There were a few notable books this year. In fiction, some of the heavy hitters came out with new stuff.

Phillip Roth's Exit Ghost finished off his primary alter-ego Nathan Zuckerman. The book sent me back to Roth's introduction of Zuckerman in The Ghost Writer, written in 1979, for a interesting comparison of Roth's writing, then and now.

Ian McEwan released On Chesil Beach. Short and bittersweet, it was a good read that begged for more.

Falling Man was Don DeLillo's 911 novel. Much more conventional than I had expected, it would have been a great novel by a lesser writer but slightly disappointing coming from DeLillo.

I didn't get around to reading Denis Johnson's Tree of Smoke (nor have I read How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read) but I did want to note B. R. Myers' blistering review of Johnson's book. It's the attack review of the year, beating out even Christopher Hitchen's puritanical review of Roth.

In music, some favorites from 2007...

Fountains of Wayne's Traffic and Weather; well crafted, catchy and subtly ironic (I think) power pop. Radiohead's In Rainbows got me hooked on the band's past work and Philip Glass', Symphony No. 8 is also highly recommended, especially Movement III. And don't forget Los Lobos' The Town and the City or Annie Lennox' Songs of Mass Destruction, both great CDs.