Cathy's Top Ten Reading Lists of 2008

As I said in an earlier post, I had 23 books graded A+ to whittle down until they fit comfortably in two lists of ten each. I love mysteries, so I always make one list just for that genre. The second list of ten is for all genres combined. In the past, making these lists has been rather easy. The stand-outs really stood out. Whittling this year's bumper crop of excellent books was painful, and for the first time I have two authors with two books each.

Without further ado, here are my lists of Top Ten Reads for 2008 (in no particular order):

Cathy's 2008 Top Ten Mysteries:

• The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
• The Dead Hour by Denise Mina
• Slip of the Knife by Denise Mina
• Broken Skin by Stuart MacBride
• The Stick Game by Peter Bowen
• Cruzatte and Maria by Peter Bowen
• Dreaming of the Bones by Deborah Crombie
• No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
• Echoes From the Dead by Johann Theorin

Cathy's 2008 Top Ten Books (All Genres):

• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
• Kindred by Octavia Butler
• Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
• Into the Forest by Jean Hegland
• The Dead Hour by Denise Mina
• The Bones of Plenty by Lois Phillips Hudson
• The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson
• Broken Skin by Stuart MacBride
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
• Echoes From the Dead by Johann Theorin

If you'd like to see other folks' Top Ten Reads in Crime Fiction, head on over to Kerrie's blog, Mysteries in Paradise.

What are some of the best books you've read in the past year? This inquiring mind is always looking for recommendations!