knocked," you know? So it was no surprise to me later that same evening when his book was named Thriller of the Year. I immediately bought it, tackled him in a hallway, had him autograph it for me -- and enjoyed every moment of Killer Instinct.
  • James Rollins - The Judas Strain. And what would my reading year be (at least lately) without James Rollins? This year it was The Judas Strain that kept me turning the pages, and guessing, and guessing wrong, and staying up half the night to finally get it right!

December 26, 2007 in 3 Favorites of 2007 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

3 Favorite Books of 2007 - Part 10

Read this post to see what this is all about. For more favorites, see here.


Eric Van Lustbader, author of The Bourne Betrayal

  • Neal Stephenson - Cryptonomicon. Simply staggering, unclassifiable, gonzo fiction on the grandest scale. The very best part is that it never falters or falls apart from first page to last.
  • David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas. Yes, folks, science fiction can be literate and exciting. A breath of fresh air. The best novel Mitchell's written, by far.
  • Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia. Despite a flawed middle section, a transcendent, incandescent experience. Both life-affirming and life-altering.

Philip Hawley, Jr., author of Stigma

Clea Simon, author of Cries and Whiskers and reviewer for the Boston Globe and San Francisco Chronicle

  • Ariana Franklin - Mistress of the Art of Death. Because I do love my historicals, and Franklin has created an intriguing heroine in Dr. Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortest Aguilar, a 12th Century proto-coroner, without too many noticeable anachronisms. Made me go back and read her City of Shadows too.
  • Colin Cotterill - Anarchy and Old Dogs. Although I actually thought this was the weakest of the series, taking Dr. Siri too far afield from his Vientiane morgue, I still love spending time with these characters. Grim humor, politics, history, and a touch of the paranormal and somehow it all works. Bring on book #5!
  • James Lee Burke - The Tin Roof Blowdown. Again, a flawed book. I suspect Burke lost interest in the central crime because of the greater devastation surrounding Hurricane Katrina. But a haunting read, perhaps the best book on Katrina and the tragedy of New Orleans since Chris Rose's nonfiction memoir 1 Dead in Attic.

Nick Stone, author of Mr. Clarinet

James Sallis, author of Salt River

December 22, 2007 in 3 Favorites of 2007 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

3 Favorite Books of 2007 - Part 9

Read this post to see what this is all about. For more favorites, see here.


Joseph Finder, author of Power Play

  • Sue Miller - The Senator's Wife. A galley of Sue (The Good Mother) Miller's new novel arrived a few months ago with a note bound in from her editor, Jordan Pavlin, about how this book "has a great deal to say to women of all ages." Huh? Are men not allowed to read her books? (That reminds me of this morning at my local ski shop when I picked up a pair of gloves I liked and the salesguy said, "Those are women's." I replied with a straight face, "I like to wear women's gloves. You got a problem with that?") Anyway, no, reading Sue Miller's remarkable novels won't make a man grow breasts (unlike smoking Virginia Slims, say). I don't think there's any novelist any better at parsing marriages and home life than Miller. She's got a wonderfully terse style and incredibly sharp perceptions. She's better than Anne Tyler or Ann Beattie (and all the other Ann/e's except Ann Patchett, who does sort of different stuff). The Senator's Wife concerns a young married couple that moves into a house next door to the wife of a famous liberal senator, a womanizer -- think Gary Hart or Ted Kennedy, but with the gravitas of Henry Cabot Lodge. It's a story about secrets and marriage, love and morality. Really terrific stuff. Womanly, yes, but I liked it too.
  • Ian McEwan - On Chesil Beach. OK, granted, this is really just a long short story (208 pages, lots of white space, small format) -- not a novel; maybe a novellini? -- but it's beautifully constructed, elegantly written, and devastating. It's a bleak fable about a newlywed couple on their wedding night -- virgins facing sexual intercourse for the first time -- and the far-reaching consequences that spiral out of a disastrous misunderstanding. I don't love all of McEwan's work -- he tends to be a bit too chilly for my tastes -- but this one he nailed.
  • Peter Abrahams - Nerve Damage. Why is this guy not a major bestseller? I don't get it. He's Stephen King's favorite suspense novelist, and mine too. He makes the stuff all the rest of us do look amateurish. Now that the great Ira Levin has died, Peter Abrahams is easily the finest thriller writer alive. Nerve Damage is about a sculptor in Vermont with only a few months to live who gets a sneak peek at his New York Times obituary (through a hacker friend) and thereby discovers a strange fact about his late wife. The investigation leads him into a conspiratorial maze. But since this is Peter Abrahams, nothing turns out the way you predict. And along the way you're treated to some terrifically stylish, elliptical -- and powerful -- storytelling.

Jeffery Deaver, author of The Sleeping Doll

Dick Adler, former crime fiction reviewer for the Chicago Tribune, now blogger

  • Elise Blackwell - Grub. Superb, biting modern homage to Gissing's New Grub Street.
  • Richard Aleas (aka Charles Ardai) - Songs of Innocence. Much shame on the MWA for not nominating this.
  • T.J. MacGregor - Kill Time. Has the icing on the cake of one of my favorite subjects: time travel.

Linda L. Richards, editor January Magazine, author Death Was the Other Woman (pub date 2008)

It seems to me 2007 was a stellar year. In fiction, I read a lot more that was terrific than the other kind. As luck would have it, three stood out for me.

Jon Land, author of The Last Prophecy

  • David Morrell - Scavenger. Morrell, the best and most influential thriller writer ever, has never been better. A manipulative madman enlists two unwilling players in what is essentially a human video game. Blisteringly paced, brilliantly structured, and compulsively readable, Scavenger establishes a new benchmark for both originality and execution.
  • Lee Child - Bad Luck and Trouble. Child's nomadic, loner hero Jack Reacher reunites with some members of his former military investigation team to find out why others have been murdered. This is Child's best book yet, and Reacher rivals James Bond as the best series hero ever.
  • James Lee Burke - The Tin Roof Blowdown. Burke's latest, set against the tragic retelling of the Katrina disaster, solidifies his status as America's preeminent novelist as well mystery writer. Ever-tortured Dave Robicheaux's efforts to solve a pair of murders are dwarfed by the much larger crime perpetuated on the people of New Orleans. A visual and visceral masterpiece.

December 21, 2007 in 3 Favorites of 2007 | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

3 Favorite Books of 2007 - Part 8

Read this post to see what this is all about. For more favorites, see here.

Scott Turow, author of Limitations

Robert Crais, author of The Watchman

Cutting to three is like giving yourself a root canal, but here goes:

  • Sherman Alexie - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The semi-autobiographical story of a geeky kid on the rez struggling to improve himself. It's written with honesty, heart, and Alexie's trademark humor.
  • Ian Toll - Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy. I'm a history buff, especially naval history, so this book felt like a personal gift. Toll presents a detailed account of the birth of the U.S. Navy. If you're into Patrick O'Brian (as I am), this is a must-read.
  • Joe Hill - 20th Century Ghosts. A collection of short stories by the author of Heart-Shaped Box. Hill has a lovely, natural voice and a terrific imagination, but his work stood out for me because his stories are written with an enormous amount of "heart."

Libby Fischer Hellmann, editor of Chicago Blues

Robert Ward, author of Four Kinds of Rain

  • Alexander Dumas - The Count of Monte Cristo. The 1200-page unabridged version. And even at that hefty tonnage I wished it would never end. It was wonderful on every level. First, a great story of injustice and revenge, and finally forgiveness. Second, every page is filled with brilliant insights into people, money, class, friendship, loyalty, and romance. If this is a children's novel, let me read another one. Nothing like the movies made from it, which are like story outlines for cretins. Read it, and be prepared to be swept away.
  • Ken Bruen - Blitz. Actually any book by Ken Bruen. They're short, powerful, poetic, nasty, touching, philosophical, and most importantly, hilarious. The idea that Bruen is considered a "crime writer," thus a second-class citizen by the literati, is ridiculous. He can do anything any "Qual Lit." (to steal from the late T. Southern) writer can do, then do it backwards, forwards, and up-side down. Blitz features one of Bruen's greatest characters, Detective Sergeant Brant, who is vicious, hilarious, outrageous, and always gets his man, even if he doesn't have any evidence.
  • Jason Starr - Lights Out. A rising Star (sorry) in the crime writing world, Starr is the real thing. I've read all his books and can't put any of them down. He writes about real people, and his books don't need High Concepts or Doomsday Machines because all the doom is within the human heart. No fat, no frills, brilliant plot turns, and great dialogue, Starr gets to the heart of the matter. And cuts yours out with a pen knife in the process.

Ali Karim, Assistant Editor at Shots, Literary Editor and Judge at CWA and Blogger at The Rap Sheet

  • George Orwell - 1984. A novel that I revisit each year and find that Orwell's world is one that we all sadly live in today.
  • John Connolly - The Unquiet. His best work so far, taking PI Charlie Parker into the heart of darkness.
  • Michael Marshall - The Intruders. A thriller with a Horror / SF edge making it one of the most unsettling books of the year.

December 20, 2007 in 3 Favorites of 2007 | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (1)

3 Favorite Books of 2007 - Part 7

Read this post to see what this is all about. For more favorites, see here.


Barry Eisler, author of Requiem for an Assassin

I read a bunch of lot of great books earlier in the year, but the most recent are naturally, if unfairly, a little more on my mind. So:

  • Mark Bowden - Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. Read this for background for my new book, and it's an up-close, beautifully detailed, emotional roller coaster ride through the nightmare of modern urban combat.
  • Charlie Huston - The Shotgun Rule. I have two words for this book: holy shit! I've heard great things about Charlie from several people I trust, and they were right: fascinating characters, staccato dialogue, and gripping violence, all of it set in motion by secrets that bind a family together, and could tear them apart.
  • Steve Martin - Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life. A short, insightful, and (naturally enough) at times hilarious memoir of Steve Martin's stand-up years and rise to fame. I listened to Martin reading it on CD, which seems the ideal given the delivery talents of the author.

Christopher Reich, author of The Patriot's Club

  • Robert Harris - The Ghost. One of the smartest, most suspenseful (and at times cuttingly funny) books I've read in years. Loved it!
  • David Ignatius - Body of Lies. A class act from page 1 onward. Clean prose. Great story! As good as the best Forsyth and that says a lot in my book.
  • Irwin Shaw - The Young Lions. I re-read it for the fourth time this year. My all time favorite WWII book. Shaw is such a great storyteller; the action scenes come to life with vivid detail. You are literally there - in Italy, in North Africa and during the Normandy invasion.

Kristen Weber, Senior Editor at New American Library

Cameron Hughes, book reviewer for CHUD and January Magazine

  • John Connolly - The Unquiet. A funny, harrowing thriller with a very human heart and unlike most P.I. novels these days, it tries new things with un-reliable narration, the blending of the gothic horror story and gritty crime novel. A gem of a novel.
  • Mark Coggins - Runoff. The most surprising novel of the year. Mark Coggins has been around for awhile and while his August Riordan novels are always great, Runoff takes it to the very next level. Paranoid about the Gore/Bush 2000 Election? You'll be twice as paranoid about the state of democracy and the election system after reading this bad boy.
  • John Meaney - Bone Song (pub date 2008). A police procedural in a fantasy world, but un-like the Garret novels where it takes place in a world with classic fantasy elements like elves, Bone Song is decidedly steampunk, mixing magic and technology with the best of police procedural noir. Witches and other supernatural creatures co-mingle with scientists and Meaney's world is a truly alien one, with certain familiar aspects like a police force and our hero Donal Riordan is a great dark fantasy version of familiar cop characters like Harry Bosch and John Rebus. Zombies, werewolves, a truly alien fantasy setting that is powered by the corpses of the dead. Who could ask for more?

Brett Battles, author of The Cleaner

  • Linwood Barclay - No Time For Goodbye. A thrill ride from beginning to end. Read it in two sittings only because I was so tired and had to sleep.
  • Haruki Murakami - After Dark. Murakami's not for everyone, but I'm a big fan. And this one does not disappoint.
  • Travis Holland - The Archivist's Story. Moscow during the Stalinist period. I went into this one cautiously, but wow. Haunting. Sad. Insightful. I still think about this one.

 

December 19, 2007 in 3 Favorites of 2007 | | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

What do you think of 3 Favorites?

Are you folks tired of 3 Favorites yet? 'Cause I've still got more to post.

Let me know what you think. (I'm going to post them anyway, but I'm curious if anyone is reading them.)

December 18, 2007 in 3 Favorites of 2007 | | Comments (16) | TrackBack (0)

3 Favorite Books of 2007 - Part 6

Read this post to see what this is all about. For more favorites, see here.

Laura Lippman, author of What the Dead Know

  • Richard Price - Lush Life (pub date 2008). I was lucky enough to read an ARE.
  • Abigail Thomas - A Three Dog Life. Purchased on impulse in Kennedy Airport, on the basis of a Stephen King blurb. A section of this memoir had been excerpted in the New York Times' Modern Romance column, which is always being ridiculed at Gawker.com, and I was curious to see a book-length treatment of a story I thought had been told, more or less. Outstanding.
  • Jack Pendarvis - The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure. I have flogged this book so relentlessly for much of 2007 that all I say is, "Why stop now?"

Gregg Hurwitz, author of The Crime Writer

Patrick Anderson, reviewer for The Washington Post

Dave White, author of When One Man Dies

  • Jason Pinter - The Guilty (pub date 2008). Just a book that kept me turning the pages the whole way through. Really great pace, really great premise.
  • Duane Swierczynski - Severance Package (pub date 2008). A action packed roller coaster. One of my favorite books of all time. Period. I am truly lucky to have read this book early.
  • Robert Crais - The Watchman. Just getting to see Pike on the center stage was well worth it. Fun read.

Ben Leroy, Publisher of Bleak House Books

December 18, 2007 in 3 Favorites of 2007 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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About

David J. Montgomery is the thriller/mystery critic for The Daily Beast and the Chicago Sun-Times. He has written about authors and books for several of the country's largest newspapers, including the Washington Post, USA Today and Boston Globe.

He lives in the Washington, D.C. suburbs with his wife and daughter.

Email David J. Montgomery

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