Monday, December 29, 2008

My Favorite Books of 2008

Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove tetralogy comes immediately to mind. This series with its great story lines and even more memorable characters was a great reading experience.

The Barbara Leaming book on the growth of JFK is my favorite John F. Kennedy book of all time.

Thurston Clarke's book The Last Campaign brought back poignant memories of the greatest politician of my time---Robert F. Kennedy.

I was thrilled to reread Harper Lee. It was as if I were reading the book for the first time. The depiction of small-town Alabama life in the 30's struck me as not much different than small-town Alabama life in the 60's when I was growing up.

Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals is the best Lincoln book I've read. Its portrayal of 19th century life in the US (I'm a 19th century man) with these upwardly mobile people like Lincoln, Chase, and Seward is unmatched.

David S. Reynolds and Waking Giant is a great picture of life in the US during the Jacksonian Era.

2008 was a great reading year.

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