As the end of the year approaches, I'm going out on a limb and ranking the best books I've read in 2003. The list includes three biographies, five novels, one on contemporary history and one that is a scientific treatise. It is, of course, my own personal top 10, a mix of fiction and nonfiction:

1. "THE PHOTOGRAPH," by Penelope Lively, Viking, 231 pages, $24.95. This is my favorite novel — and book — of the year, an arresting, compelling account of the complexity of life arising from a simple snapshot. Glyn Peters, a 62-year-old college professor, chances on an old photo of his deceased wife, Kath, who is caught holding hands with Nick, Glyn's feckless brother-in-law. He surmises they were in love. The photo becomes an obsession he must research, leading him to everyone who might be able to explain it.

2. "A TRUMPET IN THE WADI," Sami Michael, translated from Hebrew by Yael Lotan, Simon & Schuster, 244 pages, $24. Set in the Arab quarter of the northern Israeli city of Haifa, this is a heart-rending novel about love and family. The focus is on Alex, a Russian Jewish immigrant, who plays the trumpet in his apartment, which is not far from Huda, a young Arab woman who is sickly and thin. She falls for Alex, which presents a problem because the culture will not accept an Arab woman marrying a Jewish man, even though the reverse is acceptable.

3. "FRANKLIN AND WINSTON: AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT OF AN EPIC FRIENDSHIP," Jon Meacham, Random House, 490 pages, $29.95. Meacham writes a compelling biography, reminiscent of the talent shown by David McCullough (the author of brilliant biographies on Harry Truman and John Adams). Meacham focuses here on the personal relationship between Franklin D. Roosevelt, American president during World War II, and Winston Churchill, British prime minister. Although both leaders were charismatic powerhouses, Churchill comes off as the most appealing human being.

4. "OLD SCHOOL," Tobias Wolff, Alfred Knopf, 195 pages, $22. This superb novel set in the 1960s focuses on a senior at an elite East Coast male boarding school. Because of his aspirations to become a writer, he is excited to take part in a writing contest, the winner of which is invited to meet a celebrity writer for a private discussion. This year, Robert Frost, Ayn Rand and Ernest Hemingway have each accepted invitations to visit the school. As a result, the author, a brilliant and talented writer, must climb into the skin of each of these writers and portray them.