Best Books of ’09
Amazon has started its countdown of the best books of ’09, in ranked order, Casey Kasem style (with the small difference that Kasem was about popularity, not quality), from 100 to #1.
It’s hard to believe, but this is the tenth year for Amazon’s list. This year, they are doling out twenty choices per day, leading up to the big reveal of the Top Ten on Monday.
Here’s what they’ve given us so far; check Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog for upcoming lists.
100. The Interrogative Mood, Padgett Powell
99. The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder, and the Birth of the American Mafia, Mike Dash
98. The Anthologist, Nicholson Baker
97. Imperial, William T. Vollmann
96. Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals, Christopher Payne
95. The American Painter Emma Dial, Samantha Peale
94. Inherent Vice, Thomas Pynchon
93. Nobody Move, Denis Johnson
92. The BLDGBLOG Book, Geoff Manaugh
91. American on Purpose, Craig Ferguson
90. D-Day, Antony Beevor
89. The Complete Stories of J.G. Ballard, J.G. Ballard
88. The Children’s Book, A.S. Byatt
87. Half Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls
86. Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life, Winifred Gallagher
85. Born to Run, Christopher McDougall
84. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Jacqueline Kelly
83. American Rust, Phillipp Meyer
82. Never Smile at a Monkey, Steve Jenkins
81. The Jazz Loft Project, Sam Stephenson
80. Ad Hoc at Home, Thomas Keller
79. Toby Alone, Timothee de Fombelle
78. Robert Altman: The Oral Biography by Mitchell Zuckoff
77. Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffenegger
76. The Myth of the Rational Market, Justin Fox
75. George Sprott: 1894-1975, Seth
74. Juliet, Naked, Nick Hornby
73. Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath, Michael and Elizabeth Norman
72. The Letters of Samuel Beckett, Vol. 1, 1929-1940, Samuel Beckett
71. Green Metropolis, David Owen
70. Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, Eric W. Sanderson
69. Columbine, Dave Cullen
68. A New Literary History of America, edited by Greil Marcus and Werner Sollors
67. Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli
66. Await Your Reply, Dan Chaon
65. The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, Douglas Brinkley
64. Lowboy, John Wray
63. Everything Matters!, Ron Currie Jr.
62. Shiver, Maggie Stiefvater
61. Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, Michael Ruhlman