dead trees stuck together

ok, so as much as i hate to admit it, looking over the books i've read the last year or so there is a lot of fluff and chaff, woodworking or technical. most of them were good, lot's of them were kids books or old classics, but not much that i'd consider life changing, or with serious staying power. so... i've opted not to list the Terry Pratchett, Clive Cussler, Ian Rankin, etc....

here is a list of the books i've read over the last year or so, and found memorable.....

general fiction:

• Wicked - Gregory Maguire ('Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister' was good as well).
• What Dreams May Come - Richard Matheson
• The Rule of Four - Ian Caldwell/Dustin Thomason
• The Alchemist - Paulo Coello
  

skiffy / cyberpunk

• Pattern Recognition - William Gibson
• The Diamond Age: or, A Young Ladies Illustrated Primer - Neal Stephenson
• Islands in The Net - Bruce Sterling
• Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A Henlein
  

fun:

• Lord Vishnu's Love Handles: A Spy Novel (Sort Of) - Will Clarke
• Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
• Half Asleep In Frog Pajamas - Tom Robbins

non-fiction:

• McCulloch's Wonder: The Story of the Kettle Valley Railway - Barrie Sanford
• Samuri William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan - Giles Milton
• A Mapmaker's Dream: The Meditations of Fra Mauro, Cartographer to the Court of Venice - James Cowan

all time favourite:

• Illusions - Richard Bach
• The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
• Winter's Tale - Mark Helprin
• The Cunning Man - Robertson Davies
• murther and walking spirits - Robertson Davies
  
• Not Wanted on the Voyage - Timothy Findley
• Headhunter - Timothy Findley
  
• Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card (warning: this is the first book in an 8 book series)
• A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

(almost all of Timothy Findley and Robertson Davies work makes my list).