2009’s Best Books For Me:
I’m going to do my breakdown of best books I’ve read this year, though some of these may not necessarily have been published in 2009, but earlier in the decade.
I read 63 books in 2008, and my goal for 2009 as to read more than that. I surprised myself by reading 100 books in 2009 and reviewing all of them! I also started including more poetry reviews and interviews here on the blog and at 32 Poems blog and the D.C. Literature Examiner.
However, my personal writing goals of working each week toward a poetry or novel word count did not stick, and I stopped posting writing goal updates sometime during the year — heck, it was so long ago that I stopped I don’t even remember when. I also did not finish editing my poetry manuscript! Big FAIL!
OK, 2009, it’s time to say goodbye. I’m going to start of with the books I think were the worst.
You can click on the title links for my reviews or click Amazon.com images in the right sidebar widget for Best of 2009 if you want to purchase the books through my Amazon Affiliate page, which helps keep the blog running, though there is no requirement to buy.
Not Worth Checking Out of the Library (ending with the worst):
5. Now Silence by Tori Warner Shepard
4. The Traitor’s Wife by Susan Higginbotham
3. The Michael Jackson Tapes by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
2. Follow Me by Joanna Scott
1. The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick
Now that the nitty gritty is out of the way, lets get to the best books I’ve read this year:
Best Book I’ve Read for the Everything Austen Challenge:
A Match for Mary Bennet by Eucharista Ward
Best Book I’ve Read for the WWII Reading Challenge:
Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino
Best Humor Book of 2009 (I only read three, so take this with a grain of salt):
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Zombies by Michael Spradlin
Best Photography Book of 2009 (I only read and looked through 2, take this with less than a grain of salt):
Visions of America by Joseph Sohm
Audiobooks to Die For out of 10 (no particular order):
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea
Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich
The Whole Truth by David Baldacci
Best Young Adult Fiction of 2009 (I only read 5 this year):
Nothing But Ghosts by Beth Kephart
Best Chicklit Book of 2009 (this is a tie for me):
Millie’s Fling by Jill Mansell
Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews
Best Poetry Books of 2009 (ending with the best):
6. More of Me Disappears by John Amen
5. Fair Creatures of an Hour by Lynn Levin
4. Secret Love Poems by Arlene Ang
3. Rubber Side Down edited by Jose Gouveia
2. Apologies to an Apple by Maya Ganesan
1. Becoming the Villainess by Jeannine Hall Gailey
Some honorable mentions for 2009 that I adored (no particular order):
The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl
The Secret Keeper by Paul Harris
Dragon House by John Shors
The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
When She Flew by Jennie Shortridge
Keeper of Light and Dust by Natasha Mostert
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Keeper of Light and Dust by Natasha Mostert
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Best Books I Read in 2009 (to the top pick for the year):
10. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
9. The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
8. Breathing Out the Ghost by Kirk Curnutt
7. Saffron Dreams by Shaila Abdullah
6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
5. The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner
4. The Painter From Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein
3. Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly
2. Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji
1. Words That Burn Within Me by Hilda Stern Cohen
Which were your favorites this year?
Have a Happy and Safe New Year!
