This will take some thought...

Okay, here's what I came up with (from 1 to whatever ... and I had to cheat a little, but I couldn't help it ... books published, this year, were noted):

Dandelion Wine, Farewell Summer (2006) - Ray Bradbury
Empire Falls - Richard Russo
Fragile Things (2006) - Neil Gaiman
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffeneger
Catalyst (2006), Spirits That Walk In Shadow (2006) - Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Moonlight and Vines - Charles de Lint
His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende
First Light - Charles Baxter
Fortune's Daughter - Alice Hoffman
Crooked Little Heart - Anne Lamott
Perfect Circle - Sean Stewart
The Stolen Child (2006) - Keith Donohue

of the 35 books I read this year (the most books I've ever read in any year), my favorites in chronological order:

A Timbered Choir - Wendell Berry
About a Boy - Nick Hornby
The Sparrow / Children of God - Mary Doria Russell
A Doll House - Isben
Tickets for a Prayer Wheel - Annie Dillard
Gilead - Marilynn Robinson
Charming Billy - Alice McDermot
Waiting For Godot - Beckett
Girl Meets God - Lauren Winner
Through Painted Deserts - Donald Miller
Teachings on Love - Thich Nhat Hanh
The Body Artist - Don Delillo
Innocent When You Dream: The Tom Waits Reader
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - Dee Brown
Lord of the Flies - Golding
Chronicles - Bob Dylan
Slouching Toward Nirvana - Bukowski
Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community - Wendell Berry
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

jonathan safran foer: extremely loud, incredibly close


was by far my fave.