Now that it’s 2006, let’s take one last look at the lists of 2005. USA Today set out the best books of 2005. The books on there aren’t big surprises. The one topic I did find interesting was for Most Overrated Novel - imagine winning that one. According to USA Today, it was this:

William Vollmann’s Europe Central. Upon receiving the National Book Award for fiction, Vollmann said of his 800-page opus of intertwined stories about World War II: “I’m very happy it’s over, and I don’t have to think about it anymore.” So are we (and we didn’t get past page 200).

In better news, they said the best book was:

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. The ultimate test of any book is whether it will endure. Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking (Knopf, $23.95) will be read as long as people look for ways to deal with the loss of a loved one. Written after the death of Didion’s husband, fellow writer John Gregory Dunne, and the critical illness of their only child, the book is a poignant, candid and heartbreaking account of grief, loss and love. In a year of notable non-fiction and several outstanding novels, it stands out above all other books.

You can find the rest of the list here.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 1st, 2006 at 8:00 am and is filed under About Authors, About Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.