Westport Public Library BOOK blog

Here’s a challenge! Select the ten best books of 2009 from more than 50,000 reviews.
The editors at Publishers Weekly have come up with the following result:

AGE OF WONDER: HOW THE ROMANTIC GENERATION DISCOVERED THE BEAUTY AND TERROR OF SCIENCE by Richard Holmes
Focuses on British scientists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries who changed the cultural ideal of science to make it an adventure in the transformation of society.

AWAIT YOUR REPLY by Dan Chaon
Three stories of lost souls seeking their identities in an intricate interweaving of the real and the fake in an elegant thriller. Chaon was a National Book Award finalist for You Remind Me of Me.

BIG MACHINE by Victor Lavalle
Ex-heroin addict gets involved in a secret society investigating the legacy of an escaped slave who claimed to talk with the Voice (God.) Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man meets paranormal thriller. Other Lavalle titles: Slapboxing with Jesus and the new novel Ecstatic.

CHEEVER: A LIFE by Blake Bailey
Thoroughly researched overview of Cheever's life including his homosexuality and alcoholism.
This prolific author was a mass of contradictions. A heartfelt biography.

A FIERY PEACE IN A COLD WAR by Neil Sheehan
History of the men who built the intercontinental ballistic missile program in the 1950s and ‘60s. Underdog visionaries struggling to keep the peace and jump-start the space program populate this engrossing read. Sheehan’s Bright Shining Lie won both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award.

IN OTHER ROOMS, OTHER WONDERS by Daniyal Mueenuddin
Rich, interconnected short stories exploring the feudal society of a Lahore landowner.
Pakistani Mueenuddin is a Yale graduate who lives on a farm in his native land.

JEFF IN VENICE, DEATH IN VARANASI by Geoff Dyer
Twin novellas evoking empty lives, asking philosophical questions and making trenchant observations in an atmospheric and stylistic work.

LOST CITY OF Z: A TALE OF DEADLY OBSESSION IN THE AMAZON by David Grann
Classic adventure tale plus character study plus travel story in this look at the ancient Amazonian city that may or may not have existed. Grann grew up in Westport and spoke about his book at the Library. Podcast.

SHOP CLASS AS SOULCRAFT: AN INQUIRY INTO THE VALUE OF WORK by Matthew B. Crawford
Philosopher and motorcycle repair shop owner extols the value and rewards of working with one’s hands in a culture dominated by the more abstract standards of information technology. For another take on the loss of craftsmanship, read Cheap:the High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell.

STITCHES by David Small
Graphic autobiography of a small and unhappy boy whose haunting story is told in subtle and powerful drawings. David Small has participated in the Library’s Rabbit Hill Festival of Children’s Literature.

What’s on your ten best list of 2009?