January 1, 2010

2009 Best Reads

The time has come, the walrus said...
To compile "best of" lists.

So here is my list of my Top 10 Reads of 2009. Same rules as last year - only first time reads allowed (no re-reads); and the publishing year doesn't matter, so long as I read it in 2009.

1. The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood
2. Three Day Road - Joseph Boyden
3. The Disappeared - Kim Echlin
4. The Bishop's Man - Linden MacIntyre
5. Too Much Happiness - Alice Munro
6. The Blythes are Quoted - L. M. Montgomery
7. The Composer is Dead - Lemony Snicket
8. Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi
9. The Orange Trees of Baghdad - Leilah Nadir

Compiling this list, and comparing it with last year's list, it struck me that overall, the books that I read in 2009 were overall not as good as the books that I read in 2008. Here's hoping for a better year in 2010!

4 comments:

Wanda said...

From your list, I've only read #8. #4 I own and need to read; #'s 2&3 are also books I'd like to read.

Happy New Year, Kate! Hope 2010 has many great reads in store for you!

Sarah said...

My next book club book is Too Much Happiness. Any way you could send it to me asap?

Holly said...

Kate, I've read #2 and #9 from your list. I think Three Day Road is one of the best books written about WWI and I felt it captured the way the war experience sows disconnection in those who must participate in its horrors. I really encourage you to read Through Black Spruce, Joseph Boynton's subsequent book, if you haven't read it already. I have a copy to loan you if you like. It brings the story into the contemporary life of James Bay and Montreal. I liked it very much.

Kate said...

Thanks Holly - I actually read Through Black Spruce before reading Three Day Road (it was #1 on my 2008 Best Reads list!).