Ah, this time of year brings about the holiday blues and the only cure for that is, of course, Best of the Year lists. So, with out further ado, here are the best books I read this year: Child 44, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Pretty Monsters, Tender Morsals, The Good Thief, Man In the Dark, and Candy Girl: A Memoir. While they are in no particular order, I have to lean toward Tender Morsals being the book I raced home to read. I really loved all of these books. The Auster novel made me think the most, the Sedaris made me laugh the hardest, and Child 44 was a total page turner. There were only a couple of stinkers-books that made me wish I'd spent the time reading better books. They were: Sexy Librarian, Her Last Death, and Mind the Gap. My new favorite discovered author is Etgar Keret. I look forward to reading the rest of his work in 2009. So far, like the economy, the book forecast is depressing. I know only of a new Sookie Stackhouse book, and can report no other books that ...