Booklist's Top Picks

If you haven't seen it or aren't aware of it, Booklist puts out its own top list for books published in the previous year. For 2005, and as published in their combined January 2006 issue, the following are its choices. Keep in mind the following statement issued by the editor.

“This year’s Top of the List winners strike a somber tone, with war and death prominent among the themes,” said Bill Ott, Booklist editor and publisher. “Perhaps our choices reflect the state of the world, or perhaps it was just a year for very good books on very unhappy subjects.”

Adult Fiction: “The March,” by E. L. Doctorow (Random)
Adult Nonfiction: “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” by Kaie Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (Knopf)
Youth Fiction: “Elsewhere,” by Gabrielle Zevin (Farrar)
Youth Nonfiction: “Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow,” by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (Scholastic)
Youth Picture Book: “Michael Rosen’s Sad Book,” by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Quentin Blake (Candlewick)
Reference Source: “Encyclopedia of Religion,” edited by Lindsay Jones (Macmillan)

Indeed many of the books chosen are on the somber side. As with any lists these are just what a group of people have come to decide, and to let others know what made a difference in their opinion in the literary world.

So, even though I tend to look at uplifting books here, I can't ignore that there are other books and styles of literature that are worth mentioning.

Open the mind, by opening a book.