Top Five Favorite Reads of 2009

I'm terrible about remembering authors but my fav. reads of 2009:

1) Three Cups of Tea
2) Water For Elephants
3) Omnivore's Delima
4) Cutting For Stone
 
Debbie, are the Twilight books more geared towards teens or adults? I'm currently reading the Anita Blake series, and was considering Twilight next, but was afraid it was meant for a younger audience.

And my favorite book this year is Eat This Book by Ryan Nerz. It's all about the competitive eating circuit (think Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest). It's totally gross and fascinating at the same time :)
 
Fembot40 said:
#1. The Book Thief (I can't wait to read it again!)
#2. The Grapes of Wrath
#3. The Host

I read a few books this year that were really not my taste at all, thankfully there were these three. I have to say The Book Thief is my favorite all time book, it even tops Gone with the Wind.:)
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Yes! The Book Thief was one that I agonized over leaving off my list, as WELL as Gone With the Wind!!!
 
I always feel a bit uneducated when it comes to reading threads. A lot of you read such important and serious books. I read mostly fluff! My favorite "fluff" this year includes (in no particular order):

1. Erin McCarthy's "Vegas Vampire" series
2. The first 9 books in the JA Jance Joanna Brady series; I am now switching over to the Beaumont series since the 10th book is a combination
3. Blood Game (book 8 in the Eve Duncan series) by Iris Johansen

Guess that is actually more than 5 books :)! I really like that a lot of these books were available as ebooks at my library. I am REALLY tempted by the eReaders but am just not sure...

Carrie
 
Hard to choose, and I am excluding all of the thrillers and mysteries I read, except for one:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (cannot wait for the third and final installment)
Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro (brilliant short stories by an absolute master)

I keep up with Sue Grafton, Sara Paretzky, Lee Child, Robert Crais, John Sandford, Jonathan Kellerman, Deborah Crombie, and I have other series I have dipped into by Peter Robinson and Donna Leon. I am never without a book.
 
The Help By Kathryn S.
The Twilight series
The Sookie Stackhouse series (I am loving this series even more than the Twilight books).

My list is pretty long, but I limited it to these:) Amazon loves me too!! And I dread opening these threads, since it only feeds my addiction!! :)
Jenn
 
garance said:
Hard to choose, and I am excluding all of the thrillers and mysteries I read, except for one:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (cannot wait for the third and final installment)
Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro (brilliant short stories by an absolute master)
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I think I remember reading excellent reviews of Too Much Happiness. I may have to try that.

Which one is the mystery?
 
Hi Nancy--

The Girl Who Played with Fire is the thriller / mystery. Love the heroine who first appears in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. There is a third one coming out when it is translated. The stories in Too Much Happiness are the stuff of melodrama and soap opera, but somehow Munro keeps them in the right emotional pitch. She is just a master of short stories. Her Runaway collection is equally brilliant.
 
I do have to give a warning about The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. At the end I could not stop crying. I was really upset with the ending. This one also has a touch of mystery about it, but for anyone who has read Hamlet, it ain't hard to figure out.
 
bakert said:
Two series which I discovered from this terrific forum and I absolutely love them (and Amazon now adores me :)

1. The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series - books 1-5 this year
2. The Outlander Series - will finish the first book today and start number 2 instantly :)

Cheers,
T.
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So happy to hear it!!! The new Fallen Angel series (JR Ward) which started with COVET rocks too!!!
 
carres1973 said:
I always feel a bit uneducated when it comes to reading threads. A lot of you read such important and serious books. I read mostly fluff! My favorite "fluff" this year includes (in no particular order):


Carrie
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NEVER EVER :D aoplogize for your reading choices! Just like we all prefer certain foods, music, tv, hobbies, etc, etc...we all have different taste in books! It DOES NOT make you uneducated to read brain candy!!!! :p
and, yes, I do prefer to keep my reading light the majority of the time...unless it's history....;)

BLOOD GAME was terrific!!!
 
garance said:
Hi Nancy--

The Girl Who Played with Fire is the thriller / mystery. Love the heroine who first appears in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. There is a third one coming out when it is translated. The stories in Too Much Happiness are the stuff of melodrama and soap opera, but somehow Munro keeps them in the right emotional pitch. She is just a master of short stories. Her Runaway collection is equally brilliant.
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Are you saying it's the same heroine in both "Girl" books? Do you recommend them highly? Sounds interesting.
 
great thread!

*The History of Love ..... by Nicole Krauss
*Skeletons at the Feast.....by Chris Bohjalian
*The Adventures of Cavalier and Clay....Michael Chabon (and I like his wife's books also!)
*Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet....Jamie Ford
*Bell Canto ..... by Ann Pachett
*Day after Night....by Anita Diamant
eta: I would have included The Book Thief also, but its already been mentioned so many times!:)....great book!!
 
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Beavs said:
Three of the books I chose were actually published in 2009, Colum McCann's being the recipient of the National Book Award for 2009 in fiction.

1.) Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

2.) Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill

3.) Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and its Aftermath by Elizabeth & Michael Norman

4.) A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Shriever and the Ultimate Weapon by Neil Sheehan

5.) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
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Beavs, I read great reviews of Let The Great World Spin. If you liked it, I may have to try it.
 
This year I re-read some favorites and met some new ones too!

1. Gone With the Wind (oldest and dearest friend)
2. The Stand (another old friend)
3. The Help
4. The Forgotten Garden
5. Death of a President (old friend, still fascinates me as those 4 days will always live in my memory!)
 
carres1973 said:
I always feel a bit uneducated when it comes to reading threads. A lot of you read such important and serious books. I read mostly fluff! My favorite "fluff" this year includes (in no particular order):

1. Erin McCarthy's "Vegas Vampire" series
2. The first 9 books in the JA Jance Joanna Brady series; I am now switching over to the Beaumont series since the 10th book is a combination
3. Blood Game (book 8 in the Eve Duncan series) by Iris Johansen

Guess that is actually more than 5 books :)! I really like that a lot of these books were available as ebooks at my library. I am REALLY tempted by the eReaders but am just not sure...

Carrie
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Don't feel bad. I'm almost a solely fluff reader too myself - hence why i avoid these threads like the plague. My big read this year was the Southern Vampire Series. ;) I will admit though that one of my favorite books of all time is still Jane Eyre.
 
I think it's a shame that some people dismiss a "serious" book as not being entertaining. Just because a book it a classic or is praised by literary critics, doesn't mean it's not a joy to read. For example, the book Beavs and I were discussing, A Confederacy of Dunces, won a Pulitzer, but I can't imagine anyone having a hard time reading it, or that they wouldn't have tears of laughter streaming down their faces during most of it. Sometimes I think we sell ourselves too short.
 
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