Since 1922, a division of the American Library Association awards the Newberry Medal each year to the top American literature for children. The 2008 winner and honor books were announced earlier this month. They are... drum roll, please...

Winner
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

Honor Books
Elijah Of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmid

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

New York Magazine came up with a novel, so to speak, idea: Ask a bunch of critics to share their favorite underrated book of the past decade. Check out the entire list here. Below are a few of the intriguing titles:

Experience by Martin Amis

Desertion by Abdulrazak Gurnah

The Tender Land: A Family Love Story by Kathleen Finneran

The Fall of a Sparrow by Robert Hellenga

A couple of weeks ago we listed lists of the Best Books of 2007. Today we offer lists of the 100 best fiction and nonfiction books ever. At least according to the Modern Library. Here are their lists (and a competing one). And here are a few of your humble editor's favorite books from said lists:

A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Wilson

The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm

Here are more terrific books by Allan Metcalf, the professor and linguist we interview in this week's Behind the Dictionary feature. Please check them out:

America in So Many Words: Words That Have Shaped America

The World in So Many Words: A Country-by-Country Tour of Words That Have Shaped Our Language

How We Talk: American Regional English Today

Presidential Voices: Speaking Styles from George Washington to George W. Bush

Ah, December: Family gatherings, the company holiday party, Santa slipping down your chimney -- and the annual bevy of "Best Books" lists. Here are a few of our favorites:

New York Times' The 10 Best Books of 2007

Washington Post's Book World Holiday Issue

Boston Herald's Best Fiction and Nonfiction Books of 2007

Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year

School Library Journal's Best Books of 2007

We occasionally ask writers about books they've read that have inspired and informed their own work. This week, we contacted novelist Katharine Weber, author most recently of the award-winning Triangle. She graciously sent us these picks:

Krazy & Ignatz: The Kat Who Walked in Beauty by George Herriman. "The early years of Krazy and Ignatz and their complex relationship as shown in the first daily strips, in the years before Offissa Pup arrived to enforce the law. Think of Krazy as Ego, Ignatz as Id, and Offissa Pup as the Super Ego -- or just enjoy this incredibly beautiful volume as an introduction to the fantastically intriguing world of Krazy Kat."

Professor James Engell, who we interview in this week's "Word Count" feature, recommends these books on rhetoric and oration:

The Art of Public Speaking By Stephen Lucas

Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student by Edward P. J. Corbett

Analyzing Prose by Richard A. Lanham

Lincoln, Douglas, and Slavery: In the Crucible of Public Debate by David Zarefsky

Norms of Rhetorical Culture by Thomas B. Farrell ("Not for the absolute beginner but tremendously rewarding.")