This must be the best weekend of the year — a time in which a book is getting as much media coverage as "American Idol" or Paris Hilton.

I love it when that happens.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" dominates the news this midsummer weekend. Traditionally, this has been a time when I shared with readers my favorite books of the past year. No column I write generates more response than this annual list.

The problem is that, due to the timing of this column, I wrote a favorite books column last winter, and I just have not read that many new books since.

Quickly, my list for the past seven months includes (in order of recommendation):

"East of Eden," by John Steinbeck.

"The Devil in the White City," by Erik Larson.

"Beloved," by Toni Morrison.

"The Road," by Cormac McCarthy.

"Ines of My Soul," by Isabel Allende.

"His Excellency: George Washington," by Joseph J. Ellis.

"The Audacity of Hope," by Sen. Barack Obama.

So, instead, I thought I would list my favorite books and ask you to do the same. Let's do this like a David Letterman working from No. 14 to No. 1.

14. "Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith," by Jon Krakauer. He focuses on religious fanatics in the Mormon faith, but describes how this zealotry causes worldwide pain.

13. "The Soul of a New Machine," by Tracy Kidder. Although this book won a Pulitzer Prize, I am not sure it would make many lists. I love it because Kidder helped me understand technology in its earliest stages. At its basic level, this book is about the team that developed the 32-byte microprocessor (ancient technology these days). But in a more important way, he told the story of the people who make the computers that have changed our world dramatically.

12. "Angela's Ashes," by Frank McCourt. Perhaps the best opening page I ever have read. And the tale of his Irish childhood gets better from there.

11. "I Am Charlotte Simmons," by Tom Wolfe. Warning: It's off-color, and if you are squeamish about behavior by college-age students, stay away. But Wolfe is the best modern writer we have in America.

10. "The Lovely Bones," by Alice Sebold. Once you get through a gruesome first chapter, this is an utterly imaginative and suspenseful book. The narration is authentic, and there is a scene so well-written that I often return to the book just to read it again.

9. "Ghost Soldiers," by Hampton Sides. I know that this would not make many lists, but I was captured by this story of the rescue of prisoners who survived the Bataan Death March.

8. "The Catcher in the Rye," by J.D. Salinger; and 7. "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee. "Coming of age" books are so difficult to write with realism, but these two are the best. Besides, they are about the only two books on every student's required reading lists that we all liked. But read them again as an adult for a richer experience.

6. "Conspiracy of Fools," by Kurt Eichenwald. If a great fiction writer wrote the modern story of American corporate greed, it would be this book. But Enron was not fiction, and this is an important book describing the events that led to important changes in the way American business is operated.

5. "The World Is Flat," by Thomas Friedman. He is a clear-headed thinker who does not follow ideology. I have referred to this book more often than any other in my day-to-day business life and even ordinary conversation.

4. "On The Road," by Jack Kerouac. Yes, I am embarrassed to admit I did not read it a few years ago. What was I thinking? He defined a generation and created a literary style. An unforgettable book.

3. "Ulysses," by James Joyce. In my experience, no author understands the human psyche and sexuality as well as Joyce. You'll need a guide or a translator to understand portions of this book, but the tour of June 16, 1904, in Dublin is rich and lasting. (And if you want my favorite short story, that list would begin with Joyce's "The Dead" from "Dubliners.")

2. "East of Eden," by John Steinbeck. The book is sensual, biblical and utterly compelling. I did not read it until earlier this year, proclaimed it a favorite, and a dear friend rewarded me with a first-edition copy for my birthday last month. She is so getting a Christmas card.

1. "The Great Gatsby," by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I read it as a high school sophomore and even then I was struck by the polish applied to each sentence. Of course, the story defines America in its time better than anything before or since.

I am leaving out so many classics: "Brave New World," "Animal Farm" and "A Christmas Carol," just to name a few, but what's life without a little controversy?

At least it's better than another Lindsay Lohan story.

— Tim Gallagher is publisher of The Star and invites you to e-mail your favorite books list to him at tgallagher@VenturaCountyStar.com.