(symptom: being excessively engaged in tasks that require exquisite attention to detail, such as list-making)
Summary
65 books by 42 different authors, including 6 by Patricia A. McKillip; 5 by Elizabeth Bear; 4 by Margaret Maron; 3 each by Greg Bear, Ben Bova, and Sharyn McCrumb; and 2 each by Nancy Pickard, Anthony Burgess, Kage Baker, Vonda M. McIntyre, and Louise Penny. The authors are from 8 different countries, including Nigeria, India, Bulgaria, Ireland, and Lebanon.Genres
Young adult, 2%Western, 2%
Humor, 2%
Horror, 2%
Alternate history, 3%
Action & adventure, 3%
Thriller/ suspense, 6%
Romance, 6%
Short stories, 6%
General & literary fiction, 11%
Historical fiction, 11%
Fantasy, 20%
Mystery & detective, 26%
Scifi, 31%
(total greater than 100 due to some books fitting multiple categories)
37 of the 65 (57%) won a major award or were named to a Best Of list in the year of their publication.
My Ratings (out of 10)
9 or 10, 5%
7 or 8, 46%
5 or 6, 41%
4 or less, 8%
Top Reads of 2009
- Grace Notes, by Bernard MacLaverty (1998 - literary fiction)
- Something Rich and Strange, by Patricia A. McKillip (1994 - fantasy)
- A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess (1967 - experimental fiction)
- The Outlander, by Gil Adamson (2007 - historical fiction)
- Say You're One of Them, by Uwem Apkan (2008 - short stories)
- The Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers (1983 - historical fantasy with action & adventure)
- The Cygnet and the Firebird, by Patricia A. McKillip (1993 - romantic fantasy)
- Graceland, by Chris Abani (2004 - literary fiction)
- Tea with the Black Dragon, by R. A. MacAvoy (1993 -mystery/ fantasy)
- Trumpets Sound No More, by Jon Redfern (2007 - historical mystery)
Least Favorite Books of 2009
- Grey, by Jon Armstrong (2007 - romantic scifi)
- The Martians, by Kim Stanley Robinson (2000 - scifi short stories)
- Worldwired, by Elizabeth Bear (2005 - scifi)
- Dead Crazy, by Nancy Pickard (1988 - mystery & detective)
- The Moon and the Sun, by Vonda N. McIntyre (1998 - alternate historical fiction)
- Dinosaur Summer, by Greg Bear (1999 - alternate history)
- Moonrise, by Ben Bova (1996 - scifi)
- Black Man, by Richard Morgan (2007 - scifi)
- The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, by Patricia A. McKillip (1974 - fantasy)
- Hammered, by Elizabeth Bear (2004 - scifi)
The Chronological List
January
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, by Patricia A. McKillip
Dreamsnake, by Vonda N. McIntyre
The Moon and the Sun, by Vonda N. McIntyre
Still Life, by Louise Penny
A Fatal Grace, by Louise Penny
Black Man, by Richard K. Morgan
February
The Changeling
Sea, by Patricia A. McKillip
If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O, by Sharyn McCrumb
Corpus Christmas, by Margaret Maron
Bootlegger’s Daughter, by Margaret Maron
The Sorceress and the Cygnet, by Patricia A. McKillip
The Cygnet and the Firebird, by Patricia A. McKillip
March
Blanche on the Lam, by Barbara Neely
Tea with the Black
Dragon, by R. A. MacAvoy
Southern
Discomfort, by Margaret Maron
The Hangman’s
Beautiful Daughter, by Sharyn McCrumb
The Book of
Atrix Wolfe, by Patricia A. McKillip
The Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers
Golden Fleece, by Robert J. Sawyer
Song
of Kali, by Dan Simmons
April
Any Old Iron, by Anthony Burgess
Assemblers of Infinity, by Kevin J. Anderson
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
Titan, by Ben Bova
Moonwar, by Ben Bova
Moonrise, by Ben Bova
Up Jumps the Devil, by Margaret Maron
She Walks these Hills, by Sharyn McCrumb
The Child in Time, by Ian McEwan
Something Rich and
Strange, by Patricia A. McKillip
Marriage Is Murder, by Nancy Pickard
May
Carnival, by Elizabeth Bear
Hammered, by Elizabeth Bear
Scardown, by Elizabeth Bear
Worldwired, by Elizabeth Bear
Grey, by Jon Armstrong
The
Butterfly Kid, by Chester Anderson
The Marvellous
Misadventures of Sebastian, by Lloyd Alexander
Gossamer Axe, by Gael Baudino
Primary Inversion, by Catherine Asaro
June
The Last Oracle, by James Rollins
Dark Mondays, by Kage Baker
Mother Aegypt and Other Stories, by Kage Baker
Dead Crazy, by Nancy Pickard
July
Bear, Greg; Dinosaur Summer, by Greg Bear
Grace Notes, by Bernard MacLaverty
The Martians, by Kim Stanley Robinson
August
Undertow, by Elizabeth Bear
Blood Music, by Greg Bear
Slant, by Greg Bear
September
October
White Tiger, by Avarind Adiga
The Hakawati, by Rabih Alameddine
HARM, by Brian W. Aldiss
Ma’hu Fire, by Neil Plakcy
November
Assassins at Ospreys, by R. T. Raichev
An Innocent Client, by Scott Pratt
A Death in the Family, by James Agee
December
Say You’re One of Them, by Uwem Akpan
Trumpets Sound No More, by Jon Redfern
The Outlander, by Gil Adamson
Lights Out, by Peter Abrahams
