It's almost Thanksgiving, which is the beginning of the end of another year, and for us at PW that means our annual best books list. From more than 50,000 volumes, we valiantly set out to choose 100, and this year we've upped the ante with a top 10 list. A usually cooperative, agreeable bunch, we gave ourselves a reason to fight. We wanted the list to reflect what we thought were the top 10 books of the year with no other consideration. We expect you'll be surprised: there's a graphic novel, an adventure story, possibly the next Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a delicious biography that could bring Cheever back into the literary firmament. We ignored gender and genre and who had the buzz. We gave fair chance to the "big" books of the year, but made them stand on their own two feet. It disturbed us when we were done that our list was all male. There was kicking and screaming for a science fiction title. A literary ghost story came so close, it squeaked. There was almost a cookbook. Our fabulous long list smoothed ruffled feathers, but still we can't resist one honorable mention: Kevin Wilson's debut collection, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (Harper Perennial). With no regrets, we're ready for "Auld Lang Syne."

Click the genre tabs above to see our picks in each genre, and click the years above for even more picks!