Stephen King's 'Best Books I Read This Year' list

Best-selling author Stephen King writes a column each week for Entertainment Weekly magazine, and in the latest issue, King gives us his list of “The Best Books I Read This Year.”

This list is a little different than your typical “best-of-the-year” list in that King’s list includes a six books that weren’t published in 2010 and one book that won’t come out until early 2011.

Here are the books that King put on his list:

1. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace: Published in February 1996, this 1,079-page book was named among Time Magazine’s 100 best English-language novels in 1923.

2. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen: Published in August, this 576-page book was Oprah’s first book club selection of 2010.

3. I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman: Published in August, this 384-page book is the18th novel by the Edgar-winning Lippman.

4. Savages by Don Winslow: Published in July, this 320-page book is the 14th novel by Winslow, who is best known for his 2005 novel, “The Power of the Dog.”

5. Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving: Published in October 2009, this 576-page book is the 16th book by Irving, who is best known for “The Cider House Rules.”

6. Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes: Originally published in 2009 and reissued in March 2010, this 600-page book was written over a period of 35 years by Marlantes, who’s a Yale grad, Rhodes Scholar and a decorated Marine.

7. Blood’s a Rover by James Ellroy: Published in September 2009, this 656-page book is the final volume of Ellroy’s Underworld USA Trilogy.

8. Swamplandia! By Karen Russell: This 336-page book won’t be released until Feb. 1, 2011.

9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett: Released in February 2009, this book was Stockett’s debut novel.

10. City of Thieves by David Benioff: Published in 2008, this 272-page book is the second novel by Benioff, who wrote the screenplays for the movies, “X-Men” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.”

In the end, how many of you have had a chance to read any of these books? What did you think about them? Which would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.