My Notables

De suggested I list a few of my notable books of 2007, which I'm always happy to do! How to choose, though? Books I read in 2007? Book published in 2007? Or a little of both? And what about books I haven't read yet, but I still want to consider notable? Well, the easiest way to do this list is looking at titles I've read in the past year, so here we go. I reserve the right to add more stuff later, with different qualifications.

• Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. I read this back in January, and later in the year picked up its sequel, Forever Odd, which I also enjoyed. I had had this image in my mind of Koontz as a horror writer, but this was sort of thrilling magical realism, with a murder mystery. I'm looking forward to reading the third book in the series, Brother Odd.
• The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart. Just plain fun YA, with an utterly compelling heroine in Ruby, who is also featured in The Boy Book. Looking forward to reading Lockhart's newest book, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, coming out in May 2008.
• The Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce. An editor I dearly want to have a book with gave me an early copy of this, which I devoured in one short chunk when Doyce & I were in Florida this past spring. Book Two in the trilogy is already on my to-be-read shelf. A really intriguing, unusual "vampire" tale. (Yes, my quotes are deliberate.)
• Enchantment by Orson Scott Card. This book came up in conversation just recently, in talking about fairy tales. A fun, realistic retelling of Sleeping Beauty, with dashes of Russian folklore thrown in.
• Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of A Tree by Lauren Tarshis. Just read it. I'll wait. It's short and hilarious, with one of the most wonderful middle grade heroines I've had the pleasure to meet in a while.
• The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. Funny, touching adult novel about a woman who grows up in a family of private eyes. Did I mention they're all dysfunctional? Yeah, good times, good times. I think I read this in one sitting, too.
• In The Garden of Iden by Kage Baker. This one's up here because I want other folks to read it too, so we can talk about it. A little slow starting, I thought, but then you're thrown into a world where children are raised in a futuristic colony, then given missions by their teachers and controllers from the future to save parts of the world from extinction. Really intriguing. I have the next book on reserve at the library.
• Agnes & The Hitman By Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer. What happens when a top-drawer, funny, chick lit novelist combines forces with a man's man military thriller writer? You get a fantastically funny, densely plotted roller-coaster ride like this one. Just a blast. I loved the authors' previous collaboration, too.

That's it for now. What are your notables?