Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind

And yet more lists

Because of the sheer number of them, I've created a new category. Why not, after all?

David Montgomery surveyed over 50 people in the crime fiction world--writers, reviewers, knowledgeable fans--to give their Top 5 books of the year. He also collects some interesting stats from the contributions:

Most-cited book: Scott Phillips' Cottonwood -- 7 picks
Second most-cited book (tie): Ken Bruen's The Guards and T. Jefferson Parker's California Girl -- 6 picks each
Most-cited author: Ken Bruen -- 11 picks
Second most-cited author: T. Jefferson Parker -- 7 picks
Third most-cited author: Lee Child -- 6 picks
Most-cited debut book: J.A. Konrath's Whiskey Sour -- 3 picks
Most-cited unreleased book (tie): Kent Harrington's Red Jungle and Ray Banks' The Big Blind -- 2 picks each
Most-cited non-crime fiction book: Pete Dexter's Train -- 3 picks
Book I most wish I could have included: Laura Lippman's Every Secret Thing -- I read it last year, thus it wasn't eligible.

My own list is included as well, but considering I change my mind about every six seconds when it comes to this topic, take it for what it's worth.

Hooray for the weekend update

It's all about the "Best of" Lists this week, most of which, btw, can be found at this incredibly handy link. But for those who want to scour the papers like I do, let's go:

NYTBR: Want the 100 Notables list? Look right here. In full-length reviews, Sarah Vowell digs the Godfather sequel, Daniel Mendelsohn writes an insanely long treatment of Truman Capote, Jacqueline Carey jumps on the CASE HISTORIES bandwagon, and Laura Miller explains why book recommendations often lead to anxiety attacks.