Thursday, December 10, 2009

Books of 2009

As a direct legacy of my class with the fabulous Dr. Janet Groth, I subscribe to The New Yorker. There's always something interesting to read in there, they still have among the best short fiction available anywhere, and their online archive is unparalleled.

The current issue has an article, or featurette, called "A Year's Reading: Reviewer's Favorites from 2009." You can find this featurette here, on their website. I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't read any of these, but after reading the brief and tantalizing snippets, I've added the following to my TBR list:

The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood. Promises to "revist...the post-apocalyptic world of Oryx and Crake."

Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger. Described as a "gothic yarn around a London cemetery." That's three magic words in a six-word description.

Lowboy, by John Wray. "A schizophrenic rides the subway." Very intriguing.

And on the non-fiction tip, there's:

Beg, Borrow, Steal, by Michael Greenberg. "Notes on a freelance life." Since I hope to have one myself, may be worthwhile to know what to expect.

A Strange Eventful History, by Michael Holroyd. "The linked lives of two nineteenth-century stage stars." Explaining why I want to read this is like explaining why money is good.

The Magician's Book, by Laura Miller. "Reading C.S. Lewis as a child and as an adult." I love the Narnia books. I wonder if Kittens not Kids knows about this one. She does now, anyway.

I'll be doing my own "Year in Review" soon, and I'll try to make my descriptions as pithy as theirs. But I've added some books to read to my own list!

2 comments:

kittens not kids said...

I do know of the Magician's Book - haven't read it, but read of it. The only title on this list that I know anything about, that appeals, is HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY. I think i'm going to try to get my hands on a copy one of these days.

year-end lists are always odd....and make me feel like a loser-dork for not even *hearing* of many of the titles. but this year, since i worked in the bookstore, i don't feel too bad about not recognizing a lot of the names - if they were really big books, i'd know them.

Library Diva said...

Maybe their intention with this list was to shine some light on "smaller" books. Everyone, at this point, should know of the existence of Edgar Sawtelle and the Giant of Aberdeen County or whatever. A lot of these seemed like they could slip through the cracks. I like that idea, if that was their intention.