THE BOOKS THEY COULDN'T PUT DOWN

You don't have to be a novelist to love good writing. For our Christmas special, we asked a mix of public figures, Observer critics and people on the street to tell us which books thrilled them most this year

The Observer, Sunday November 30 2008

Rosie Boycott Chair of London Food

My choice is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Faber). I waited for 10 years after reading Junot Díaz's brilliant short story collection Drown, and his first novel exceeds all expectations. It is so very great that it almost defies description, with its unique use of words, history, emotion and suspense.

Richard CurtisFilm director

Now that Kurt Vonnegut has smoked his last cigarette, John le Carré is my favourite living author. A Most Wanted Man (Hodder & Stoughton) is full of classic le Carré delights - the plots that sneak up on you, the wonderful, compromised Englishmen, the richness of the writing, strangely allied to the feeling that he is just recording documentary fact. When I first started reading le Carré, his middle-aged British men reminded me of my schoolmasters and my father's friends - now they've turned into me.

Alistair DarlingChancellor of the Exchequer

The book I've enjoyed most this year is Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach (Vintage). It's a thoroughly evocative novel from one of the best writers of his generation. Reading it was a great escape from the Treasury.

Link here to The Observer online to read the full list of contributors and their choices.