It ended up being a successful reading year for me. Somewhere, midyear, I made up my mind to stop reading mediocre books. As a result, I ended up finding some real winners after searching through Amazon.com. My year end total was 32 books......16 of which were literature/fiction, 15 in the mystery/thriller category and 1 non fiction book. I've listed my favorites below. In order to be a favorite, it would have to rate either an 8, 9 or 10 on a scale of 1-10. I've also listed the "clunkers". I also belong to a few online book groups where we post our top ten picks of the year, which are then all compiled to come up with one major list. As soon as this has been completed (usually by the end of January), I'll post that here as well.

LITERATURE/FICTION

Cutting For Stone -- Abraham Verghese -- 10

The Help -- Kathryn Stockett -- 10

The Boleyn Inheritance -- Philippa Gregory -- 10

The White Queen -- Philippa Gregory -- 9

That Old Cape Magic -- Richard Russo -- 9

The Book Thief -- Markus Zusak -- 9

Leaving The World -- Douglas Kennedy -- 8.5

MYSTERY/THRILLER

The Lincoln Lawyer -- Michael Connelly -- 10

The Brass Verdict -- Michael Connelly -- 10

The Scarecrow -- Michael Connelly -- 10

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo -- Stieg Larsson -- 10

Echo Park -- Michael Connelly --9

The Closers -- Michael Connelly -- 9

Vanished -- Joseph Finder -- 8.5

The Narrows -- Michael Connelly -- 8.5

Rules of Vengeance -- Christopher Reich -- 8.5

The Overlook -- Michael Connelly -- 8

WORST BOOKS

Breakfast At Sallys -- Richard Lemieux -- 2

The Hour I First Believed -- Wally Lamb -- 4

Travel Writing -- Peter Ferry -- 4

Love and Summer -- William Trevor -- 4