I read a lot of books in a year, both new and familiar. Sometimes I start a book and don’t finish it. That happened more this year than in past years, I think, and as a consequence I didn’t read as much as I ordinarily like to. But that notwithstanding, I read some great books this year and I want to bring them to your attention. It’s been hard picking out the best of a good bunch. I imagine (though I won’t promise) that I’ll be reviewing a lot of these books here on the blog in the months ahead, so I’ll save any comments on them until then.

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The Meaning of Night and The Glass of Time by Michael Cox

1776 and The Path Between The Seas by David McCullough

Tales From The Perilous Realm by J.R.R. Tolkien

Different Seasons and On Writing: A Memoir of The Craft by Stephen King

The New Annotated Dracula by Bram Stoker, Edited by Leslie S. Klinger

The Making of ‘Star Wars’ by J.W. Rinzler

Marco Polo: From Venice To Xanadu by Laurence Bergreen

Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

The Illustrated Man and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier And Clay by Michael Chabon

Red Harvest and Crime Stories, and Other Writings by Dashiell Hammett

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

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Currently in my hands is The Help by Kathryn Stockett, which is quite good already—and I’m not even a hundred pages in!