Inspired by Thomas Sowell's annual book column (in which he called Intellectual Morons "one of this year's best books"!), I decided to put together my own piece on the year in books. Unfortunately, a new job, this blog, and the promotion of my own book prevented me from reading even half the number of books that I read last year. What's more, of the twenty-seven books that I did manage to read in 2004, very few of them were published in 2004. So, my "best books of 2004" blog title is a bit of a misnomer. These are really the best books that I read in 2004.

Best "Current" Books That I Read in '04
3. In Denial by John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr
2. War Against the Weak by Edwin Black
1. Who Are We? by Samuel Huntington

Best "Old" Books That I Read in '04
3. Abraham Lincoln by Carl Sandburg
2. Passport to Utopia by Arthur and Lila Weinberg
1. The Americans: The Colonial Experience by Daniel Boorstin

Don't player hate. Player participate. What's the best book you read in 2004? Share it with the readers in the comments section below. And if you're so inclined, buy one of the books I listed through the Amazon links provided.

Best new book : The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene.
Best old book: Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban.

Current Books:
A Question of God- Dr. Armand M. Nicholi (2002)
American Soldier- Gen. Tommy Franks

"Old" Books:
Whittaker Chambers- Sam Tannenhaus (1997)
Screwtape Letters- C.S. Lewis
Sweet Soul Music - Peter Guralnick (1986)

New Book - Warrior Politics by Robert Kaplan.

Old Book - Screptape Letters by CS Lewis.

Biography - Patron Saint of the Conservatives by John B. Judis.

NEXT BOOK in 05'

The Evolution of Civilizations by Carroll Quigley.

Best New:

Buchanan, Patrick, Where the Right Went Wrong.

Best Old:

Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy.

2004
John Adams, David McCollogh
Fouding Brothers, Joseph Ellis
John Paul Jones, Evan Thomas
Jefferson's War: America's First War on Terror, Joseph Wheelan

2005
Fly Boys, James Bradley
Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley

There are some excellent books listed above. McCullough's John Adams was a top-three book for me in 2002, and Tannenhaus's Whittaker Chambers is a must-read biography, although understandably, Witness is still the first book to read regarding Whittaker Chambers. Early in 2004, I read Alger Hiss's Looking-Glass Wars by Edward White, which doesn't add a whole lot to what we know about the Hiss-Chambers affair but is still worth reading.