As we’re all busy getting ready for Christmas and talking about buying books for the holidays, I came across The Washington Post‘s Best Books of 2008 this past weekend. Well, my dad probably left it out in plain sight for me, to be honest. Like other year-end lists I’ve come across as of late, I haven’t read a single tome included in the guide — but I enjoyed checking out this year’s hits.

These books are complied from the Post‘s “most favorable reviews” of ’08. I’m including just the general fiction category, as this one is already long enough! As part of Book World’s holiday gift guide, though, tons of other genres are listed, too. Check out the original article for the complete list and snippets of staff reviews.

And here we go:

Alfred & Emily, by Doris Lessing

America America, by Ethan Canin

Beet, by Roger Rosenblatt

Beijing Coma, by Ma Jian, translated from the Chinese by Flora Drew

Breath by Tim Winton

A Case of Exploding Mangoes, by Mohammed Hanif

Diary of a Bad Year, by J.M. Coetzee

The Enchantress of Florence, by Salman Rushdie

Enlightenment, by Maureen Freely

Fanon, by John Edgar Wideman

A Father’s Law, by Richard Wright

The Flying Troutmans, by Miriam Toews

The German Bride, by Joanna Hershon

Goldengrove, by Francine Prose

The Good Thief, by Hannah Tinti

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

His Illegal Self, by Peter Carey

Home, by Marilynne Robinson

The House on Fortune Street, by Margot Livesey

Indignation, by Philip Roth

The Konkans, by Tony D’Souza

Life Class, by Pat Barker

Love Marriage, by V.V. Ganeshananthan

Lush Life, by Richard Price

Man in the Dark, by Paul Auster

The Northern Clemency, by Philip Hensher

Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout

The Pig Did It, by Joseph Caldwell

The Plague of Doves, by Louise Erdrich

Pravda, by Edward Docx

Serena, by Ron Rash

So Brave, Young, and Handsome, by Leif Enger

Someone Knows My Name, by Lawrence Hill

Songs for the Missing, by Stewart O’Nan

The Soul Thief, by Charles Baxter

The Story of a Marriage, by Andrew Sean

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski

Trauma, by Patrick McGrath

We Are Now Beginning Our Descent, by James Meek

What Can I Do When Everything’s On Fire?, by António Lobo Antunes, translated from the
Portuguese by Gregory Rabassa

When We Were Romans, by Matthew Kneale

Windy City: A Novel of Politics, by Scott Simon