I really hate it when people put up their Christmas decorations right after Halloween. In the same way, it rankles me when “Best Books of the Year” lists begin appearing well before the year is over. Now that 2009 is officially approaching its end, here’s a round-up of some of the more prominent “Best Books of 2009” lists:
Favorite books of 2009: What’s yours?
Book reviewer Jane Henderson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch asked readers to post their favorite books of the year. Check the comments to see what books ordinary readers liked best this year. Here’s Henderson’s take on the subject of these lists:
The New York Times’ top fiction named four women and one man while Publishers Weekly’s top 10 books included no women (and none of the fiction the Times named). Obviously there is a great deal of subjectivity in these lists of favorite or best books. How can there not be when upwards of 200,000 books are published each year in the United States?
The tastiest coffee-table books of 2009
Mary Ann Gwinn of the Seattle Times lists her picks of the biggest, lushest books of the year.
10 best thrillers of 2009
Harry Levins of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch presents his favorites among spy and crime thrillers.
The Best Five Books To Share With Your Friends
On the NPR Web site, Glen Weldon says,
Below, a short list of books I’ve pressed into other people’s hands over the past year. On the surface, they’ve got little in common. Obsession figures largely in several — and meteors, too, weirdly enough. But the thing that truly unites these books is the urge they spark to send them out into the world so that they might sink their hooks into someone else.
Best Books of 2009
NPR (National Public Radio) has an extensive list of lists, including more unusual topics such as best airplane reads, best gardening books, best book club reads, and the year’s most mesmerizing mysteries.
All hail the printed word: Best books of 2009
Reviews from the Seattle Times offer their choices in the categories of fiction and nonfiction.
Best children’s books of 2009
Best books of 2009: nonfiction
Best books of 2009: fiction
Three lists from the Christian Science Monitor.
The 10 Best Books of 2009
100 Notable Books of 2009
The New York Times weighs in with its own collection of lists. On each of these pages you’ll find links to several other categorized lists.
Best of 2009
Of course no story about books would be complete without reference to giant online bookseller Amazon. Here you’ll find lists of choices in every category by both the company’s editors and its customers.
