Booking through nominations

1. What fiction book (or books) would you nominate to be the best new book published in 2007? (Older books that you read for the first time in 2007 don’t count.)
2. What non-fiction book (or books) would you nominate to be the best new book published in 2007? (Older books that you read for the first time in 2007 don’t count.)
3. And, do “best of” lists influence your reading?

Unless a book is well publicised, it takes a while to get a newly published book in India. Still I can name a few fictions.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini needs no description. I am in the midst of reading it and think, it is going to be as good as Kite Runner if not better. My vote goes for it.

The Gathering by Anne Enright: This book deals with death, love and self discovery. It takes on an adventure which is mostly internal.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: In this book, African history is captured with haunting intimacy. Adichie tells her gripping story through lives of Ugwu, a 13-year-old peasant houseboy who survives conscription into the raggedy Biafran army, and twin sisters Olanna and Kainene, who are from a wealthy and well-connected family.

In non-fiction, which is taking me forever to complete, I list the following:

The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth by Tim Flannery: In this stirring call to action, biologist Flannery provides an overview of the impact that global warming has on the environment and suggests possible solutions.

To answer that last question, "best" list does not influence me as much as the blog world. There are so many book lovers out there who recommend great books and one can get lost in challenges. That helps in my reading.