Cribbing from Josh's title in the "Music" thread, here's a thread for year-end "best book" lists.

Maureen Corrigan, on the top 5 crime and mystery books of the year.

The Washington Post lists the best books of 2008.

Jonathan Yardley names his favorites.

USA Today's book staff names its favorites of 2008.

John Wilson's top ten.

The Week compiles multiple published lists to come up with its own cumulative list (subscribers only):

We tabulated the end-of-year choices of critics for The Atlantic Monthly, The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, The Denver Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, New York, The New York Times, the Denver Rocky Mountain News, Salon.com, Time, The Village Voice, and The Washington Post.

Fiction

1. 2666
by Roberto Bolaño

2. Netherland
by Joseph O’Neill

3. Lush Life
by Richard Price

4. Unaccustomed Earth
by Jhumpa Lahiri

5. A Mercy
by Toni Morrison

Nonfiction

1. The Forever War
by Dexter Filkins

2. The World Is What It Is
by Patrick French

3. The Dark Side
by Jane Mayer

4. The Hemingses of Monticello
by Annette Gordon-Reed

5. The Suicide Index
by Joan Wickersham