This cover to The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, designed by David Pearson, is probably one of my favorite covers of all time. (Via The Second Pass)

The Best Fiction of the Millennium (So Far) →

The Millions asks 48 writers, editors, and critics to name their favorite works of fiction of the new millennium, so far. I’m a little impressed that I’ve managed to read five of them, without even trying at all:

20: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
19: American Genius, A Comedy by Lynne Tillman
18: Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link
17: The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
16: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
15: Varieties of Disturbance by Lydia Davis
14: Atonement by Ian McEwan
13: Mortals by Norman Rush
12: Twilight of the Superheroes by Deborah Eisenberg
11: The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
10: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
9: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro
8: Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
7: Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald
6: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
5: Pastoralia by George Saunders
4: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
3: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
2: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
1: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

The full list has descriptions of each, along with excerpts, links to audio books, and other materials where appropriate. I should note that Stranger Things Happen, number 18 on the list, is available as a free, CC-licensed download.

"If a better book than The Moviegoer has been written, I’ll cut off my little toe."

Ada Liana Bidiuc, as quoted in Oxford American’s Best Southern Novels of All Time.

The 10 Best Books of 2008 →

The NYT recommends five fiction and five nonfiction books published this year. The fiction books look particularly intriguing — and if I had the cash right now, I’d check them out.