The Daily News staff and bloggers had a wide-ranging selection of favorite books. Of all the ones they listed, I had read zero.
Zero.
I would say that I need to increase my reading, but I don’t think I can. I’ve read some good books this year (even wrote recommendations here on Straight From Hel) and I’ve edited a lot of good books, as well, plus turned in three of my own, two of which are now out.
I don’t know that I could single out one book as the best, though. How about you? Can you name one book you read in 2009 that you would rate as the best?
Helen,
ReplyDeleteNo, I couldn't pick a single best book I've read this year or any other. I've read a lot of great books and some not-so-great ones, but there are too many good ones to pick just one.
Lillie Ammann
A Writer's Words, An Editor's Eye"
I can never do these things. I tried to pick ten crime reads for the blog Mystery in Paradise and it was hard but this is what I came up with. It's a fair summing up of my tastes.
ReplyDeletehttp://pdbrazill.blogspot.com/2009/12/best-crime-fiction-in-2009.html
I haven't read nearly as much as I would have liked to this year, but there were three books that I really enjoyed for different reason.
ReplyDelete1)The Shack
2)The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
3)The House at Riverton
I checked the list and had actually read two of the books this year - Duma Key and The Book Thief. I thought they were good books but I can't pick a favorite. Like Lillie said there are too many good ones to just pick one.
ReplyDeleteMM, no - can't pick out a "best" for this year. Lots of really good ones, but the once in a decade WOWer I didn't read this year. I remember reading Shogun back in the 80's - that book was so enthralling I read almost nonstop for 36 hours. The Shining was another standout like that in my memory. Nothing came close to those kinds of experiences for me this past year. But it's a very high standard.
ReplyDeleteMarvin D Wilson
The ones that stand out are - The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill,
ReplyDelete3 Cups of Tea by Greg Morgtenson and the one I'm reading now - Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantell which one the 2009 Booker. I will go check out 'the' list and see what I've read but we are so mad for making lists -we humans - for deciding what is up and what is down. A bit tedious though I still do it.
'won' the Booker. Good grief, I need a holiday!
ReplyDeleteJan
The only book on that list that I'd read was Wesley the Owl, which was indeed charming.
ReplyDeleteAs for the best book I've read in 2009, I'm having a hard time choosing between The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I read a lot of other enjoyable books this year, but those two were outstanding.
Since this has been my year to dive into books, I've read a lot of good ones. So, while it may not have been my best over the whole year, my favorite most recently was the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, it's clear how much reading you do by your posts...not always books, no, but fascinating and informative articles. I assume you have some key word search thing going that brings appropriate subject matter to your attention? How else would you discover the MetroWest News, a small publication written for a specific group of towns based west of the city of Boston? You are in Texas, right? Your reach is far! And good!
Don't feel bad, I haven't read any of those on the list either. It's hard to pick the best of 2009 but I'll take a stab at The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill and The Shack by William P Young.
ReplyDeleteI don't like picking favourites either - but I know Hunger Games will stay with me for a while.
ReplyDeleteThank you all. So far, I'm seeing some repeating titles in your comments, I trust y'all's judgment over folks I don't know. I'm making a list.
ReplyDeleteI've read too many excellent books in too many genres this year to pick the best. I must go check out this list and see what I've missed.
ReplyDeleteAnj- I love Kavalier and Clay though I didn't read it this year. I loved Middlesex. I love the writing. Love, love.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a very solid recommendation for Middlesex, Lauri! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI can't pick a favorite either. I read some really good ones, some not so good, and some I didn't finish.
ReplyDeleteNo single favorite, but a friend gave me a copy of Child 44, which I enjoyed immensely. It's a thriller based in Stalinist USSR and has its grim moments, though.
ReplyDeleteI finally got around to reading To Kill a Mockingbird after all these years. I seldom read any book twice, but this one is well worth re-reading.
Finally, a non-fiction book called Home Girl is about Judith Matloff's home-buying adventures in NYC. It's funny in spots and interesting throughout.
Jemi - I think the Hunger Games was my favourite book this year. The sequel I have mixed feelings about but the second book in a trilogy is always tricky because the first book tends to be self-contained, while the second and third often constitute a single story broken in half.
ReplyDeleteGotta say, I had never heard of that William Golding book, The Inheritors, mentioned in the article. Had to hit Amazon immediately.
I've read more books this year than ever before because I've interviewed so many mystery/suspense/thriller writers. I've read so many good ones that I can't choose just one, but I have to say that some of the besetselling writers aren't any better than some of the lesser knowns although I remember the novels of John Gilstrap, Carolyn Hart, C.J. Box and Louise Penny more than the others.
ReplyDeletehttp://mysteriouspeople.blogspot.com/
Wow, Helen, you are very productive! And a single book? I've read several excellent ones and a few I put down after a few pages--sad to say, it's easier to remember the truly bad ones.
ReplyDeleteI seemt to never read the 'popular' books and I seldom read 'literary' books.
ReplyDeleteA best is hard to choose. A few I read and liked:
Sari Shop Widow, Shobhan Bantwal, different for me, an Indian light romance.
Lots of mysteries.
Duma Key is on the shelf as are the last two Dark Tower books and A Good Woman by Danielle Steele. And still have to read Debbie Macomber's Christmas book and number 9 in her Cabot Cove series and...
I've read a lot of good books this year. Entertaining and fun. Favorite books are subjective.
ReplyDeleteNon-fiction--Journal For Jordan
Fiction? I discovered Stephanie Rowe's books and I loved Ice and Chill. Really enjoyable. I'm a big fan of Christine Feehan and I liked Burning Wild and loved Dark Slayer. I also love her Ghostwalkers series.
I'm like Holmes: "The small table by my bedside holds a stack of reading material that grows and grows." I get more behind on my reading list daily. Not good for someone in two reading clubs. :p
ReplyDeleteMy favorite fiction I read this year was a re-read, Water For Elephants. I liked it just as much the second time around and have now gotten both my reading clubs to read it. Mission accomplished.
My favorite nonfiction was Three Cups of Tea, though I think it got off to a slow start. But the latter half of the book was great.
I hope you had a very merry holiday, Helen, and wish you the very best in the new year.
~jon
I love all the selections. The great thing is the variety of books that have been mentioned. I wish I could read them all.
ReplyDeleteMerry Holidays to you, too, Jon.
My favorite of the year would be 'The Algebraist'-Iain M Banks
ReplyDeleteThe Help by Kathryn Stockett, I loved it so much I told everybody to read it on my blog post today :)
ReplyDeleteUm. No, I couldn't. They were all good...I didn't have time to read anything but highly-rated books! And my memory is so horrid that I could probably go through right now and reread them again and be surprised by the endings. :)
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
I know exactly what you mean, Elizabeth.
ReplyDeleteI, too, find it hard to name one best book. I have read so many this year that I really enjoyed. The Help was one of them, along with Breathing Water, The Dark Horse, Sorrow Wood, Inklings.
ReplyDeleteYou read a lot of good books, Maryann.
ReplyDeleteI find it difficult to name just one, but yes, the outstanding book I read in 2009 was "Peace Like a River" by Leif Enger.
ReplyDeleteThe story and the quality of writing are extraordinarily gifted. His words flow like liquid silver and as a reader and being a writer myself, I LOVE his genius.
It is a book where the story is excellent but I still found myself stopping and rereading a paragraph for its beauty.
I've been looking all over for this!
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
ReplyDeleteThe Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge
The Withdrawal Method by Pasha Malla
Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro
(sorry, couldn't pick just one)
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