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Best Books Read in 2004 with a publication date BEFORE 2004
Return to Fiction_L Booklists Menu
January 2005
Compiled by Kaite Mediatore ,
of KCKPL Main Library, Kansas City, KS , from contributions by the members of Fiction_L.
(To use this list in your library, book club, etc., please include the following credit line: "Compiled by the subscribers of the Fiction_L mailing list." This list may not be used for commercial purposes.)
Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The first volume in the Hitchhiker's trilogy follows a deliriously wacky trip through outer space, featuring mild-mannered Arthur Dent and his peripatetic friend, Ford Prefect.
Albom, Mitch. The Five People You Meet in Heaven.
Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia. Hawksong.
Danica, of the avian shapeshifters, and Zane, of the serpent shapeshifters, marry to end a long war between their peoples. Beautiful story of sacrifice and love.
Bademi, Anita Rau. Hero's Walk.
Belfer, Lauren. City of Light.
Brown, Dan. The Da Vinci Code.
Chevalier, Tracy. Girl with the Pearl Earring.
Clements, Andrew. Frindle.
YA
Connelly, Michael. Chasing the Dime.
Dean, Elizabeth. Murder is a Collector's Item.
Dean, Pamela. Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary.
This book has perfectly captured exactly the kind of person I was in junior high school, (and the kind of friends I WISHED I had!) and what it's like to
realize you're growing up and there's nothing you can do to stop it.
Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek.
Dobie, J. Frank. A Vaquero Of The Brush Country.
Duane, Diane. The Wizard's Dilemma; A Wizard Alone.
Dunmore, Helen. The Siege.
During the Cold War, we forgot how much the Russian people suffered during World War II. This story, which will also break your heart, demonstrates both the horror of the times, and the strength of those who lived (and died) through them.
Dunn, Mark. Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: on (not) getting by in America.
Enger, Leif. Peace Like a River.
Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex.
Evans, Richard Paul. Timepiece.
Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures.
Nonfiction. An excellent choice for book groups. One of the members of our group commented, "I've never learned so much from a book."
Fergus, Jim. 1000 White Women: The Journals of May Dodd.
An Indian request in 1854 for 1,000 white brides to ensure peace is secretly approved by the U.S. government in this alternate-history novel. Their journey west is described by May Dodd, a high-society woman released from an asylum where she was incarcerated by her family for an affair.
Fforde, Jasper. The Eyre Affair and Lost in a Good Book.
Gaiman, Neil. American Gods.
Few are able to write a good fairy tale, and this is one. To my mind, this succeeds in capturing the redefinition of reality achieved in the Grimm Brothers, George MacDonald, and La Fontaine tales. So I went on to read this adult title by Gaiman and found it to be genre-leapingly original and engrossing. This author has ideas that seem so evident and yet heretofore unvoiced.
Gallico, Paul. Abandoned (also known as Jennie).
Poignant story of young boy transformed into a cat, who learns the cat "facts of life" from beautiful Jennie. First book I've cried over in a LONG time.
Gould, Steven. Jumper.
Science fiction
Grant, Ulysses. Personal Memoirs Of U.S. Grant.
Greeno, Gayle. The Ghatti's Tale; Min-Speaker's Call.
Hamill, Pete. Forever.
Harms, Daniel and John Gonce. The Necronomicon Files.
A fascinating study of the "history" of a nonexistent book and its attraction to fantasy fans, real life occultists, and others.
Harstad, Donald. A Long December.
Hart, Erin. Haunted Ground.
Hillenbrand, Laura. Seabiscuit.
Holman, Sheri. The Mammoth Cheese.
Huff, Tanya. Blood Price.
Fantasy, Vampires
Jance, J. A. Breach of Duty.
Jones, Edward P. The Known World.
Jones takes the reader into the absorbing, fully developed world of Henry Townsend, a black owner of slaves in pre-Civil War Virginia. More a saga or epic than a novel, it is one of those pieces of fiction so vivid and absorbing, you feel as though you are right there with the characters.
Kelby, N.M. Theater of the Stars.
Keyes, Marian. Watermelon.
Lahiri, Jhumpa The Namesake.
Larson, Erik. Devil in the White City.
Lawson, Mary. Crow Lake.
This novel is a character-driven story of four siblings who are orphaned. The teen-age brothers raise their two young sisters. The setting (rural Ontario) and the
community (neighbors beloved and evil) also figure prominently. Read-alikes would include "Plainsong" and "Peace Like a River."
Leane, Shelly. Joshua's Bible.
During the 1930s, African-American missionaries were sent to South Africa. Joshua Clay is one of those chosen for the opportunity of a lifetime. He soon finds himself torn between the task assigned by his church and the culture he comes to understand and respect. A time and place that are not often the topic of mainstream
fiction.
Lehane, Dennis. Darkness, Take my Hand.
Leonard, Elmore. Rum Punch.
McCullers, Carson. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
McKinley, Robin. Sunshine.
Sunshine is kidnapped as dinner for a vampire but ends up saving him instead.
McMurtry, Larry. Sin Killer.
Makine, Andrei. A Hero's Daughter.
Martin, Valerie. Property.
Mieville, China. The Scar.
Moore, Christopher. Bloodsucking Fiends.
Murphy, Shirley Rosseau. Cat on the Edge.
Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler's Wife.
O'Brien, Darcy. Murder in Little Egypt.
O'Connell, Carol. Dead Famous.
Pearl, Matthew. The Dante Club.
In 1865, the preparations of the Dante Club--led by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow--to release the first translation of Dante's "The Divine Comedy" are
threatened by a series of murders that re-create episodes from "Inferno."
Pullman, Philip. His Dark Materials Trilogy: The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass.
Rankin, Robert. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse.
Roberson, Jennifer. Sword-Dancer; Sword-Singer; Sword-Maker.
Russell, Mary Doria. The Sparrow.
Even if you hate science fiction, or Jesuits, or aliens, or novels, read this anyway.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.
Schulz, Keith. Keepers of the River.
Sebold, Alice. The Lovely Bones.
Simon, Rachel. Riding the Bus with my Sister: A True Life Journey.
I read every word--which is a rarity these days. A story that Tuesdays with Morrie readers might like--wisdom without the death aspect.
Smith, Alexander McCall. Morality for Beautiful Girls.
Smith, Alexander McCall. No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
I finally got around to starting this series and wish I had started earlier! Not your usual mystery -- the story revolves more around the characters than
the mystery.
Sparks, Nicholas. The Guardian.
Tademy, Lalita. Cane River.
Historical saga of several generations of an African American family led by strong women. Set in Louisiana.
Tracy, PJ. Monkeewrench.
Tremayne, Peter. Hemlock At Vespers:15 Sister Fidelma Mysteries.
Historical Mystery.
Van de Velde, Vivian. Heir Apparent.
Giannine gets stuck in a virtual reality game where she has to win or die.
Watson, Larry. Montana 1948.
Webb, Betty. Desert wives.
When Esther Corbett, the mother of polygamist Solomon Royal's latest intended bride, is accused of killing Royal, Lena Jones attempts to infiltrate a
polygamist compound on the Utah-Arizona border to find the real killer.
The Western Working Family Morgan Horse Club. Writing for the Brand.
Wiggins, Marianne Evidence of Things Unseen.
Willingham, Bill. Fables: Animal Farm.
Graphic Novel.
Wilson, A.N. Dream Children.
Wingate, Lisa. Texas Cooking.
The first in a series of romances set in Texas about a woman finding herself in a small community.
Winspear, Jacqueline. Maisie Dobbs.
Historical Mystery
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