ON THE 2008 BRAMMIES - BOOKS

Before I get to awarding the inaugural Brammy awards (beginning with the books category), a small story: I was flying out of Boston last night through lousy weather. My flight was delayed five hours or so, but we did make it out okay. I met a girl whose flight had been delayed five hours...after her flight the day before had been canceled. She had been in the airport for about a day and a half, and was still remarkably positive. I took my five-hour delay a little more in stride because of her. Moral? You never know who's paying attention to you and your behavior...it could be me*!

Now, on to the awards! These are books that I read this year; many were published in the past. These are my favorites, and I won't apologize for them.

FAVORITE SHORT STORY: "50 WPM" by Orson Scott Card, from his anthology "Keeper of Dreams."

This story is an account of a man who went to Vietnam as a typist, working in an office and preparing orders for the US military. Card said he wrote it to show what kind of service he would have done, had he gone to Vietnam. It struck home with me because I'm not a guns-n-ammo kind of guy, but if I were to be drafted...I would go. And I would do EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to stay out of shootin' range.

Honorable Mention: "N" by Stephen King

FAVORITE YOUNG ADULT BOOKS: The Percy Jackson and the Olympians books by Rick Riordan

I have no idea when these books were published - I just know that I read them in 2008. They have just the right amount of drama, there's usually some action sequences, and I learned more about Greek mythology in these books than I did during my school years. Quality books, check them out.

Honorable Mention: The Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer

To be fair to Ms. Meyer, I don't know that I am the target audience for this book. But to be fair to me, there are so many things wrong with this book that I won't go into them here. But for all the hype it got from friends and strangers...this book didn't have any..."bite." Hahahahahaha!

Honorable Mention: "Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson

FAVORITE METHOD OF TELLING A STORY: "Watchmen" by Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore

I got it based on the movie trailer, I'm not going to lie. And I was expecting a "traditional" graphic novel - basically, a long comic book. But the text inserts made the story really come to life for me.

Honorable Mention: "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman

BOOK I WAS MOST SURPRISED I ENJOYED: "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was a funny, funny guy. And maybe it's because it was so much shorter than The Pickwick Papers, but I really got into A Tale of Two Cities. My goal for the year to read five Dickens novels was so worth it, based on this book. Plus there's a certain intellectual cachet from having it on your shelf. And I am a sucker for boosting my intellectual cachet.

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE YEAR: "The Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind

I am so cheap! I can't believe I would give this to a series of books - especially when I've only read the first four. But they're my awards, so deal with it. As mentioned previously in this blog, I am finally admitting to enjoying fantasy novels, particularly ones epic in scope, like these books. It's entirely possible that the only reason it won this prestigious award is because of page count - but the story has drawn me in to the point where I am buying books two at a time, because I don't want to have to stop and wait to buy the next one (in case it isn't in stock).

Honorable Mentions: "Ender in Exile" by Orson Scott Card, "Duma Key" by Stephen King, "The Lake of Dead Languages" by Carol Goodman

Thanks for "reading." Hahahahaha! Coming tomorrow, the 2008 Brammies for Video Games!



* - especially if you're pretty