How time does fly when you're having fun! I started a new job in early December, which kept me from joining you readers for most of the month, but I couldn't let the last day of the year pass without giving you one last opinion about the good and the bad. My "best of the year" is comprised not of books published in 2007, though there are a number of them on the list, but books I read in 2007. It was a very good year for reading -- I made it through more than 100 books, which unemployment made possible (2008 will not be as kind to me when it comes to time for reading, though it will be kinder to my pocket book when it comes to money with which to purchase books; isn't it funny how that works?).

And so, without further ado, and in only approximate order from the very best to the best:

The Great Man by Kate Christensen -- a wonderful novel about the three women in the life of a so-called "great man" as they move about their lives in the years following his death. Were I the cynical sort, I'd say that this novel hasn't gotten more mainstream attention because it's by a woman, about women, and about elderly women at that. But it's gorgeously written, and it's a fine story. Highly recommended. (My full review is here.)

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly -- this disturbing fairy tale is so far removed from Connolly's usual crime novel that you'd hardly recognize it as being the work of the same author. Which means that you might have missed it if you're hooked on his excellent Charlie Parker series. It's a deficiency you should quickly correct.

Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace -- Wallace is, well, quirky. Half the fun of his essays is in the footnotes, half in the skillful writing, and half in the wondering tone Wallace assumes no matter the subject (yes, I know that's three halves, but Wallace deserves them all). I don't read much nonfiction, but I'm very glad I picked this one up this year.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert -- the most inspiring book I read this year, Eat, Pray, Love saw me through some dark moments. Gilbert describes her year spent in Italy (where she ate), India (where she prayed) and Indonesia (where she fell in love), and how this year helped her recover from a broken marriage. It was a balm for my own heart, broken when I fell out of love with my career.

Red Cat by Peter Spiegelman -- hands down the best mystery I read in 2007. It led me to read all the rest of Spiegelman's work, and he's now on my auto-buy list. Great modern noir.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss -- a terrific fantasy debut. To say I'm disappointed that the next chapter in this trilogy doesn't come out until 2009 hardly begins to tell the tale -- I want more, NOW. That's how good this story is. (My full review is here.)

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch -- the picaresque novel returns with full force in this highly readable and very enjoyable fantasy that is fully the equal of Rothfuss's debut.

A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans -- in a year full of books with unreliable narrators, this was perhaps the strangest. Is the child narrator possessed or is he just bad? It is hard to figure out what's going on, and that is the greatest charm of this imaginative book.

The Ghost Writer by John Harwood -- a book with multiple plot lines and tales within tales, an Arabian Nights tale for the England and Australia of not all that long ago, a book to talk about and puzzle over. I loved it.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke -- I know I'm well behind the curve with this one, and I don't know why, because it's a wonderful book. I loved the faux scholarliness of it, with footnotes lending it a sort of verisimilitude, as if I were reading a history as well as a novel. The tale never seemed to lag throughout the entire 1006 pages. Indeed, I found it difficult to get anything else done while I was reading the book. Carve out some real time for this one.

Greatest disappointments:

Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker -- whatever was Barker thinking? This is a book in which the most interesting thing is literally the paper on which it is printed, which is prematurely aged to give the book a look of antiquity. I'm glad I borrowed this one from the library instead of buying it.

Lady Friday by Garth Nix -- it feels as if Nix has lost his way with this series. Perhaps if I'd reread everything from Monday on, I could have made sense of it, but standing alone, this was difficult to make heads or tails of.

The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose -- this was a disappointment only in comparison to Rose's wonderful sex therapist series of mysteries. It didn't have a narrative oomph that I've come to expect from her. Which doesn't mean I won't read her next book, because I know she's got what it takes!

Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay -- another book that falls into this category only because I have such high expectations for this writer. I think his decision to set his book in the read world in the modern day didn't quite work; I've come to expect fantastic worlds with complex plots and characters, and Ysabel just didn't deliver.

Blue Arabesque: A Search for the Sublime by Patricia Hampl -- I was expecting something that was itself sublime, and the book didn't deliver. While there are some passages that were eye-opening, this didn't have the punch of books like Alexander Theroux's Primary Colors, which was what I'd been hoping for.