My 10 favorite books I read in 2009

[Onceuponalife]

Please put up your own list. I can always use suggestions for more reading. Note: these are just books I read in calendar year 2009. They weren't actually released in '09.


1. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. Just amazing. This guy obviously has a brilliant mind and the characters are fun. If I had half this guy's writing talent I could die happy.

2. Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Easy to see why it won the Hugo. Some of these "tales" were quite moving. Brilliantly writen with much detail. I'm glad this is my first Simmons book. I have so many more of his to read now.

3. Evolution by Stephen Baxter. Nothing less than a fictionalized history of man's evolution on the planet and a lokk at the (quite) possible bleak future. Not so bleak if you consider it from the perspective of the entire universe. Hint: we don't matter. A good book to give to those fundie idiots who ask why, if men and apes evolved from a common ancestor, their are still apes around (continental drift, anyone?).

4. Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. A great series to read if you, like me, suffer from A Tale of Ice and Fire withdrawal.

5. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Read it in a few days and couldn't put it down. If this is our future, kill me now.

6. Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins. Robbins' first novel and I loved every minute of it. Characters that are typically (for Robbins) loveable and unique. Quite funny. Man, I wish Plucky Purcell was a real person. We could use someone like him around in these dark days.

7. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The best alterna-super hero graphic novel ever. Moore's politics are right on and ya gotta love how he makes a conservative "costumed adventurer" (Rorschach) so darn likeable.

8. Hidden Empire by Kevin J. Anderson. First of seven in this sci-fi space opera. Has everything a good ensemble-cast fan would want. Plus a character named Ross Tamblyn lol.

9. What is the What by Dave Eggers. Riveting (true) tale of young boy who somehow survives the killing fields of Africa and makes it to America.

10. The Barbed Coil by J. V. Jones. A few cuts above the usual "epic" fantasy fare that we normally see.

[wtbymark]

1. Thom Hartmann

'What Would Jefferson Do?', 'Screwed'

(haven't got to Threshold yet)

[gateley]

2. Thanks for the list. I've recently gotten back into reading (a break from

the Internets) so I'll look into these.

I came THIS CLOSE to getting The Road yesterday, but chickened out because I thought it could be too much of a bummer. :hi:

[Onceuponalife]

7. I highly recommend The Road

even if it is depressing. It's very good.:toast:

[BlueIris]

10. I started it, but had to put it down because it's hitting too close to home right now. nt

[old mark]

3. OK: here are a few....

The Given Day,by Dennis Lehane- a great change from his usually good fiction - first rate historical novel.

About 5 books by Walter Mosley, but R.L.'s Dream is one of the best books I have ever read, period. I think Mosley is one of the best living American writers. His detective books compare with Raymond Chandler.

3 books, including Leavin' Trunk by Ace Atkins - also wrote an excellent book about Tampa that was a real step up. He is a relatively new novelist, and very good to read.

An autobiography - Wouldn't It Be Nice - by Brian Wilson. Really interesting and absorbing book.

That's just off the top of my head, but I'd recommend the above books and writers to any fiction lover.

mark

[Onceuponalife]

8. I've been wanting to read Lehane.

I have Mystic River on my shelf.

[gateley]

4. PS -- I just finished Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - I loved it a LOT. I think it

was his first book. Happy to see he's written so many others.

[sharp_stick]

5. If you liked Cryptonomicon

Check out Anathem and the Baroque Cycle if you haven't already. All are a lot of fun.

A couple of my favorite weird fiction reads this year were "City of Saints and Madmen" by Jeff Vandermeer and "The City and The City" by China Mieville

I also enjoyed "The March" by E.L. Doctorow and "Europe Central" by William Vollman during my National Book Awards mood.

During my gotta read something fun phase I tore through the Pendergast trilogy by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child "Brimstone, Dance of Death & The Book of the Dead". I also read and really enjoyed "Dissolution" by C.J. Sansom

I did not care much for "Zuckerman Bound" by Philip Roth, not sure why but I couldn't get into the rhythm.

[Onceuponalife]

9. I have Quicksilver on my shelf ready to go

The first book of The Baroque Cycle. Will probably read it later on this year. I also have Anathem.:)

[elocs]

6. I think I just looked at the library for the Anderson series of books on cd.

What I hate when I look at the recent arrivals at the library is to find a book I like only to see it is either the final in the series or book 5, but then when I go to look for the first book it is never there.

[kalli007]

11. In order

Cold Mountain
Thirteen Moons
-both by Charles Frazier

Missing Mom
The Falls
My Sister My Love
-by Joyce Carol Oates

The Almost Moon
-Alice Sebold

The Shack


Read quite a few more but nothing notable....

[fishwax]

12. my ten favorite from what I read in 2009 were probably

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers
Free Air, by Sinclair Lewis
East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
Play It As It Lays, by Joan Didion
Love Medicine, by Louise Erdrich
Caramelo, by Sandra Cisneros
No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy
Pigs in Heaven, by Barbara Kingsolver
Not Fade Away, by Jim Dodge

Some of these I'd read before in previous years, some of these I read for the first time last year, but all of them I enjoyed immensely.

On edit: I guess I was just thinking fiction--if I were to include nonfiction then Krakauer's Into the Wild would definitely make the list, as might a few others ... (I know Fear and Loathing is marketed as non-fiction, and I'm okay with that, but I feel justified including it in fiction lists as well.)

[Onceuponalife]

13. Loved Fear and Loathing

I also have No Country and Into The Wild on my shelf waiting to go...thanks for your list. I'm always looking for good recs.