QotD: Top 5 in '06 - Books

What are your top 5 books of 2006?

Since every unread book is a new book to me, I don't really care what year these were published in.  And, in no order:

Sweetness in the Belly: A Novel

• Sweetness In the Belly - Camilla Gibb
  Orphaned in Africa by her wandering parents, white, British-born Lilly is raised Muslim in a Moroccan shrine. As a teen, she makes a pilgrimage to Ethopia, where most of the story takes place. Told in flashbacks from London, where Lilly moved after being forced to leave Africa, the times of drought, famine and political unrest are beautifully illustrated and we not only see the story of the destruction of a country through the eyes of a foreigner, but also the turmoil of love and desire for the unattainable.
  
  
  
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  The Last of Her Kind: A Novel
  The Last of Her Kind - Sigrid Nunez
  The story of 2 unexpected friends from opposite worlds and their lives together.  Heartbreaking in places, funny in others.  A great book club book
  
  
  
  
  

  In the Company of the Courtesan: A Novel
• In the Company of the Courtesan - Sarah Dunant
  The lives of Fiammetta Bianchini and Bucino Teodoldo as they recreate their lives as a courtesan and her dwarf in 1527 Venice.  Beautifully described, the city becomes another character in the story and it's as much a story of Venice as it is Fiammetta and Bucino.
  
  

  Skinny Dip (Hiaasen, Carl)

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• And fun, no brainer reads by Carl Hiaasen. All are good, but Native Tongue and Skinny Dip are my favorites.
  
  

  Native Tongue