Listmania: Best of 2009s -- Updated!

NPR's Year's Best Memoirs

NPR's Best Cookbooks of 2009

The L.A. Times' Favorite fiction of 2009

The NYTimes' 100 Notable Books of '09

ALA's 2009 Best Books for Young Adults

Entertainment Weekly's 10 Beautiful Books

Blackwell's 10 Favourite Books of the Decade

The NYTimes' Notable Crime Books of 2009

Booklist's Best Books for Young Adults: 2009

Lifehack's 10 Best Productivity Books of 2009

The National Book Awards' Best Books of 2009

NPR's Big and Beautiful: Best Gift Books of 2009

Examiner.com's 10 Best Book Club books of 2009

Drawn!'s Favourite Comics and Art Books of 2009

Publishers Weekly's 8 Different(!) Best of 2009 lists

The Globe & Mail's 11 Different(!!) Best of 2009 lists

The Millions' Best Fiction of the Millennium (So Far)

The NYTimes' Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2009

Politics & Prose's Favorite Graphic Literature of the Year

Small Business Trends' Best Small Business Books of 2009

The Christian Science Monitor's Best Books of 2009: Fiction

The Christchurch City Libraries Blog's Best and Worst of 2009

Human Events' Top 10 Best-Selling Conservative Books in 2009

Paul Gravett's Angoulême 2010: The Best French Comics Of 2009

The Washington Post's Best Fiction, Nonfiction, and Top 10 of 2009

The Daily Cross Hatch's The Best Damned Comics of 2009 Chosen by the Artists

The Comics Reporter's The Best Superhero Comics of the 00s, and his readers' picks

The Best Comics I Read in 2009

Puh-leeze do not mistake this for one of those scientifically produced, computer algorithm-culled, 'Best Of 2009' lists that you see in comics curious magazines like Newsweek and Wizard. This is purely the product of one seriously scatterbrained blogger who has been obsessing over funnybooks for far too long, yet still feels woefully behind in his reading. (Hell, truth be told, most of these books came out pre-2009!) The only criteria for inclusion in this list was this: Out of every comic I curled up with, huddled over, and ate my favorite meals with in the past twelve months, which ones do I still think of most?

Cold Heat issues 1-8 by BJ and Frank Santoro
Click here to read the review that made me shell out $50+ on single issues when I know that there's inevitably gonna be a trade paperback stuffed with extras...for under $30.

Two-Fisted Tales vol. 1 by the EC Comics crew
Click here for the black & white excerpt that made me a convert.

The Disappearance Diary by Hideo Azuma
Click here to read my review.

Pluto by Naoki Urasawa
Click here to read the first five chapters.

Soldier X issues 1-8 by Macan & Kordey
Click here and here to read two reviews that will make you feel like you've missed out on one of the best superhero comics in years.


The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa
Click here to read the review that convinced me to stop being such a Carl Barks snob.

Gus by Christophe Blain
Click here to read my review.

Black Jack vol. 1-4 by Osamu Tezuka
Click here to read my review of volume 1.

Yotsuba&! vol. 1-6 by Kiyohiko Azuma
Click here to a review that's as infectiously light-hearted as the series itself.

Little Nothings 1 & 2 by Lewis Trondheim
Click here and here to read The Comics Reporter's reviews.

Uncanny X-Men issues 94-279 by Chris Claremont
Click here to read an issue by issue analysis, or here for some highlights.

Listmania: Best of 2009s

'Tis the last day of the next to the last month of the year. While this monumental day in your monthly calendar's countdown to extinction inevitably brings with it a sh*toad of personal, financial and familial regrets, it also ushers in a sh*tload of 'Best Of' book lists. For the sake of our sanity, let's focus on those.

NPR's Best Cookbooks of 2009

The L.A. Times' Favorite fiction of 2009

The NYTimes' 100 Notable Books of '09

ALA's 2009 Best Books for Young Adults

Entertainment Weekly's 10 Beautiful Books

Blackwell's 10 Favourite Books of the Decade

The NYTimes' Notable Crime Books of 2009

Booklist's Best Books for Young Adults: 2009

Lifehack's 10 Best Productivity Books of 2009

The National Book Awards' Best Books of 2009

NPR's Big and Beautiful: Best Gift Books of 2009

Examiner.com's 10 Best Book Club books of 2009

Drawn!'s Favourite Comics and Art Books of 2009

Publishers Weekly's 8 Different(!) Best of 2009 lists

The Globe & Mail's 11 Different(!!) Best of 2009 lists

The Millions' Best Fiction of the Millennium (So Far)

The NYTimes' Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2009

Politics & Prose's Favorite Graphic Literature of the Year

Small Business Trends' Best Small Business Books of 2009

The Christian Science Monitor's Best Books of 2009: Fiction

The Christchurch City Libraries Blog's Best and Worst of 2009

Human Events' Top 10 Best-Selling Conservative Books in 2009

Paul Gravett's Angoulême 2010: The Best French Comics Of 2009

The Washington Post's Best Fiction, Nonfiction, and Top 10 of 2009

The Comics Reporter's The Best Superhero Comics of the 00s, and his readers' picks

Before the Buzz Wears Off...

...allow me to link you -- free of charge -- to Flashlight Worthy's list of 9 Booze-Soaked Books.

(Isn't it great to know that there are folks out there with similar interests?)

Booksellers Pick Their Favorite Book Books

Is it any surprise that booksellers are obsessed with books? Using Twitter, my bookselling friends and I rapid-fired off this list of our favorite books about books. Thanks to @readandbreathe, @RichRennicks, and @bookavore for the great suggestions!

Essential Reading - Books About Books

• If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
• Reading in Bed by Steven Gilbar
• Library at Night by Alberto Manguel
  
• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
  
• Women Who Read Are Dangerous by Stefan Bollmann and Karen Joy Fowler
  
• A Reading Life by Alberto Manguel
• Living with Books by Alan Powers
• On the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski
• 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Dante Club (and others) by Matthew Pearl
• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
• On Reading by André Kertész
• Possession by A.S. Byatt
• Ex Libris by Ann Fadiman
• A Gentle Madness by Nicholas A. Basbanes
• Sixpence House by Paul Collins
• Patience and Fortitude by Nicholas A. Basbanes
• A Book of Books by Abelardo Morell and Nicholson Baker
• The King's English by Betsy Burton
• So Many Books by Gabriel Zaid
• Booked to Die by John Dunning
• Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
• The Company They Kept by Robert B. Silvers and Barbara Epstein
• Time Was Soft There by Jeremy Mercer
• The Whole Five Feet by Christopher Beha
• Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and Lucia Graves

Posted by: Inkwell Michelle

10 Top 10s

Owen Davies' Top 10 Grimoires

John Reader's Top 10 Potato Books

Reading Copy Book Blog's Top 10 Egg Books

Stephen Smith's Top 10 Subterranean Books

Bookfinder's Top 10 Books About Bookselling

Resume Bear's Top 10 Career & Job Search Books

MereComments' Top 10 Bad Books Everybody Read

Brian McGilloway's Top 10 Modern Irish Crime Novels

Michael Krepon's Top 10 Books on Nuclear Weapons & Arms Control

Best Damn Creative Writing Blog's Top 10 Books Americans Want Banned

Lit Lists

The Comics Reporter has finally chosen his Best Comics of '08.

Charlie English (The Snow Tourist) picks his Top 10 Snow Books.

Laura Lippman (Life Sentences) comes clean about her 10 Favorite Memoirs.

GQ Magazine recommends 20 graphic novels you should read after Watchmen.

Karl Knausgaard (A Time to Every Purpose Under Heaven) confesses his Top 10 Literary Depictions of Angels.

An Aussie website is holding an ongoing poll to find out the Top 100 Sci-Fi Books. You're welcome to participate, mate.

Another online poll, this one held by The Romance Reader. How many of their Top 100 Romance Books have you used as...er...inspiration?

Oy vey! Hanukkah is Only Five Days Away!

Hanukkah starts this Sunday at sundown. Have you bought your Jewish friends their gifts yet? We Chosen Ones don't want to wait 'til the 25th for our presents any more than you want to wait 'til the 29th* for yours. But you jolly Gentiles needn't despair. (Despair is our thing!) Books Etc. has put together a list of Hanukkah Gifts for Adults.** You use this, and you'll go from insensitive shmoiger to goen Goy -- instantly.

*The 29th is the last day of Hanukkah, y'all.
** Don't worry about our kids. They're easy. They want video games, just like the uncircumcised ones.

Go, Look!Recommended Christmas Reads

Livejournalist 'morningapproach' asked an online literary group 'What are some of your favourite holiday books?' The responses so far have been quite good, and the longer the list gets, the more out there the recommendations become. (Ever heard of The Stupidest Angel? Me neither. But it's a zombie Christmas book, so I'm sold!)
Click here to read and/or contribute.

Best Of 2008...already?!

I pity the books that get released in November and December. They always get left off of lists like these:

NPR's Top Five Crime And Mystery Novels Of 2008
Publisher's Weekly's Best Books Of '08
Amazon's The Best Graphic Novels of 2008
Amazon's Top Ten 2008 Erotic Romance books
Booklist's Top 10 Arts Books: 2008
The NYTimes' Best Illustrated Children’s Books 2008
Creative Loafing's Best Cookbooks 2008

Sexy Blacks

Naw, this ain't a Wesley Snipes post. This is my Top 5 Comics Artists Who Use India Ink Boldly & Beautifully post.

5. Jim Rugg (Street Angel, The Plain Janes)


4. Eddie Campbell (Alec, From Hell)


3. Paul Pope (THB, Escapo)


2. Jaime Hernandez (Love & Rockets)


1. Alex Toth (Zorro, Space Ghost, a million other gorgeous looking comics and cartoons)

Top 5 Prison Books(because even the most relaxed rectum won't hold six)

Cast the First Stone
Chester Himes
From enotes.com: Cast the First Stone (1952) is another of Himes's semi-autobiographical novels. The main character, Jim Monroe, is a white man, but seems to represent Himes as is evidenced by their similarities: both attended college, suffered a serious back injury, and were sentenced to 25 years for armed robbery. The novel focuses on the growth that Monroe experiences while in prison, and is notable for its direct treatment of homosexual relationships in prison.

Escape from Colditz; The two classic escape stories: The Colditz story, and Men of Colditz
P. R Reid
From Iron Gumby: Escape from Colditz is a factual book which reads like a fictional work. P.R. Reid who wrote the book is the main character who is narrating, and participating in the story. The book tells how the Prisoners of war during World War Two lived in confinement and how they used their surroundings to make their escape using replicated German uniforms, and a glider constructed of bed frames and fabric hidden in the attic of a chapel. The prisoners are all bent on escape and the story is how these men plan to flee to Sweden.

Papillon
Henri Charriere
From dooyoo.co.uk: In a nutshell, this book is a tale of Papillons many escape attempts to get away from the penal settlements in French Guiana (many of which were sucessful in the short term) and the amazing lengths he went to to avoid spending the rest of his life repenting a crime he was innocent of. In the end he only served 13 years of his sentence, but to survive 13 years in the environment he found himself in was an accomplishment it itself. He continually escaped, was re-captured, escaped again, was re-captured again and it goes on and on. His escape attempts were daring as he said he'd rather die trying to be a free man than carry on living in the living hell he was in. His final escape was made from Devil's Island, riding the biggest wave that hit the island chained to a sack full of coconut shells.

Are Prisons Obsolete?
Angela Davis
From Political Affairs Magazine: Just a little over 30 years ago the entire prison population stood at 200,000 in the US; that is a tenfold jump in just one generation. In California alone, 3 prisons were built between 1852 and 1952; from 1984 to the present, over 80 facilities were constructed that now house almost 160,000 people. While being jailed or imprisoned has become “an ordinary dimension of community life,” according to Davis, for men in working-class Black, Latino, Native American and some Asian American communities, it is also increasingly an issue women of these communities have come to face.
Davis points to the increased involvement of corporations in prison construction, security, health care delivery, food programs and commodity production using prison labor as the main source of the growth of the prison-industrial complex. As prisons became a new source of profits, it became clear to prison corporations that more facilities and prisoners were needed to increase income. It is evident that increased crime is not the cause of the prison boom. Davis writes “that many corporations with global markets now rely on prisons as an important source of profits helps us to understand the rapidity with which prisons began to proliferate precisely at a time when official studies indicated that the crime rate was falling.”

Arkham Asylum: Living Hell
by Dan Sloott and Ryan Sook
From Jorge: This book is good, creepy fun! Much like the old HBO show OZ, this is the story of all the inmates in a prison, but this time around it's the prison for all of Batman's villains. We follow an all new character, the Great White Shark (a white collar criminal), as he is thrown into the loony bin with the rest of Batman's bad guys. Will he make it out alive? How will this experience change him? Or is he possibly a new Bat-villian in the making? Those are the questions that keep you flipping page after page in this book.
The first half of the book is some of the best Batman/Gotham City stories I've read in a long time. What makes it even more impressive is that Batman is barely in it! And most of the characters (Humpty Dumpty, Death Rattle, Jane Doe, and Junkyard Dog) are new. But they FEEL like they've been Batman characters for YEARS. That's where this book really excels. I had to go online and make sure that there weren't Batman stories that I'd missed over the years. And that, right there, is something very special that the writer and artist pulled off effortlessly. I bought that these were longstanding Bat-villains. And they are SO good, that I hope future Batman writers incorporate them into future stories.
The second half of this book takes a drastic and sudden turn into, what I feel, is a wrong direction. The rug gets pulled out from under us and the prison drama we were reading suddenly turns into a horror film. It's the same drastic turn like the movie Dusk Till Dawn. And, in this case, it really doesn't work.
However, even in the later half of the book, there are STILL priceless Bat-villain moments-- like the Joker's escape, his subsequent palindrome crimes, and his eventual "run in" with Batman. With that in mind, I'd recommend buying this book. Because even though it takes a wrong turn and slightly stumbles, even then it's still better than most of the Batman books out there. And the first half of the book (especially the Humpty Dumpty issue) when everything's working, Arkham Asylum: Living Hell is some of the best Batman work I've ever read!

I've Gone To Canada to Visit Librairie Premiere-- My Fourth Favorite Combination Comic Book Shop/Used SF Bookstore in The World!

I'll be back on Monday the 13th.


Until then, entertain yourselves with this...
Blog-Jacking: IO9
Scientists Pick The Greatest Books And Movies Of All Time
Originally posted Oct 1 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
At last, the most important works of science fiction are being determined scientifically. New Scientist magazine is doing a special science fiction issue on Nov. 15, and the magazine is polling its science-boffin readers as to the greatest books and movies in the genre. The magazine's own staff have already voted, and you might not be surprised by the books they put first. But you may have some issues with their most hated movies and books.

It's hard to quibble with their picks for best movies and books. Being mostly Brits, the New Scientist group put Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy at the top of the novel heap. Iain M. Banks would have won, but his vote was split among a few of his books. (Including Feersum Enjinn. Really?) Frank Herbert's Dune also came close to winning. The best movie, according to the NS crew, was Blade Runner, followed by 2001: A Space Odyssey, Solaris and Serenity.

To read the picks for Worst SF, click here.

Recommended Summer Reading

It's not often that the staff at Inkwell reads the same book; we have an unwritten rule that we should diversify our reading selections to cut a wider swath through the books released each season. Who gets to read what is determined by who is the swiftest at attacking the new ARCs (Advance Reading Copies).

So when two copies of The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Dial Press, $22.00) floated around the store, Kathleen and I both snared a copy without realizing the other had one. When we discovered that not only were we reading the same book, but that we both absolutely loved it, all that was left to do was to select it as our top pick for the summer. It hits bookshelves on July 29th, and we can't wait to start handselling it to our fellow avid booklovers.

Here's the basic plot:
January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of WW2, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island, boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters.

Both witty and moving, the novel is told entirely through letters sent between the characters. Mary Ann Shaffer has worked as a librarian and bookseller, and her love for books shines throughout the pages. The power of literature to transform lives is evident in this wonderful book. Don't miss it!

p.s. Thanks to Michael Kindness, our Random House rep, who handed the book to me and told me I would love it. He was so right! To see more perfect picks by our Random House reps, Michael & Ann, visit their blog/podcast, Books on the Nightstand, by clicking here.

Books on the Nightstand

Michael Kindess and Ann Kingman, two of our favorite sales reps (Random House), have a new blog called Books on the Nightstand. Now the whole world, not just New England booksellers, has the opportunity to partake of their special blend of passion, insight, and sheer enthusiasm for books! Listening to their podcasts made me want to take the day off and read for the next 10 hours straight. They are that persuasive when talking about books and authors that they love. Check out their blog & podcasts the next time you crave a good book. (Two books I'm adding to my must read list based on their suggestions are: Any Human Heart by William Boyd and Peace by Richard Bausch.)

NYTimes Best Sellers: Fiction (now with excerpts)

To read the first chapters (or, in the case of stingier authors and/or publishers, brief excerpts), simply click the titles.

1. Playing For Pizza by John Grisham

2. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

3. Dark Of The Moon by John Sandford

4. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

5. You've Been Warned by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

6. Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

7. Run by Ann Patchett

8. Shoot Him If He Runs by Stuart Woods

9. The Orc King by R.A. Salvatore

10. Dead Heat by Dick Francis and Felix Francis

NYTimes Best Sellers: Fiction (now with excerpts)

To read the first chapters (or, in the case of stingier authors and/or publishers, brief excerpts), simply click the titles.

1. Playing For Pizza by John Grisham

2. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

3. You've Been Warned by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

4. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

5. Shoot Him If He Runs by Stuart Woods

6. Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

7. The Orc King by R.A. Salvatore

8. Run by Ann Patchett

9. Dead Heat by Dick Francis and Felix Francis

10. Making Money by Terry Pratchett

NYTimes Best Sellers: Fiction (now with excerpts)

To read the first chapters (or, in the case of stingier authors and/or publishers, brief excerpts), simply click the titles.

1. You've Been Warned by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

3. Dead Heat by Dick Francis and Felix Francis

4. Making Money by Terry Pratchett

5. Pontoon by Garrison Keillor

6. The Wheel Of Darkness by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

7. Jonathan's Story by Julia London with Alina Adams

8. Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright

9. Bones To Ashes by Kathy Reichs

10. The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen

NYTimes Bestsellers: Fiction (now with excerpts!)

To read the first chapters (or, in the case of stingier authors and/or publishers, brief excerpts), simply click the titles.

1. You've Been Warned by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

3. Pontoon by Garrison Keillor

4. The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

3. Bones To Ashes by Kathy Reichs

4. Dark Possession by Christine Feehan

5. Bones To Ashes by Kathy Reichs

6. Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright

7. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

8. The Quickie by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

9. Dark Possession by Christine Feehan

10. The Elves of Cintra by Terry Brooks

New York Times Best Sellers: Fiction (now with excerpts!)

To read the first chapters (or, in the case of stingier authors and/or publishers, brief excerpts), simply click the titles.

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

2. The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

3. Bones To Ashes by Kathy Reichs

4. Dark Possession by Christine Feehan

5. The Elves of Cintra by Terry Brooks

6. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

7. Play Dirty by Sandra Brown

8. Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

9. The Quickie by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

10. Songs Without Words by Ann Packer