Granta Magazine's Best 100 Books of 2008

(Image courtesy of Granta magazine

Granta magazine, the self-proclaimed "magazine of New Writing" which is published out of London, has released its Best 100 Books list of 2008, and The Literary Hammer took notice.

While some of Granta's picks are standard issue, there are several others which may surprise you. I have to admit that I have been a regular subscriber to Granta for more than 10 years now -- ever since I was turned onto it in graduate school by one of my college professors. The magazine was part of the course syllabus back then -- definitely "required reading" -- but this literary quarterly is still required reading if quality literature is something which is important to you. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed my subscription ever since. I look forward to receiving each issue; I have never been disappointed with any issue I have received, and it's definitely a bargain to subscribe rather than simply buying it off the shelf.

Although the writing offered up in its pages is of an extremely high quality, it is the variety of writers and writing style which keeps me coming back. Most of Granta's contributors will be well-known only to readers who make a habit of keeping current with contemporary world literature. The variety of tone, style, topics, and writing voice is unique to every issue. In fact, I've sometimes heard people use that against Granta, but you won't get any of that here at TLH. Our advice? INVEST!...you won't be sorry!

Below is the link to Granta magazine and to their Best 100 list, although I plan to keep a permanent link on this site because of the great respect I have for the product that they put out. It is truly an OUTSTANDING Literary Quarterly!

http://www.granta.com/Online-Only/Books-of-the-Year

I hope you'll check it out and share with us your thoughts and views on the Best 100.

Let us know which books you have you read, and which books you enjoyed. Share with us the names of the books you recommend, and tell us a little bit about why you recommend them. Finally, tell us if there are any books on the list which have disappointed you, and whether or not you're familiar with Granta magazine. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome, and we'll be interested to hear your response.

Finally, I will be offering a few of my own reviews in the days and weeks ahead, as I hope to use some of the upcoming holiday time to whittle down the old reading list!

Thanks again for contributing, and for visiting TLH.