I read a few dozen books during 2008, and of those, the following eleven were my favorites.

Fiction

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Memoir

Madam Secretary: A Memoir by Madeleine Albright
Tell Them I Didn't Cry: A Young Journalist's Story of Joy, Loss, and Survival in Iraq by Jackie Spinner
My Life in France by Julia Child
Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl

Other Non-fiction

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness and the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade by Pietra Rivoli