One of the best things about this time of the year is that book bloggers all over are compiling their "best of" lists. I enjoy these lists so much more than those put out by media folks. I have nothing against the media people but recommendations from my peers always mean so much more to me. I think one of the things I love most about these lists is that they just aren't about books that were published in the past year, but are books that they've discovered over the year. Are you ready to do some damage to your To Be Read list? Read on!

Literary Escapism finished off a bit of work that Dewey started, the Book Bloggers top books of 2008. Books were nominated and voted on resulting in some fantastic lists. There's a little something for everything there so if you're looking for suggestions you simply must head over and check it out.

LitLove broke her favourites down into categories, such as "Best Book I Liked That No One Else Seemed To," which is Chesil Beach in case you were wondering.

Box of Books has the best "best of" post title - "What I read, reread, forgot, enjoyed, hated and adored in 2008." Her book of the year is Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle, which she said was"not a perfect novel, but holy goodness it’s a good one - structured, elegant, engaging, layered."

At Random Jottings of a Book and Opera Lover Elaine took a second to talk about what her plans had been for 2008 reading.

At the start of 2008 I decided I was not going to embark on any plan, I abandoned all Challenges, tempting though they were, and made up my mind I was going to just wander around, pick up and read what I fancied and see what I found. That is what I did and I have thoroughly enjoyed this relaxed attitude.

That sounds pretty fantastic to me. Looking at her list she had a very enjoyable reading year.

I loved Sibylle's list at Training for a Heroine. It's easy to understand why when she says this:

2008 has been the best year of my life so far in terms of books. I've discovered so many favourite authors this year and if I had read new Jane Austen, Dodie Smith or Toni Morrison books in 2008, if I had discovered Atonement by Ian McEwan, Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf and The Hours by Michael Cunningham this year, I could have just given you this list and say "that's who I am", because these are the only six favourites missing from this list.

And I can't forget the YA crowd. At Teen Book Review Jocelyn listed her favourite fifteen books of 2008. It's a fantastic list and reminded me I have to add Jenny Davidson's The Explosionist to my library request list. This is just a bit of what Jocelyn had to say about it:

The complicated twists and turns of the plot are never overwhelmingly confusing, but just enough to keep your brain busy. I quite enjoyed all of the characters, who were refreshingly real and human. This is an unputdownable, read-it-in-one-sitting kind of book, a remarkable feat for one so long. And remarkable really does describe this novel!

The Story Siren also picked out her top fifteen of 2008. Tempting goodness.

Just reading all these lists makes me want to go raid my bookshelves and get reading so that I can squeeze in a few more books before making my "best of" list for 2008. What's making your list this year?

Contributing Editor Sassymonkey also blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.