Barnes & Noble.com Announces the Best of 2008

Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), the online destination for Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), the world's largest bookseller, has posted its "Best of 2008” pages (www.bn.com/bestof/), featuring books, DVDs and CDs in 28 categories. Celebrating the end of a busy year, the lists compiled by Barnes & Noble.com’s expert editors, recap the greatest offerings in entertainment this year, and will inspire visitors well into 2009.

The lists feature such favorite picks as America America by Ethan Canin and The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie among "Favorite Haunting Historicals,” The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti and A Most Wanted Man by John le Carré in "Best Stories on the Edge,” The Way We Work by David Macaulay and Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox among "Best for Kids & Teens,” How the West Was Won and The Day the Earth Stood Still in "Best Classic Movie Releases, ” Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith as the top choice in "Best Fiction Debuts” and The Forever War by Dexter Filkins as number one in "Best History.”

The Best of 2008 collection also features, for the first time, EssentiaLists^® submitted by the My B&N community of readers. My B&N provides a virtual space for customers to manage their collections and share their preferences with other readers. The Best of 2008 EssentiaLists offer a fascinating look at the year’s best reading, listening and viewing through the eyes of individual readers. Some of the most shared lists of 2008 include: paulgoatallen’s "Top Paranormal Fantasy Releases of 2008,” lilacbouquet’s "Best of 2008,” Melanie_Murray’s "Best Romances I Read This Year,” and blackjack4742’s "Best Music of 2008 So Far.”

Additionally, Barnes & Noble Studio (www.bn.com/studio), the website’s multimedia destination for author interviews, videos and more, is celebrating 2008 with three special countdown episodes of Barnes & Noble Tagged! (www.bn.com/tagged), the weekly video series about what’s happening in the world of books. The special episodes include the "Top 10 Last-Minute Holiday Gift Ideas,” "The Year in Tagged!,” and host Molly Pesce’s "Top 10 Tags of 2008.”

The Barnes & Noble Review (www.bn.com/review) looks back on the year in a three-part conversation between six critics, "The Year in Reading: A Conversation.” Review editor-in-chief James Mustich also invited contributors – including Edward Champion, Emily Chenoweth, Paul Di Filippo, Ezra Klein, Christopher Hayes and Scott McLemee, among many others – to discuss the year’s Best Fiction and Nonfiction books. In the fiction category, selections include: the bestselling science fiction novel Anathem by Neal Stephenson, Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stout, and multiple votes for Netherland by Joseph O'Neill, among others. In the nonfiction category, selections include How Fiction Works by James Wood and Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency by Barton Gellman, among others.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 799 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble is also the nation’s top bookseller in quality, and for the fifth year in a row, the top bookseller brand, as determined by a combination of the brand’s performance on familiarity, quality, and purchase intent, according to the EquiTrend® Brand Study by Harris Interactive®. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company’s corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.