Posted on: 12/19/09
Updated to add Going Bovine ’cause I read it after I posted this list, but before the end of 2009.
For some reason, I have recently gotten a lot of requests for reading lists, people asking me what are some good books (“Other than yours”) that they should dip into.
I always like that little parenthetical, BTW. First of all, because it assumes I would only recommend my own books. Second of all, because — well, if you’re asking my opinion on what you should read, then I assume you’ve alreadyread my books! Why else would you care what I think?
In any event, here’s a list of some terrific books I read over the past twelve months. These are not the only books I read this year — they’re just the ones that, for whatever reason, really jumped out at me and smacked me in the face. They include a lot of YA (of course), but also a graphic novel, a very cool chapter book, a collection of letters, a satire, an adult collection, and a terrific biography.
If you try any of them, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the time spent.
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
- The Development by John Barth
- Ten Mile River by Paul Griffin
- Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
- Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom ed. by Leonard S. Marcus
- Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
- After the Moment by Garret Freymann-Weyr
- Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have by Allen Zadoff
- King of Murder by Betsy Byars
- The Stone Child by Dan Poblocki
- The Vampire Just Is Not that Into You by Vlad Mezrich
- The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
- I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon by Crystal Zevon
- Blue Pills by Frederik Peeters
- The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecelia Galante
- Going Bovine by Libba Bray