Top Five Fiction Books of the Year

A very difficult choice to make to keep it to just five, but limited it to fiction to make it slightly easier.

In order read, rather than preference because that would be way too hard

Fup by Jim Dodge
A fable simply told about an old man, his life-giving whisky, his grandson and their enormous duck! Beyond that it is hard to describe. It won't take more than a couple of hours to read, which is good because I'll definitely want to read it again and again.

Naive, Super by Erlend Loe
This was a recommendation from Amazon, based on other books I'd bought and viewed. It turned out to be a great suggestion. I loved it. It is about a 25 year old who doesn't know what to do with his life and is looking to feel connected with the world. The main character is not a cynic as is usually the case in these types of books, but lovely if a little odd.

Three to See the King by Magnus Mills
I just discovered Magnus Mills this year and of his four novels I read, this was my favourite. A strange but brilliant little book. A man lives a simple but happy life in a house of tin, until a woman unexpectedly comes to stay and his distant neighbours start to start about a wonderful man called Michael. It is a parable about religion, society and desires, but it is also very funny.

Light of Day by Graham Swift
Playing with the conventions of the detective story, we find out almost immediately who committed the crime, and the rest of the book is about piecing together the events that led up to it. It is all seen from the point of view of a detective, who has fallen in love with the murderer. That summary doesn't really do it justice. It is about relationships, secrets and love - all big themes, but it is beautifully written and griping.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
I was immediately drawn in by the narrator, intrigued with the impending sense that something wasn't quite right in her world. I loved the way the situation was slowly unfolded through memories from the past, and the big revelations just slipped in. The skewed version of England is like science fiction, but this surpasses most books in that genre by having totally believable characters and in particular the portrayal of school day friendships is so accurate. There were certain parts of the book that were very moving, towards the end but also little touches throughout that nearly brough me to tears. This is a book I'll want to read again.

All of my top five books are a bit odd. The first three are very short and the latter two aren't particularly long. I like short, quirky books and 2008 was a great year for them.