The Best and Worst of 2009

Here are my favorite -- and least favorite -- books of the year.

First, the best. I picked my favorite ten, but they aren't ranked beyond that. I tried to rank them in order of favorites, but it was simply too difficult. Quite simply, these were all amazing novels.

THE BEST

- Benjamin, Alice I Have Been
- Collins, The Hunger Games
- DuMaurier, My Cousin Rachel
- DuMaurier, Rebecca
- Phillips, Angelica
- Phillips, The Egyptologist
- Savage, Firmin
- Simmons, Drood
- Waters, The Little Stranger
- Vidal, Julian

And now, for my least favorites. I gave decent reviews of some at the time but found they do not hold up in retrospect. Thus, this list is not so much about "bad" books as it is about books I simply didn't enjoy. (Labeling it "The Worst" is somewhat of a misnomer, but will work in place of the wordier "Books I Didn't Jive With.")

THE WORST

- Brown, The Lost Symbol
- Coupland, JPod
- Fforde, The Fourth Bear
- Freund, I Never Saw Paris
- Hyde, The Abortionist's Daughter
- Koja, The Cipher
- Millhauser, Dangerous Laughter
- Moody, Right Livelihoods
- Oppegaard, The Suicide Collectors
- Sijie, Mr. Muo's Travelling Couch

A Year in Reading: 2009

Well, folks, it's once again time for my Year in Review.

I didn't read as many books this year as I would have liked. I managed to finish 71, when last year, I read 88. In 2007, I read 77. So this was a pretty crappy year, reading wise. Oh, and my reading resolution? Pretty much crapped out on that one. That's okay: I'll be trying again in 2010.

I'm not going to be too hard on myself for reading fewer books this year than in the last two years; I had some chunksters in there (such as Drood and Armadale) that caused me to slow down a bit. (Sure, let's go with that.)

I'll highlight my best and worst later; for now, here's the full tally:

JANUARY

1. Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2. Bachelder, Bear v. Shark
3. Coupland, JPod
4. Davidson, The Gargoyle
5. Diaz, The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao
6. Gottlieb, Now You See Him
7. Hyde, The Abortionist's Daughter
8. Lippman, What the Dead Know
9. McEwan, On Chesil Beach
10. Thomas, The End of Mr. Y
11. Tinti, The Good Thief


FEBRUARY

12. Collins, The Moonstone
13. Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
14. Hill, 20th Century Ghosts
15. Millhauser, Dangerous Laughter
16. Moody, Right Livelihoods
17. Przekop, Aberrations


MARCH

18. DuMaurier, Rebecca
19. Lehane, Mystic River
20. Moerk, Darling Jim
21. Moore, Fool
22. O'Nan, Songs for the Missing


APRIL

23. Ferris, Then We Came to the End
24. Freund, I Never Saw Paris
25. Lerman, The Blonde on the Train
26. Mabanckou, African Psycho
27. Matheson, Button, Button
28. Simmons, Drood
29. Thomson, The Book of Revelation


MAY

30. Brown, Angels and Demons
31. Oliver, Evidence: Poems
32. Vidal, Julian
33. Wray, Lowboy


JUNE

34. Brown and Presley, The Liberation Diet
35. von Daniken, Chariots of the Gods
36. Doyle, I Love You, Beth Cooper
37. Eco, The Name of the Rose
38. Irving, The World According to Garp
39. Kurlansky, The Food of a Younger Land
40. Waters, Fingersmith
41. Wood, Lottery


JULY

42. Dick, Martian Time-Slip
43. Fforde, The Fourth Bear
44. Hall, The Raw Shark Texts
45. King, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
46. Sijie, Mr. Muo's Travelling Couch
47. Smith, The Secret Speech
48. Stewart, The Ivy Tree
49. del Toro and Hogan, The Strain


AUGUST

50. Phillips, Angelica
51. Waters, The Little Stranger


SEPTEMBER

52. Benjamin, Alice I Have Been
53. Brown, The Lost Symbol
54. Collins, The Hunger Games
55. Maitland, Company of Liars
55. Sigler, Infected
56. Simmons, A Winter Haunting


OCTOBER

57. Atwood, The Year of the Flood
58. DuMaurier, My Cousin Rachel
59. Niffenegger, Her Fearful Symmetry
60. Sigler, Contagious


NOVEMBER

61. Collins, Armadale
62. Cottam, The House of Lost Souls
63. Koja, The Cipher
64. Preston, The Hot Zone
65. Sapphire, Push


DECEMBER

66. Clark, The Great Stink
67. Klein, The Moth Diaries
68. Long, Year Zero
69. Oppegaard, The Suicide Collectors
70. Phillips, The Egyptologist
71. Savage, Firmin

A mystery, some history, and a whole lotta poop

The Great Stink
Clare Clark

This is a crazy bit of a book right here. Quite a large...erm, chunk (gag) of the action takes place in the London sewers (the sewers of 150 years ago, mind you), where all sorts of filth rush past one's feet. Filth. And disease. And rats. Oh, and did I say filth? Because I meant poop. VOMIT.

Anyway, our story follows two different individuals, both of whom rely on the sewers to make their livelihood, albeit in entirely different ways. There's Long Arm Tom, a "tosher" who enters the sewers to find and trap rats used aboveground in dogfighting. And then there's poor William May, so traumatized by his time spent in the war that he enters the tunnels for reasons far darker than those required by his official job. (He is an engineer helping to map the current sewer so that it might be improved.)

The two stories twist and turn and ultimately collide at the end -- but in the meantime, readers are treated not only to a look at one of the grossest places ever -- and May does WHAT there?!?!? Does he not understand DISEASE??? -- as well as a look at life in England during the Victorian period.

In a nutshell: A bit slow in places, but an overall an enjoyable read with a satisfactory resolution.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: Yep, another one I bought. I'm sensing a pattern here.

Another day, another apocalypse

The Suicide Collectors
David Oppegaard

Another book about the end of the world! What can I say, I've been feeling a little apocalyptic.

Anyway, this one's an odd duck. So, right: the end of the world has come, this time due to the suicide of nearly everyone on the planet. After some time, these odd "suicide collectors" arrive to collect the body of the deceased. Time passes, and, as our novel opens, our protagonist (Norman) and his friend (Pops), hearing rumors of survivors in Seattle, decide to leave their homes in Florida to see what's up.

As our story unfolds, taking us through the ruins of America, we encounter survivors, who are handling the apocalypse in different ways. Some are good, some are bad, you get the point. Onward to Seattle.

Upon arriving in Seattle, Norman becomes mixed up with the scientists attempting to solve the suicide problem. And then he blows something up, although what it is, I was never sure. Unfortunately, that's the major problem with The Suicide Collectors: there's no explanation. Why did everyone start killing themselves? I dunno. Why do the collectors collect the bodies? What are they doing with them? Not sure. What is this mysterious thing Norman blows up? Not sure of that, either.

The Suicide Collectors suffers from other flaws as well; some scenes are simply too incredible, the characters somewhat flat. On the positive side, however, the plotting is fantastic and the novel barrels along, allowing me to read it entirely in the course of a few hours.

In a nutshell: Interesting idea, but a lack of explanation and clunky writing undermines the intriguing premise.

Bibliolatry Scale: 2 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: Yep, bought this one too.

I can't believe I cried over a rat

Firmin
Sam Savage

If you're a book lover, you absolutely must read Firmin. Firmin is, well, a rat -- but he's the most likable fellow I've met in a long time.

Living in the basement of a bookstore in the 1960s, Firmin survives his early years by munching on the likes of Joyce and Melville. Soon, however, he learns that books are not for eating, but for reading -- and read he does, becoming arguably the most-educated rat to ever live.

Unfortunately, with his increasing knowledge comes a self-awareness that is none too kind. As Firmin becomes all-too-aware of his own limitations, he yearns for a greater life than the one he must endure.

Filled with allusions and pathos, Firmin is a book for everyone -- but especially for those who love literature. And look: the book comes replete with its own little bite mark. Sigh. I love you, Firmin!

In a nutshell: This is one rat you can't help but love. You can live with me, little buddy!

Bibliolatry Scale: 6 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I bought this one myself.

A disease from the past? Great, something else to fear.

Year Zero
Jeff Long

About two years ago, I happened upon Jeff Long's Deeper, and I knew I had to read more by this author. A month ago, when searching for some good "Kindle books," I found my second opportunity to hang out with this author.

The plot for this one sounds rather complicated (it doesn't feel complicated when reading the novel, thankfully), so bear with me. A big earthquake levels much of the Middle East. Boo. However, parts of Jesus' actual neighborhood are now accessible. Yay! Unfortunately, some of the artifacts are tainted with disease. Boo. Now a deadly plague is tearing across the globe. Poop.

Nathan Lee, our intrepid protagonist, after numerous adventures that culminate in his imprisonment in a Tibetan jail, finds himself unguarded once the plague begins to rear its ugly head. Finally free, he slowly makes his way to America, specifically Los Alamos, where surviving scientists struggle to find a cure for the plague. Lee's in for an even bigger surprise, though: the scientists are making clones from the DNA found on the artifacts! And then things go from bad to worse. Oh boy.

Year Zero provides readers with an interesting, thrilling scenario. While I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Deeper, I was entertained enough to want to search out more by Jeff Long. And I won't wait another two years to do it, either!

In a nutshell: Intriguing and fast paced, Year Zero was an original and fun read.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I bought this one for the Kindle.

Christmas loot!

Santa was, once again, very good to me. Here's a list of all the books I received for Christmas. Have you read any of these?

The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories
Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture
Christopher Buckley, Boomsday
Tracy Chevalier, Burning Bright
Deborah Eisenberg, Twilight of the Superheroes
George Eliot, The Lifted Veil and Brother Jacob
Rachel Klein, The Moth Diaries
Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood
Arthur Phillips, The Egyptologist
Douglas Preston, The Monster of Florence
Peter Straub, Ghost Story
Terese Svoboda, Trailer Girl
Peter Watts, Blindsight
Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Shadow of the Wind

There isn't enough Purell in the world

The Hot Zone
Richard Preston

The Hot Zone is a book I read in November. Thankfully, after this, I'll be all caught up and will be able to cover some December reads. NICE.

I don't know why, but I've been reading a lot of disturbing books lately, mostly one that involves end-of-the-world scenarios. And while The Hot Zone doesn't necessarily concern the end of the world, it was apocalyptic enough for me.

The Hot Zone is all about EBOLA. In fact, that's how I imagine the word in my head: all in caps. It's just that intense. Lord knows I'm paranoid enough about such things, so I can only wonder what possessed me to read this book. (Actually, I do know. It was Heather's review of it. Gee, thanks, Heather.) Needless to say, if EBOLA ever hits my area, I'm throwing myself in front of a bus at the first warning symptom. I'll be damned if I'm going to endure the grueling progression of this disease.

Wait -- what? It sloughs...off? And comes out where???
FML.

Besides the disturbing nature of the book (which the sick part of me took delight in), there were some drawbacks. I had an issue with the organization of the book, since it jumped around a bit in parts, and a few parts dragged while others were repetitive. Overall, however, The Hot Zone was a frightening, all-too-real read. And I won't even mention the part about how EBOLA arrived in Washington D.C. a little over a decade ago. FEARPARANOIAVOMIT.

In a nutshell: Not for the faint of heart, The Hot Zone is a terrifying true story that reminds why I hate leaving my house and interacting with dirty humans.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I bought this one for my library, in case I ever want to enjoy the gruesomeness again.

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now

Push
Sapphire

Woohoo -- I've finished reviews left over from October; now it's time for some tardy reviews from last month. No more tardy for the party!

So, I was doing a little Amazon shopping a few weeks ago, when I needed just a wee bit more for free shipping -- six buckies, to be exact. Amazon kindly made some recommendations, and I found Push for exactly six bucks. Six bucks?!?!? And it didn't even have the annoying movie tie-in cover? Sold!

Most of you are probably already aware that Push is the novel that has been made into the movie Precious, which has lately taken Hollywood by storm. While I haven't seen the movie, I have seen enough interviews with the actors in the film to know that I wanted to know more about this story.

Prose-wise, Push is a simple enough read, and I read it entirely over my Sunday-morning coffee. Prose aside, however, Push is not an easy book to read. Precious is badly abused by both her mother and her father, and her struggle to escape the cycle of violence is heartwrenching. Some passages are quite difficult to read, and -- I'm sure you could see this coming -- I cried more than once.

In a nutshell: Precious's story might disturb you, but her spirit will enchant you.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: Dammit, I just said I bought this for myself from Amazon!

The real horror is next door to us

Contagious
Scott Sigler

Another day closer to 2010, another late review.

This time, I'm reviewing another of October's reads -- Contagious, the sequel to Infected, which I read in September. Contagious follows our intrepid hero and anti-hero as they seek to stop the impending invasion.

Contagious, like its predecessor, is relentless in its pacing; once you commit to the opening pages (actually, scratch that -- once you read Infected), you won't be able to put this book down until the last page.

Contagious picks up pretty much where Infected left off. Margaret Montoya and Dew Phillips have teamed up with badass Perry Dawsey to stave off the new wave of the invasion. Doing so won't be easy, however -- these aliens are feisty buggers with more than one trick up their sleeves.

The only thing that didn't polish my brass was a few overly-political scenes in which the President and his Cabinet debate how to handle the attack. I also hated how the female Secretary of State was a bleeding-heart liberal who felt that the loss of any innocent life was unconscionable. I consider myself a pretty liberal person, but in the event of any invasion -- alien, zombie, Canadian -- even I say shoot first, ask later. Sorry, Canada.

In a nutshell: Not as awesome as Infected (I actually felt a slight pang in ye olde heart after reading the ending, which was heart-wrenching, albeit utterly appropriate), but pretty awesome nonetheless. In fact, I'm looking up other Sigler titles as I type this. Hello, Ancestor. I'll be seeing you in 2010.

Bibliolatry Scale: 5 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I purchased Contagious for the Kindle.

The end of the world as we know it

The Year of the Flood
Margaret Atwood

Gah! The end of the year is when????? And I'm how many reviews behind???? Erm.

Anyway -- Atwood. I read this one back in October, and have been pondering my review ever since. Now, I'm rushed and won't give it the attention I intended. Oh well.

If you aren't familiar with TYoTF, Atwood returns to the world she created in Oryx and Crake. It's the future, things are bad, evil corporations do evil things...you get the point. Now a disease has wiped out much of humanty, and the survivors struggle for survival. TYoTF focuses on some of these survivors, while Oryx and Crake focused on the origins of the plague.

To get to the point, I enjoyed TYoTF, even if I didn't think it was one of her best works. And, while I didn't think it was necessary to have read Oryx and Crake immediately before (I had read it in 2004), I was annoyed that I didn't remember more of the connections. Since some of the characters in Oryx and Crake reappear in TYoTF, I was frustrated more by knowing I was forgetting something, which might have prevented me from better enjoying the book.

One thing that bothered me by TYoTF were those passages I found "skim-worthy," -- for example, the hymns and sermons that precede the chapters. At first they provided an interesting look into the world of TYoTF, but after awhile I felt they were just slowing me down.

In a nutshell: Not her best, but admirable nevertheless.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I purchased this one for my library.

I think Wilkie Collins just blew my mind

This post is part of the Classics Circuit; please visit the site for more stops on the Wilkie Collins Tour!

Armadale
Wilkie Collins

I just don't get it. I don't understand how anyone can take a story as impossible and outrageous as this one and make it not only credible, but convincing. Clearly, the man was a master.

The events of Armadale (more incredible than those of The Woman in White and The Moonstone) nearly defy easy summary. Long story short, two men end up with the same name of Allan Armadale. One kills the other. Each has a son, also named Allan Armadale, who grows up never knowing of his "other." Years pass, and -- you guessed it -- they meet. (Cue dramatic music.) Then things get REALLY complicated.

There's more, of course -- lots more (the above is really only the first 100 pages of an 800+ monster). As in my previous encounters with Wilkie, the plot hinges on coincidence after coincidence, yet things never feel contrived even though they clearly are. Wilkie makes the impossible possible.

Armadale is also interesting for its comment on identity and the nature of free will. Are the sons of the first generation bound by the sins of their fathers? Can they redeem their fathers? And what of Lydia Gwilt, one of the most fascinating, corrupt villains I've had the pleasure of meeting? In an early glimpse into her character, she writes, "I am in one of my tempers to-night. I want a husband to vex, or a child to beat, or something of that sort. Do you ever like to see the summer insects kill themselves in the candle? I do, sometimes." And that's what she says when she's being charming! I don't want to say too much about her and ruin the fun, but trust me -- Armadale is worth reading for Lydia Gwilt alone.

An utterly fascinating, entertaining, and intelligent novel, Armadale exceeded even my high expectations. What seems like a confusing premise is anything but confusing in its execution. In fact, Armadale might have just toppled The Woman in White. I adored Count Fosco, but he is simply no match for Lydia Gwilt.

In a nutshell: How do you do it, Wilkie? I want to learn the ways of the Force.

Bibliolatry Scale: 6 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I proudly paid for this one! (In fact, I snagged the Oxford edition AND a free Kindle edition, so I always had it at my fingertips!)

Rachel, my torment

My Cousin Rachel
Daphne DuMaurier

I've been meaning to post about my lastest encounter with the late, great Daphne DuMaurier. Not too long ago, I read Rebecca, and I was floored. I knew I had to read something else by this author, and when I found a discounted version of My Cousin Rachel, I knew fate was on my side.

It wasn't long before fate and I had yet another run-in, this time during one momentous day in October when I was called for jury duty. Thankfully, I remembered my new friend and brought her along for the day. We had a wonderful time together, as we eagerly anticipated hearing each subsequent round of suckers jurors who were next up. I dodged a bullet that day, but if it weren't for the experience, I might not have been able to read My Cousin Rachel. Each hellacious hour was filled with this spellbinding story, and while reading I was able to imagine that I was far from the courthouse that day.

Instead, I was on the estate of Philip Ashley (AKA Idiot Who Needs a Smack in the Head). Philip, who has been raised by his cousin Ambrose, looks back on his life and the choices that have brought him to this moment. Idiot takes us back in time, to a time when Ambrose was still alive. They loved one another. A lot. (But not like that -- jeez.)

At any rate, they love one another so much that Idiot fairly falls apart after Ambrose passes away. Ambrose, a confirmed bachelor (I'm pretty sure he likes to spit on the floor in the face of encroaching femininity or some such) goes off to Italy for a little healthification. While there, he meets his cousin Rachel, whom he -- previous misogyny be damned -- quickly marries. Unfortunately, the happy groom's health takes a turn for the worse, and it isn't long before he's dead. When Cousin Idiot learns the news, he is crushed.

Right: Olivia deHavilland as Rachel squares off against Richard Burton as the Idiot

Impetuously, he blames Rachel. But when he inherits the entire estate, it becomes clear that Rachel has no financial claim on anything. Perhaps his blame was hasty. But then Rachel returns to England, and all sorts of shit hit the fan. Philip is soon torn apart by powerful, conflicting forces: he falls in love with her, but also believes she had a hand in his cousin's death. Plenty of evidence support each side of the argument.

Was Rachel guilty? Did she poison Ambrose -- and does she mean to do the same to the idiot? One can only hope! (He's dumb enough to warrant it.) But don't worry about him: he's got a fool-proof plan for flushing her out into the open. Only, not. Read the book and be flabbergasted at that genius ending! Brilliant!

In a nutshell: The ambiguity! The uncertainty! DuMaurier, you've done it again.

Bibliolatry Scale: 6 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I bought this one meself, so la la la lala.

People, stop going to houses of evil

The House of Lost Souls
F.G. Cottam

Still focusing on nanowrimo, my reading time is severely impaired. Nevertheless, I managed to find time to squeeze in a little House of Lost Souls. I waited eagerly for it to arrive . . . and then took my good old time reading it. Had I not lagged while reading this novel, I might have liked it better. As it was, I started to forget details, and when things began to get a little complicated, I was confused.

The novel opens on a funeral, but not just any funeral, mind you. This one was to bury a suicide, the young girl offing herself after a particularly traumatic experience in the haunted Fischer House. Now, Paul Seaton -- who survived an encounter in the same house a decade earlier -- has been enlisted to help rid the remaining girls of the affliction that continues to stalk them. To save the survivors, Paul must return to the house and put an end to the evil that stalks the grounds. Before he does so, however, the author rewinds the clock, returning us to the events that unleashed the evil decades before.

The House of Lost Souls is creepy, atmospheric, and unsettling. It's a perfect novel to read while curled up on the sofa with the lights down low. At times, I felt the story was bogged down with extraneous information (while other elements, that I wanted to know more about, weren't given the same treatment), but the novel was nevertheless an entertaining, thrilling read, and intriguing enough that I plan to check out more of Cottam's work.

In a nutshell: A little more complicated in places than it needed to be, but I enjoyed it overall.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I bought this book myself.

This Funhole isn't that fun

The Cipher
Kathe Koja

Uh-oh. Nicholas, a would-be poet trapped in video store hell, has found a black hole in the basement. He and Nakota, his sometime girlfriend, become obsessed with it, dubbing it the Funhole and staring into its depths for hours on end.

Then they begin to experiment, lowering down a jar of bugs. Then, a mouse. Even a human hand. They do not return unscathed, the Funhole disturbingly altering them. Soon, they get the bright idea to send down a camcorder. Should be interesting, right?

As you might have guessed, things go from bad to worse for poor Nicholas and Nakota. Unfortunately, the same can be said for the book as a whole.

The impressionistic, often hazy style of writing often created confusion as to what was actually happening (it doesn't help that Nicholas is an alcoholic and not the most clear of narrators).

In a nutshell: Great premise, disappointing execution. (So says the hypocrite participating in nanowrimo. Yes, I'm aware of the irony.)

Bibliolatry Scale: 2 out of 6 stars

FTCBS: I got this one outta the library...thank heavens.