Top Books of the Year - 2009

A lot of sites/papers have come out with their lists of the top books of the year. Here are a few of the ones I have seen:

• The New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2009 (and listen to the podcast here). There are 5 top non-fiction and 5 top fiction picks. (I'd like to read A Gate At The Stairs by Lorrie Moore).

• You can also browse The New York Times Book Review's 100 Notable Books of 2009. I was happy to see Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon (which I wrote about here), Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann (which I wrote about here), and Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead (which I wrote about here) on the list, and I was intrigued by the blurb about Penelope Lively's Family Album ("It’s the slow, inexorable way everyone comes to acknowledge the suppressed event at the heart of this domestic novel that makes it quietly devastating."). Maybe someday I will actually read some of these books.

• The Washington Post Book World Best of 2009. Here's their Top 10 List (A Gate at the Stairs again). You can also see their much longer Best of 2009 List here. I was very excited to see a few books that I have actually read on here: A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein (reviewed by me here) and This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper (reviewed here). From this list, I'd also like to read Valerie Martin's latest - The Confessions of Edward Day, The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter (which I wrote about here), and Glover's Mistake by Nick Laird.

• Flashlight Worthy Books' Best Books of 2009 as selected by readers. Noteworthy: Sag Harbor again and The Help by Kathryn Stockett, which I finally own, thanks to my husband who gave it to me for Hanukah! Hope to start it soon. And while you're there, check out the Best Book Club Selections of 2009 as chosen by "Great Book Bloggers", including me!

• Publisher's Weekly Top 10 Books of 2009 (again, Await Your Reply). And here is its Top 100 (again, Sag Harbor).

• Here's Amazon's Top 10 List, which is topped by Let The Great World Spin. And here's the Top 100 (lots of familiar titles on this list, including The Help and Andre Agassi's Open, which for some reason I want to read).

• And finally, my beloved Entertainment Weekly's The Best Fiction (sneaky EW won't post the whole list online - you have to have the print version), which includes The Help, Await Your Reply, Let the Great World Spin and This is Where I Leave You.

Whew. That was a lot of links!

So, EDIWTB readers, what are your picks for the best books of 2009? Please share them here.

Comments

[sherry (nite swimming)]

I read "A Gate at the Stairs" and really did not like it at all. Mystified that it's showing up on "best of" type lists.

Enjoyed "The Believers" by Zoe Heller and Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby.

[sherry (nite swimming)]

Nonfiction: Zeitoun & Methland.

[Michelle B.]

The Help is my favorite. Glad you got it - don't let it languish in your TBR pile!! :)

[mari partyka]

This is a tough year for me to pick just one favorite. At the top of my list are: Still Alice, The Blue Notebook, and Brooklyn:a novel.

I hope you enjoy The Help - I listened to this over the summer when someone gave me an audible gift. My book club is reading this spring 2010.

[Sarah]

The short story collection, "In Other Rooms, Other Wonders," by Daniyal Mueenuddin, gets my vote. I'm not usually a big fan of short stories, but this collection drew me in in a unique way. The writing is breathtaking. Like the rest of the fiction reading world, I thoroughly enjoyed "The Help," although I wouldn't consider it great literature. Thanks for a another year of wonderful posts, Gayle. Your blog is absolutely fabulous.

[Lisa]

I love to look at all of these lists. I start to figure that any book that shows up on three of more of the lists is an "absolutely must read this" book.

[Greg]

Also, EW's list seems to be right on the money, in my view. My favorite books of the year were a tie between This Is Where I Leave You and The Song Is you.

Want some more "best of..." links? ;)

Check this out: http://thenewdorkreviewofbooks.blogspot.com/2009/12/good-dose-of-listomania.html