The 20 Most Talked About Books of 2008

As unique as a snowflake, a good book entertains, informs and persuades, but most of all a good book is like no other. One thing to remember when selecting reading material is that just because a book gets lots of buzz, its popularity doesn’t necessarily mean you should buy it. You should browse before making a purchase, especially in this economy. Despite foreclosures and record-breaking layoffs, 2008 has been an interesting year for book lovers and a profitable year for the publishing industry.

One book in particular transcends time, breaking publishing records and barriers: “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance” by Barack Obama. Published in 1995, this memoir of Obama’s life and political legacy is more popular today than the year in which it was issued -for obvious reasons. President-elect Obama is the first president of African-American heritage; and he’s a really good storyteller.

Jeff Kinney, author of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules,” strikes again with “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw.” This newest release follows the success of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Series 1″ and ”Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules Series 2.” It’s no exaggeration to note that kids love these witty tales with characters they can relate to.

Young people can also relate to Hill Harper, author of two self-help books for teens titled “Letter to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny” and “Letters to a Young Sister: DeFINE Your Destiny,” a self-help book for young girls written in 2008. “Old” girls claim to get a big boost from this self-improvement manual too! But what does Harper know about young girls? He gets plenty of advice and support from his best friends - women.

A common thread among books published in 2008 is not hard to find. It’s quite obvious. Despite great fiction like “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle” by David Wroblewski and “Say You’re One of Them” by Uwem Akpan, nonfiction rules. Especially memoirs.

Barbara Walters pens an intensely personal biography, “Audition: A Memoir.” Her career accomplishments are no secret, but a long ago affair is shocking to readers and to the married man who she once loved. “The Naked Truth” by Marvelyn Brown is a riveting account of a young, black girl’s plight when she learns that she is HIV positive. Her honesty and bravery are memorable. But the best keeper of memories is historian Annette Gordon-Reed. She successfully relives history with the complicated relationship between slave owner and slave - Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings in “The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family.”

And finally, right before the holidays, the controversial and outspoken Pastor Rick Warren shares his perspective on the true meaning of Christmas in “The Purpose of Christmas.” Warren is not opposed to gift giving, but he asks us to focus on celebrating why Jesus came to earth.

Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama (Crown Publishing Group, July 1995)
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed (W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., September 2008)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney (Harry N Abrams, Inc., February 2008)
What Happened Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception by Scott McClellan  (PublicAffairs, May 2008)
The Purpose of Christmas by Rick Warren (Simon & Schuster, November 2008)
Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan (Little, Brown & Company, June 2008)
The Naked Truth by Marvelyn Brown (HarperCollins Publishers, August 2008)
The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III (W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., June 2008)
Mother Warriors by Jenny McCarthy (Penguin Group USA, September 2008)
The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown & Company, May 2008)
Audition: A Memoir by Barbara Walters (Random House Inc., May 2008)
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution by Thomas L. Friedman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September 2008)
The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper (Simon & Schuster, September 2008)
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (HarperCollins Publishers, September 2008)
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie (Random House, May 2008)
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic, Inc., December 2008)
The Forever War by Dexter Filkins (Knopf Publishing Group, September 2008)
Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles (Houghton Mifflin Company, June 2008)
A Mercy by Toni Morrison (Knopf Publishing Group, November 2008)
Letters to a Young Sister: DeFINE Your Destiny by Hill Harper (Gotham Books, June 2008)