Favourite Reads of 2008: A Librarian's Picks Part Seven. . .

Today's list comes from Heather Brydon, a librarian at a public library in Beaconsfield, Quebec which is just outside of Montreal. I spent my early childhood in Beaconsfield and Heather works at the very branch where I got my first library card. Here are her favourite reads of 2008:

1. Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. I put this on any and every list; I read it when I'm having a bad day and it always makes everything better.

2. Run by Ann Patchett. I had read Bel Canto years agao and loved it, so snapped this one up as soon as it came out. I could not put it down; it's amazing that an author can write a whole book that covers a mere 24 hours!

3. When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson. I have devoured all of her other books about Jackson Brodie and this was no exception. I love the way her stories are interwoven threads and keep you guessing even after you finish the book.

4 - Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo. A beautiful, touching but not cheesy, Christmas story, and a a wonderful gift for older children or anyone with children. It's now been translated into French, and they did a great job.

5 - Scaredy Squirrel At the Beach by Melanie Watt. He is the funniest, most obsessive-compulsive character currently in children's books! And just as funny in French.

6 - Careless in Red by Elizabeth George. More of the fantatstic Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers, that always leaves you wanting even more.

7 - Dingo by Chrles DeLint. A great YA read. He's one of my favourite authors and does as good a job writing for younger audiences that with the rest of his more adult titles.

8 - The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester. I never read non-fiction. I fall asleep over it, but this kept me turning pages furiously. Informative without being overly didactic and a real-opener about China and its history.

9 - Sailing to Sarantium (Part I of the Sarantine Mosaic) by Guy Gavriel Kay. Magical and belivable and heart-wrenching and utterly fantastic.

10 - The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coehlo. The thing I liked the most about this book were the last few pages...