Somewhere around this time of year, you start seeing a lot of “Best Books of 2009″ lists. Publisher’s Weekly did theirs back on November 2nd, exhaustively breaking down the list into a handful of categories. The New York Times came out with a Top 10 for 2009, with every genre sharing that short list. NPR helpfully posted a compilation of all their “best of 2009″ offerings, listing everything from “Best Books to Share With Your Friends” to “Picks to Warm a Winter’s Night”. And Salon asked a number of authors, including Judy Blume and Nick Hornby, what their favorite book the past year was. (Judy’s was Nicola Keegan’s “Swimming“, and Nick’s was Jess Walters’ The Financial Lives of the Poets.”) As we all know, I love lists — but I confess I found the grocery-list-style, just-list-a-bunch-of-books methods to be somewhat overwhelming; Salon’s approach was far more interesting, as it gave the authors — people we know have a vested interest in the written word — a chance to tell us why a particular book struck them. It’s a little like having Julia Child explain to you what’s so great about duck.
I haven’t finished my reading for 2009 yet — there are almost three weeks left in the year! — but unless something new blows me away in that time, I would have to say that the best book I read in 2009 (and this was a tough call!) was actually the very first book I read in 2009: Queen of the Road: the True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus with a Will of Its Own, by Doreen Orion. I read it while I was on vacation, and loved every page; as I mentioned in my review, I was sorry that it was over, surely the sign of a great book.
I should also give honorable mention to two other books I very much enjoyed: Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees (I know — everyone else read & loved it years ago, but I just didn’t get to it until now) and Unaccustomed Earth, a collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri. I’d very much liked Lahiri’s novel The Namesake, and was even more enchanted by this latest offering. She’s fast becoming one of my favorite authors.
Now it’s your turn. It doesn’t have to be your favorite book ever, or a new book. Just the best thing you read in the past year. So, what’s the best book you read in 2009?
The following books earned 4 stars (highest rating) on my reading list this year:
THE LACE READER, Brunonia Barry
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, Neil Gaiman
LOVING FRANK, Nancy Horan
THE SANDMAN: SEASON OF MISTS, Neil Gaiman
Out of these, I enjoyed THE GRAVEYARD BOOK for its lovely whimsy and poignancy, but THE LACE READER was the best story I read, with the most intriguing plot and characters.
Great idea for a post, Twinsy!
I thought The Graveyard Book was wonderful, too. And oh, Season of Mists! That’s my favorite volume in Sandman, I think. Well, I’m awfully partial to Brief Lives, as well. I think you will be too, when you get to it, if you haven’t yet.
LOVING FRANK is my book club’s book for February. I’ve been interested, but not excited about it — hearing you thought it was that good encourages me!
LOVING FRANK was beautifully written and terribly engaging. I really didn’t think I’d care for the story, since it’s basically about 2 married people having an affair with each other, which I (in my prudish ways) don’t condone. But the characters, especially the female protagonist, were so well done that they really drew me in. I thought the author also did a great job of painting an authentic portrait of life in those times. And the ending blew me away. So…I hope you enjoy it. I’ll be interested to hear what you think.
Oh, I also meant to say: No, I haven’t gotten to BRIEF LIVES yet. The next one for me is A GAME OF YOU.
Will do! And tell me when you’ve gotten up to BRIEF LIVES, I can’t wait to know what you thought.
A book I particularly appreciated was Send in the Idiots by Kamran Nazeer. The author tracks down and meets up with several of his classmates from an elementary class for autistic children, to find out how each is navigating adulthood. He takes aspects of his and his classmates’ lives as jumping-off points for commentary–one of those, on the nature of conversation as performance, resonated especially given my own challenges with small talk.
http://www.amazon.com/Send-Idiots-Stories-Other-Autism/dp/1582346194
Gail, that sounds fascinating. Will put it on my wish list!
I’ve done a ton of reading on my maternity leave, probably 15+ books and graphic novels. My favorite of 2009 would have to be Richard K. Morgan, who is a cyberpunk/fantasy writer introduced to me by Judd. I really enjoyed his swashbuckling novel The Steel Remains, in which two of the three protagonists is gay, and Thirteen, which was reminiscent of Blade Runner in tone and reads like an action movie; they were the ideal antidote for being stuck in the house all the time. I would also be remiss if I did not mention China Mieville’s The City and the City, which is a very strange but fascinating book that you might at first think is fantasy but really isn’t. Morgan and Mieville are not everyone’s cup of tea, but I love weird speculative fiction. Mieville in particular is worth a look because I think he transcends genre.
I thought SWIMMING to be excellent. Also THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY and IN OTHER ROOMS OTHER WONDERS.
PAB, re: China Mieville’s The City and the City
Okay, I’m intrigued. It’s fantasy but it’s not? More scoop, please. I’ll look it up on Amazon, but what did you like about it?
I might have to agree with you on your best pick. I read a couple of books this year that had fascinating stories told by people who just couldn’t write very well, like Kabul Beauty School. Doreen’s book had a great story and I love the way she writes.
Overall, I just didn’t read many books this year. I blame blogging.
I wish I could blame blogging, but since I’m blogging about books…