Portfolio publisher Adrian Zackheim posted a year in review from that house’s perspective on Monday that stands out as a beacon of hope amidst all the publishing gloom of late. (As you all probably know, Portfolio is the publisher of The 100 Best.) Adrian sums up 2008 as follows:

Despite reduced store traffic through the year, Portfolio reported topline sales growth of 22% and gross margin growth of more than 50%. Nearly half of our new titles achieved margin target in the year of publication. We placed two books on the printed New York Times bestseller list, and several more on the extended Times list, the Wall Street Journal list, the BusinessWeek list, and other bestseller compilations.

I’m going to simply list the books Mr. Zackheim referenced among the highlights of last year, just to give you a sampling of Portfolio’s outstanding 2008 catalog.

Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You With the Bill) by David Cay Johnston

The Go-Giver: A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg and John David Mann

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam

The Ten Commandments for Business Failure by Donald Keough

The World is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy by David M. Smick

It’s Not About the Coffee: Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks by Howard Behar with Janet Goldstein

Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition by Guy Kawasaki

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin

Inside Steve’s Brain by Leander Kahney

Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin,

Billion Dollar Lessons: What You Can Learn from the Most Inexcusable Business Failures of the Last 25 Years by Paul B. Carroll and Chunka Mui

If you’d like to know more about Portfolio’s 2008 and what makes these titles such highlights, head on over to Adrian Zackheim’s original post.
We can only hope that The 100 Best helps make 2009 a repeat performance.