Best of the Best Books 2009

More Best Lists-- Featuring the Best of the Bestvia RA for All by Becky on 12/21/09

"The Book Beast has compiled a list of all of the magazine and newspaper best books of the year lists and has created this aggreagted list of the best of the best. Page two has the honorable mention list."

Book Beast goes through all the "best of" lists from sources like The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Economist, and other heavy-hitters to discover just who came out on top.

All annotations are from the Book Beast list

Top 5 Fiction

1. Wolf HallBy Hilary Mantel
The Booker Prize-winning novel was a critical favorite with its historical plot centered on Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII.

2. A Gate at the StairsBy Lorrie Moore
After nearly a decade of silence, Moore’s triumphant return was a smashing success among old and new fans alike.

3. Love and SummerBy William Trevor
From the acclaimed Irish short-story master, a crisp novel of church and family in postwar Ireland.

4. Too Much HappinessBy Alice Munro
No surprise that the latest collection of short stories from “Canada’s Chekhov” made the best of the year.

5. In Other Rooms, Other WondersBy Daniyal Mueenuddin
The only debut in the top five, Mueenuddin’s stunning collection of short stories set in Pakistan made him the literary darling of the foreign-policy set.

Top 5 Nonfiction Books of the Year
1. Lit: A MemoirBy Mary Karr
The bestselling memoirist returned this year with her devastatingly honest account of struggles with marriage, motherhood, and alcoholism.

2. Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the WorldBy Liaquat Ahmed
In a year when finance dominated the headlines, it’s no surprise that this account of central bankers in the 1920s trying to stave off disaster was a favorite.

3. Strength in What RemainsBy Tracy Kidder
An inspiring and moving story of a young man who escaped war in Burundi and found his way to Columbia, medical school, and U.S. citizenship.

4. The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With the PresidentBy Taylor Branch
This massive, exhaustive account of the Clinton years through the president and Taylor’s recollections made a big splash with revelations about Boris Yeltsin’s drunken behavior.

5. The Good SoldiersBy David FinkelAn embedded reporter’s vivid account of a battalion of American troops fighting in the Iraq surge, and one destined to be a classic of the genre