It’s the time of year for book awards and “best of the year” lists. Publishers Weekly recently listed their top 10 of 2009 at www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6704595.html and The National Book Award has named its winners at www.nationalbook.org/nba2009.html. We will link to the New York Times Book Review list when it is released in the very near future. David and Barbara have listed their favorites at this site in previous blog entries.
I thought I better get in on the act, so here are my best books of 2009:
AWAIT YOUR REPLY, Dan Chaon’s unsettling and extremely well crafted novel
LOVE & SUMMER, a quiet and haunting novel by WIlliam Trevor
THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU, an uproarious work of satire by Jonathan Tropper
THE BIG BURN, Timothy Egan’s account of the creation of the Forest Service and epic 1910 forest fire that swept through Washington State, Montana and Idaho
INVENTING MONTANA, Ted Leeson’s wise and observant collection of essays reflecting on summers spent in Montana’s Madison Valley
Other books that released this year that I’ve enjoyed include: Geoff Dyer’s JEFF IN VENICE, DEATH IN VARANASI; Janet Skeslien Charles’s MOONLIGHT IN ODESSA; Richard Russo’s THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC; Colm Toibin’s BROOKLYN; SOCCERNOMICS by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski; THE MAN IN THE WOODEN HAT by Jane Gardam; RUNNING by Jean Echnoz, David Small’s graphic memoir STITCHES; and Richard Manning’s REWILDING THE WEST.
What have you read and enjoyed in 2009?
Eamon