Book picks of the year

I have a habit of re-reading the books I like best. A good example is Dune, for which the same paperback edition I read in (gulp) 1976 is still on my shelf and barely hanging together. Sadly the same can't be said for my copy of the first three Earthsea books, which fell apart from severe overuse long ago. Fortunately I married someone with her own copy so all is not lost.

Which books of 2009 will join this august company? I read piles of books I liked, but which will I be coming back to?

For me there are two absolute standouts...

A Trace Of Smoke, Rebecca Cantrell

The Ghosts Of Belfast, Stuart Neville

...and there are these great books, all of which can expect to see worn covers and tattered pages:

A Bad Day For Sorry, Sophie Littlefield

The Naked Olympics, Tony Perrottet

The Janissary Tree, Jason Goodwin

Secondhand Spirits, Juliet Blackwell

Nox Dormienda, Kelli Stanley

And there are these two ongoing series which I love:

The Aimée Léduc stories of Cara Black

The SPQR series of John Maddox Roberts


Wishing you all a fantastic 2010!

9 comments:

Carrie Clevenger said...

A Bad Day for Sorry is going on my bookshelf if it kills me. Great picks. Luke has an Ender's Game like your Dune. :)

Gary Corby said...

Luke has good taste, I love Ender's Game too.

A Bad Day For Sorry is your sort of book, Carrie. I don't know if the elves finished printing more copies yet; it was sold out 2 months ago (which is a hint for how good it is).

Kelli Stanley said...

Gary, thank you so much for the New Year's Eve present! :)

And I can't wait to read your book! Just let me know if I need to bone up on my Greek ... I've been in 1940 so long, my ancient slang is a little rusty. ;)

Hope to see you at Left Coast Crime and certainly at Bouchercon in San Francisco.

Happy New Year, buddy!

xoxo

nephite blood spartan heart said...

Ive been meaning to start the SPQR series and I love Dune too.

Sophie Littlefield said...

Well thank you, darling book-recommending elf! Yup, there's more BAD DAYS than anyone could possibly want now. :) Nice list!

Stephanie Thornton said...

I keep hearing about A Bad Day for Sorry so I'll need to pick that one up next time I'm at the bookstore.

And can you believe I've never read SPQR? I'm such a bad history teacher!

Happy New Year, Gary!

Meghan said...

I'll have to check these out they sound really interesting! Happy New Year too!

Kari Lynn Dell said...

A while back Susan Adrian reminded me how much I loved Mary Stewart's books when I was in high school. Having moved back to my small home town, I went to the library just to check. They have a new edition of The Crystal Cave, but The Hollow Hills was the exact same book I held in my teenaged hands. Very cool.

Gary Corby said...

Hi Kelly, since I know 1% of the Greek you do I think you're safe. Other than common terms the only Greek in there is the occasional kalimera. I won't make it to Left Coast Crime, but Bouchercon for sure.

For everyone mentioning SPQR, it has a unique distinction: the first mystery series ever set in the ancient world. Roberts has an encyclopedic knowledge of late Republican Roman politics.

That's very cool Kari! I hope you didn't scribble in The Hollow Hills, or the librarians will be after you.