best books I read in 2008

*I've affixed asterisks to the best titles.*

Mysteries: These were good but not great. I'm still looking for a great new mystery author, and have high hopes for Donald Westlake.
Elizabeth Ironside: Death in the Garden and The Accomplice
Barbara Vine: Anna's Book
Ian Rankin: Knots and Crosses

Sea books: Patrick O'Brian is the best, followed by CS Forester. Ramage will suffice if you need a fix of salt air and a couple of broadsides.
Dudley Pope: Ramage series
Nordhoff and Hall: Mutiny on the Bounty

Classics:
CS Lewis: Till We Have Faces, The Screwtape Letters*
Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda and sequel

Best-kept secret:
Louis Hemon: Maria Chapdelaine*

Baseball:
Rind Lardner: You Know Me Al*

Politics:
Mark Steyn: America Alone*

Parenting:
Neufeld and Mata: Hold On To Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers*
Robert Karen: Becoming Attached*

the end of ramage

Finished the series the other day. Heaven only knows why I read all 18 books. The characters were under-developed, the writing was often pedestrian, and the action was repetitious. Moral questions were raised and dismissed. Guess I just love the smell of salt air and gunpowder.

currently reading

I finished Maria Chapdelaine. More on that later, maybe. Highly recommended.

I'm reading Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn (recommended, especially the chapter on time-outs) as well as the penultimate Ramage book. Will the author be tempted to kill off a significant character? A big difference between this series and the infinitely better PO'B series is the immunity from real harm possessed by the main characters. No one was safe in the Hornblower books, either. Ramage is just a way for a nautical fiction addict to keep from going into withdrawal.

more on ramage

Have read 4 Ramage books. The fourth was the worst, contained a treasure hunt worthy of Frank and Joe Hardy. (Not that there's anything wrong with The Hardy Boys.) I won't bother with any more of these for the time being, though I will probably read the rest of the series eventually. The series is a couple of notches below Hornblower, its obvious influence.

ramage

by Dudley Pope

Hard to avoid comparison to the Hornblower books. "That Hornblower fellow" is even mentioned twice as an acquaintance of Ramage.

I liked this. It's more like Hornblower than POB. I've only read the first book. So far, lots of action, the hero is not as flawed as HH, but perhaps a little bland. The romance is handled a bit awkwardly. But there are 17 more books - maybe they improve? They might be just right for summer, when I like to read a series, or lots of books by one author.