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People routinely say to me, not always in a complimentary way: "Of course you read everything." Almost never have I read even half of the books on the very selective annual list of the Times' Best Books. That was true this year as well. Of the five fiction and five nonfiction books on the list, I have read only three—Haruki Murakami's novel, Kafka on the Shore (Knopf); Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan's biography, De Kooning: An American Master (Knopf); and Joan Didion's memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking (Knopf)—and skimmed one—Tony Judt's Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 (Penguin Press). I've had a brief encounter with a couple of others on the list—for instance, I read the excerpt from Ian McEwan's novel Saturday (Doubleday) that appeared in The New Yorker. That was more than enough for me. The notion that this was one of best books of the year strikes me as silly—but many literary types disagree. Murakami is (in my judgment) a far more interesting writer than McEwan, but Kafka on the Shore is a mess of a book, artistically and morally.

But I'm beginning to sound like talk radio (my idea of hell), so enough for this week. One closing request: When I list my favorite books of the year (not necessarily the best books, but my favorites), I will also mention my favorite essay of the year. I'd love to hear from you in the next couple of weeks: what essay or article that you read in a magazine or webzine this year stands out above all the rest in your memory?

John Wilson is editor of Books & Culture.

Copyright © 2005 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

The books mentioned above are available from Christianbook.com, Amazon.com, and other book retailers.

Books & Culture Corner and Books & Culture's Book of the Week, from Christianity Today sister publication Books & Culture: A Christian Review (want a free trial issue?), appears regularly on Tuesdays at Christianity Today. Earlier editions include:

Taizé in the Fall | A parable of community. (Nov. 29, 2005)

'Have Mercy on Me, O God' | A report from AAR/SBL. (Nov. 22, 2005)

The Shrine Next Door | A superb study of Chinese popular religion helps to set the context for the appeal of Christianity in China today. (Nov. 8, 2005)

Dissecting Divorce | A new book by Elizabeth Marquardt offers a child's-eye-view of divorce. (Oct. 25, 2005)

Heavenly Real Estate | A geography of art in New York at the midpoint of the 20th century. (Oct. 18, 2005)

Narnia Etc. | A chronicle of reading. (Oct. 11, 2005)

How Wide the Divide? | A proposal for compromise between "value evangelicals" and "legal secularists" on church-state issues. (Sept. 13, 2005)

Poet with Three Heads Talks with King Solomon | Conversation touches on Hebrew parallelism, marriage, and the making of many books. (Aug. 30, 2005)

With God on Our Side | David McCullough's account of the pivotal year 1776 has resonance for Americans in 2005. (July 19, 2005)

The Rich Are Different—and Not So Different—from Us | Think you're burned out on memoirs? Read this book. (June 28, 2005)

A Grief Observed | Exploring the valley of the shadow in two literary lives. (June 13, 2005)

The Mind and Soul of Combat | Perhaps war really is hell. (June 07, 2005)

For book lovers, our 2005 CT book awards are available online, along with our book awards for 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1997, as well as our Books of the Twentieth Century. For other coverage or reviews, see our Books archive and the weekly Books & Culture Corner.

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December (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49