NFL Picks - Week 16

Miami vs. Tennessee:
Miami

New Orleans vs. Detroit:
New Orleans

Tampa Bay vs. Atlanta:
Atlanta

Cincinnati vs. Buffalo:
Cincinnati

Washington vs. New York Giants:
New York Giants

Pittsburgh vs. Cleveland:
Pittsburgh

Carolina vs. Dallas:
Carolina

Jacksonville vs. Houston:
Jacksonville

Kansas City vs. San Diego:
Kansas City

St. Louis vs. San Francisco:
St. Louis

Arizona vs. Philadelphia:
Arizona

Seattle vs. Indianapolis:
Seattle

Denver vs. Oakland:
Denver

Chicago vs. Green Bay:
Chicago

Baltimore vs. Minnesota:
Minnesota

New England vs. New York Jets:
New England

NFL Picks - Week 15

New England vs. Tampa Bay:
New England

New York Giants vs. Kansas City:
New York Giants

Denver vs. Buffalo:
Denver

Jacksonville vs. San Francisco:
Jacksonville

Arizona vs. Houston:
Arizona

Seattle vs. Tennessee:
Seattle

Indianapolis vs. San Diego:
Indianapolis

St. Louis vs. Philadelphia:
St. Louis

Miami vs. New York Jets:
Miami

Pittsburgh vs. Minnesota:
Minnesota

Carolina vs. New Orleans:
Carolina

Cincinnati vs. Detroit:
Cincinnati

Oakland vs. Cleveland:
Cleveland

Washington vs. Dallas:
Dallas

Chicago vs. Atlanta:
Atlanta

Baltimore vs. Green Bay:
Baltimore

Best Fiction of 2005

Here are the updated "power rankings" for the best fiction books of the year. For those of you just joining the party, I update both the fiction list and the non-fiction list weekly to account for anyplace these books have been listed as a favorite. A book must have been listed at a minimum of two places/publications to be included.

1. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
2. (tie) The March - E.L. Doctorow
2. (tie) Saturday - Ian McEwan
4. On Beauty - Zadie Smith
5. Shalimar the Clown - Salman Rushdie
6. (tie) The Sea - John Banville
6. (tie) Veronica - Mary Gaitskill
8. (tie) Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
8. (tie) The Painted Drum - Louise Erdich
10. Lunar Park - Bret Easton Ellis
11. (tie) Beyond Black - Hilary Mantel
11. (tie) Europe Central - William T. Vollman
11. (tie) A History of Love - Nicole Krauss
11. (tie) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safron Foer
11. (tie) A Long, Long Way - Sebastian Barry
11. (tie) A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby
17. (tie) The Accidental - Ali Smith
17. (tie) Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
17. (tie) Arthur and George - Julian Barnes
17. (tie) The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly
17. (tie) March - Geraldine Brooks
17. (tie) No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
17. (tie) Prep - Curtis Sittenfeld
17. (tie) A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian - Marina Lewycka
17. (tie) Trance - Christopher Sorrentino
26. (tie) All for Love - Dan Jacobson
26. (tie) Black Hole - Charles Burns
26. (tie) A Changed Man - Francine Prose
26. (tie) The Closers - Michael Connolly
26. (tie) Dancing in the Dark - Caryl Phillips
26. (tie) Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland
26. (tie) Envy - Kathryn Harrison
26. (tie) The Ha Ha - Dave King
26. (tie) The Harmony Silk Factory - Tash Aw
26. (tie) The Hot Kid - Elmore Leonard
26. (tie) The Hummingbird's Daughter - Luis Alberto Urrea
26. (tie) Ice Haven - Daniel Clowes
26. (tie) Maps for Lost Lovers - Nadeem Aslam
26. (tie) Memories of My Melancholy Whores - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
26. (tie) The People's Act of Love - James Meek
26. (tie) Slow Man - J.M. Coetzee
26. (tie) Specimen Days - Michael Cunningham
26. (tie) The Testing of Luther Albright - MacKenzie Bezos
26. (tie) The Widow of the South - Robert Hicks
26. (tie) The Wonder Spot - Melissa Bank
26. (tie) Zorro - Isabel Allende

Best Non-Fiction of 2005

Here are the updated "power rankings" for the best non-fiction books of the year. For those of you just joining the party, I update both the fiction list and the non-fiction list weekly to account for anyplace these books have been listed as a favorite. A book must have been listed at a minimum of two places to be included.

1. The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion
2. Bury the Chains - Adam Hochschild
3. (tie) 1776 - David McCullogh
3. (tie) The Assassin's Gate - George Packer
3. (tie) Matisse the Master - Hilary Spurling
4. (tie) Collapse - Jared Diamond
4. (tie) A Great Improvisation - Stacy Schiff
4. (tie) Mao: The Unknown Story - John Halliday
4. (tie) The Tender Bar - J.R. Moehringer
5. (tie) American Prometheus - Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherman
5. (tie) The Beatles: A Biography - Bob Spitz
5. (tie) Becoming Justice Blackmun - Linda Greenhouse
5. (tie) Big Bang - Simon Singh
5. (tie) Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
5. (tie) Defining the World: The Extraordinary Story of Dr. Johnson's Dictionary - Henry Hitchings
5. (tie) The Disappointment Artist - Jonathan Lethem
5. (tie) Epileptic - David B.
5. (tie) Freakonomics - Steven D. Levitt
5. (tie) Girl Sleuth - Melanie Rehak
5. (tie) I Didn't Do It for You - Michela Wrong
5. (tie) The Lady and the Panda - Vicki Constantine Croke
5. (tie) Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War - Anthony Shadid
5. (tie) Teacher Man - Frank McCourt
5. (tie) Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel - Jane Smiley
5. (tie) Two Lives - Vikram Seth
5. (tie) The World Is Flat - Thomas Friedman

NFL Picks: Week 14

New England vs. Buffalo:
Buffalo

Pittsburgh vs. Chicago:
Pittsburgh

Cincinnati vs. Cleveland:
Cincinnati

Carolina vs. Tampa Bay:
Carolina

Indianapolis vs. Jacksonville:
Indianapolis

Tennessee vs. Houston:
Tennessee

Minnesota vs. St. Louis
Minnesota

Oakland vs. New York Jets:
Oakland

Seattle vs. San Francisco:
Seattle

New York Giants vs. Philadelphia:
New York Giants

Washington vs. Arizona:
Arizona

San Diego vs. Miami:
San Diego

Dallas vs. Kansas City:
Dallas

Denver vs. Baltimore:
Denver

Green Bay vs. Detroit:
Green Bay

Atlanta vs. New Orleans:
Atlanta

Best Fiction of 2005 - updated for Friday, December 9th

I continue my accumulation of the best books of 2005 as rated by various published lists, from the LA Times to Amazon.com to the New York Times.

1. (tie) The March - E.L Doctorow
1. (tie) On Beauty - Zadie Smith
1. (tie) Saturday - Ian McEwan
2. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
3. The Sea - John Banville
4. (tie) The Painted Drum - Louise Erdich
4. (tie) Shalimar the Clown - Salman Rushdie
4. (tie) Veronica - Mary Gaitskill
5. (tie) Europe Central - William T. Vollman
5. (tie) Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
6. (tie) Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
6. (tie) Beyond Black - Hilary Mantel
6. (tie) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
6. (tie) The History of Love - Nicole Krauss
6. (tie) A Long, Long Way - Sebastian Barry
6. (tie) A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby
6. (tie) No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
6. (tie) Trance - Christopher Sorrentino
7. (tie) The Accidental - Ali Smith
7. (tie) All for Love - Dan Jacobson
7. (tie) Arthur & George - Julian Barnes
7. (tie) Dancing in the Dark - Caryl Phillips
7. (tie) Envy - Kathryn Harrison
7. (tie) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safron Foer
7. (tie) The Harmony Silk Factory - Tash Aw
7. (tie) The Hot Kid - Elmore Leonard
7. (tie) Ice Haven - Daniel Clowes
7. (tie) The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly
7. (tie) Lunar Park - Bret Easton Ellis
7. (tie) Maps for Lost Lovers - Nadeem Aslam
7. (tie) March - Geraldine Brooks
7. (tie) Prep - Curtis Sittenfeld
7. (tie) A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian - Marina Lewycka
7. (tie) Slow Man - J.M. Coetzee
7. (tie) The Testing of Luther Albright - MacKenzie Bezos

Best Non-Fiction of 2005

For those who haven't been playing along so far, I've been accumulating the totals of the various "best of" lists that are published this time of year to come up with a comprehensive group of the books considered best of 2005. I look at the fiction works on Friday, and Mondays are devoted to non-fiction.

1. The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion
2. Bury the Chains, by Adam Hochschild
3. (tie) 1776, by David McCullough
3. (tie) The Assassin's Gate, by George Packer
3. (tie) Matisse the Master, by Hilary Spurling
3. (tie) The Tender Bar, by J.R. Moehringer
4. (tie) American Prometheus, by Martin J. Sherman
4. (tie) The Beatles: A Biography, by Bob Spitz
4. (tie) Becoming Justice Blackmun, by Linda Greenhouse
4. (tie) Big Bang, by Simon Singh
4. (tie) Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell
4. (tie) Collapse, by Jared Diamond
4. (tie) The Disappointment Artist, by Jonathan Lethem
4. (tie) Epileptic, by David B.
4. (tie) Girl Sleuth, by Melanie Rehak
4. (tie) A Great Improvisation, by Stacy Schiff
4. (tie) The Lady and the Panda, by Vicki Constantine Croke
4. (tie) Mao: The Unknown Story, by Jung Chang and John Halliday
4. (tie) Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel, by Jane Smiley
4. (tie) The World Is Flat, by Thomas L. Friedman

NFL Picks: Week 13

Tampa Bay vs. New Orleans:
Kim - Tampa Bay
David - Tampa Bay

New York Giants vs. Dallas:
Kim - New York Giants
David - Dallas

Chicago vs. Green Bay:
Kim - Chicago
David - Chicago

Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati:
Kim - Cincinnati
David - Pittsburgh

Jacksonville vs. Cleveland:
Kim - Jacksonville
David - Jacksonville

Minnesota vs. Detroit:
Kim - Minnesota
David - Minnesota

Indianapolis vs. Tennessee:
Kim - Indianapolis
David - Indianapolis

Carolina vs. Atlanta:
Kim - Atlanta
David - Atlanta

Baltimore vs. Houston:
Kim - Baltimore
David - Baltimore

Miami vs. Buffalo:
Kim - Miami
David - Buffalo

Arizona vs. San Francisco:
Kim - San Francisco
David - Arizona

Washington vs. St. Louis:
Kim - St. Louis
David - Washington

New England vs. New York Jets:
Kim - New England
David - New England

Denver vs. Kansas City:
Kim - Kansas City
David - Kansas City

San Diego vs. Oakland:
Kim - San Diego
David - San Diego

Seattle vs. Philadelphia
Kim - Seattle
David - Philadelphia

Best Fiction of 2005 - Updated Friday, December 2nd

If you read this blog with any regularity, you'll see from a couple of posts below that I've started tracking the best books of 2005 according to the "best of" lists on which they appear. A book must appear at least twice in order to have any consideration here.

1. (tie) The March, by E.L. Doctorow
1. (tie) Saturday, by Ian McEwan
3. (tie) Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro
3. (tie) On Beauty, by Zadie Smith
3. (tie) Veronica, by Mary Gaitskill
6. (tie) Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami
6. (tie) The Sea, by John Banville
6. (tie) Shalimar the Clown, by Salman Rushdie
9. (tie) Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman
9. (tie) Beyond Black, by Hilary Mantel
9. (tie) Europe Central, by William T. Vollman
9. (tie) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling
9. (tie) The Painted Drum, by Louise Erdich
14. (tie) The Accidental, by Ali Smith
14. (tie) All for Love, by Dan Jacobson
14. (tie) Arthur and George, by Julian Barnes
14. (tie) Dancing in the Dark, by Caryl Phillips
14. (tie) Envy, by Kathryn Harrison
14. (tie) The Harmony Silk Factory, by Tash Aw
14. (tie) The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss
14. (tie) The Hot Kid, by Elmore Leonard
14. (tie) The Lincoln Lawyer, by Michael Connelly
14. (tie) A Long, Long Way, by Sebastian Barry
14. (tie) A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby
14. (tie) Lunar Park, by Bret Easton Ellis
14. (tie) Maps for Lost Lovers, by Nadeem Aslam
14. (tie) March, by Geraldine Brooks
14. (tie) No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy
14. (tie) Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld
14. (tie) A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian, by Marina Lewycka
14. (tie) Slow Man, by J.M. Coetzee
14. (tie) Trance, by Christopher Sorrentino