Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for, Word Nerd's top ten list for 2009.
A few reminders on the selection process: Word Nerd decides the top ten of what she's read in the past 365 days, publication year matters not. Several of the titles or authors have popped up in the other awards posts, but hey, they do that for the Oscars and things, so Word Nerd thinks there's precedent.
So, the envelope please....
Word Nerd's Top Ten Books of 2009:
10. Cold Tangerines, Shauna Niequist (non-fiction)
9. Sandman Slim, Richard Kadrey (urban fantasy)
8. The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova (historical fiction)
7. The Poet, Michael Connelly (mystery)
6. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collines (YA)
5. The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (YA)
4. Love in the Time of Fridges, Tim Scott (science fiction)
3. The Domino Men, Jonathan Barnes (science fiction)
2. The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger (literary fiction)
1. The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, Reif Larson (literary fiction)
Top honors went to T.S. Spivet because it has pictures. Seriously. The book is so endearing because of all the doodles and maps and things in the margins. Word Nerd is a sucker for mixed media like that.
Other than the first two, most of the list is a surprise to Word Nerd. As she was compiling it, she kept thinking of titles only to discover she read those books in 2008 and already gave them an award. So, with a general criteria of "if I had unlimited time to read, which of the booksread this year would stand up to a second reading" Word Nerd combed her list and searched her reviews for ones that she prognosicated would end up in a top ten list.
Sandman Slim, Love in the Time of Fridges and Domino Men are definitely the dark horse picks for this year, particularly Domino Men ringing in at number 3. All three are bizarre, bizarre books which is why they stuck with Word Nerd. A second read would likely make them all make more sense. Hopefully.
So these are Word Nerd's picks, along with the rest of the awards for Best First Book in a Series, Best Discovered Author and Best of the Genres.
What books topped your list(s) this year?
1 comment:
Oh, I loved The Time Traveler's Wife! I read it a couple of years ago, but the story sticks with me still. For 2009, though the stories are not new (but new to me), I would include The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams in my list of personal faves, as well as The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Another book I just adored is The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig.
Thanks for posting your list.
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