Best of 2007, Take 2

Since we all did pretty badly on the Times 10 Best Books of 2007 list, I'm hoping the
100 Notable Books list will make us all feel better.

At least here I've read a few (The Abstinence Teacher, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Yiddish Policeman's Union) and heard a few authors read excerpts (Richard Russo, Ian McEwan, Michael Chabon).

And if this still seems like a pathetic familiarity with the latest and greatest on the literary scene, I comfort myself with the justification that I like to wait for books to come out in paperback (for easier subway reading) and that most these books will be just as wonderful whenever the hell I get to them. The few exceptions are those so mired in the times that they need to be read within our current world context. And if they're that time sensitive, they certainly won't become part of the canon. And, therefore, no one will remember them in a few years, and I won't forever be embarrassed for not having read them.