The best of the year list is a noble tradition that I can never pass up. At this point there are dozens of 2006 books I should read, but have not yet had time for. As always I will be trying to catch up with 2006 for years to come. Fortunately, I never will catch up with 2006 or any other year for that matter. Nevertheless, ‘tis the season for the lists, so here are my favorite books of the year, so far… Those who have looked at this blog already should not be surprised by my number one choice.

1. Outlaws of America: Dan Berger (AK Press)
2. Waiting ‘Til The Midnight Hour: Peniel E. Joseph (Henry Holt)
3. The Black Power Movement: Rethinking the Civil Rights – Black Power Era: Peniel E. Joseph, ed. (Routledge)
4. The God Delusion: Richard Dawkins (Houghton)
5. Last of the Red Hot Poppas: Jason Berry (Chin Music)
6. Empire Workshop: Latin America, the United States and the Rise of the New Imperialism: Greg Grandin (Metropolitan)
7. The Heebie – Jeebies At CBGB’s: A Secret History of Jewish Punk: Steven Lee Beeber (Chicago Review Press)
8. Unembedded: Four Independent Photojournalists on the War in Iraq: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad; Kael Alford; Thorne Anderson; Rita Leistner (Chelsea Green)
9. An Incomplete History of the Art of Funerary Violin: Rohan Kriwaczek (Overlook)
10. Sing A Battle Song: Revolutionary Poetry, Statements, and Communiques of the Weather Underground: Bernardine Dohrn; Bill Ayers; Jeff Jones, ed. (7 Stories)