Books for 2006

This is a record of some of the best books I read for the first time in 2006. Only one or two of them were actually written in 2006, though, since I'm not the quickest of readers. (I did, though, read a lot more books than I'm listing.)

FICTION:

1. White Noise by Don Delillo
2. Desperate Characters by Paula Fox
3. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
4. Atonement by Ian McEwan
5. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Other fiction I thought was pretty good/okay: Ravelstein by Saul Bellow, The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud, Saturday by Ian McEwan.

I think I read some great stuff this year, but looking at my fiction list, I realize it's a bit of a slave to the contemporary. I'd frankly like to read more books nobody's ever heard of.

NON-FICTION: (no rankings)

Active Liberty by Stephen Breyer
Enough: The Dead-End Movements... by Juan Williams
Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas Ricks
How Soccer Explains the World by Franklin Foer
One-El by Scott Turow
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater

A lot of government/legal interest. This year I want to read books on more specific issues or events.