This may be the first time I’ve actually read more than ten books published in the current year, so I’m not ending up with a “default” Top 10 list. Some of these will most likely be in the running for my personal “Books of the Year” lists too, but those will be drawn from all of the books I read in 2009, regardless of the year of publication. However, just to preserve the suspense and make you come back to find out about those later, I won’t tell you which books those are.

My Top 10 of 2009 includes both fiction and nonfiction, and is listed in the order in which they were read; the titles are linked to my reviews, which are excerpted below as well.

Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni (memoir, rated 4/5): Some of the memoirs by journalists that I’ve read have felt more like a reporter’s work than someone’s own story – there’s almost too much detachment. Honeymoon in Tehran does not suffer from that sense of distance. While I thought that Moaveni documented the political and social climate in post-September 11 Iran well, it felt – appropriately – like context for her own experience; she strikes an excellent balance between the personal and the political.

Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace, by Ayelet Waldman (personal essays/memoir, rated 4/5): The book is an interesting combination of memoir and essay; each of the eighteen pieces in it (there’s a significance to that number which is explained in the Introduction) revolves around personal incidents which Waldman relates to her own reflections and opinions on parenting and society. Her opinions are strong and expressed with eloquence and passion.

The Unit, by Ninni Holmqvist (fiction – speculative/dystopian, rated 4/5): The Unit takes place in a modern society where, if you make it to the age of fifty (if you’re a woman – it’s sixty for men) without becoming a parent and/or pursuing a socially-beneficial profession, you are considered “dispensable.” You’re not “needed” – relationships with spouses, siblings, and even pets don’t count, nor do many jobs. However, there are still a few things you can do for “the community;” the Unit will make all the arrangements for them, and they’ll make your life quite comfortable in the bargain.

Admission, by Jean Hanff Korelitz (fiction – literary, rated 4/5): Fiction in an academic setting frequently appeals to me. However, despite that, I saw this as a “domestic” novel; the suspense and drama in the story are of the everyday, character-driven variety, and much of the plot wasn’t hard for me to anticipate. I like that too, though, so it wasn’t a drawback. But I think one’s reaction to the novel depends on how one feels about Portia, ultimately. I liked and related to her, and felt that her personal growth over the year spanned by the story was believable.

Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading, by Lizzie Skurnick (literary essays/memoir, rated 3.75/5): Shelf Discovery is a thoroughly enjoyable trip back through the books you may have grown up with – and the ones that helped you grow up – especially if you were a girl growing up during the 1970’s and ’80’s. Lizzie Skurnick has been discussing YA literature, and how it’s influenced the women we’ve become, online for a while; those essays are expanded here. The book is divided into ten genre/thematic sections, including tearjerkers, thrillers, romances, “issues” literature, and the adult, “dirty” books that we really were too young for; the essays themselves are labeled “book reports” or, for less-remembered titles, “extra credit.”

Still Alice, by Lisa Genova (fiction – women’s/literary, rated 4/5): I had postponed reading Still Alice because I was pretty sure it would be a difficult book for me, emotionally – and it was, but not quite in the way I expected it to be.  It got under my skin, and it’s stayed on my mind. It made me sad, although it didn’t make me cry; but more than that, it scared the hell out of me. I was engrossed and moved by Alice’s story, and I feel that it gave me a lot of insight into Alzheimer’s that I didn’t have before – but knowing more has made me more afraid of experiencing this than I was before, too.

The Possibility of Everything, by Hope Edelman (memoir, rated 3.75/5): Domestic drama frames this story, but its heart lies in the family’s experiences with a hospitable inn-keeping family, their explorations of the rainforest and the ancient ruins of pre-Columbian Central America, and their visits with two healers.  Edelman’s writing is conversational and full of detail, and her style is open and intimate; I found her voice appealing. I’ve never been especially curious about visiting Central America, but her descriptions of the sacred Mayan ruins made me think I’d like to see them. She brought me along on a journey with her family, and I never felt like an intruder. She revealed her self-awareness and shared her doubts and failings frankly; I was able to understand and empathize with them, even though I don’t think I would have addressed things the same way.

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins (fiction – young-adult/dystopian, rated 4.25/5): Katniss returns to the Hunger Games in the Quarter Quell, an “all-star” edition held every 25 years and played by previous winners. The premise of the Games themselves fascinated me. It’s the ultimate high-stakes reality-TV show, literally. They’re broadcast around the clock throughout the country, and the tributes become overnight celebrities who gain sponsors and renown as their numbers dwindle. The contestants may form alliances or mark each other as immediate targets. Some of them are playing out a storyline that may or may not have been fully revealed to them, and they’re all being manipulated and orchestrated by the Gamemakers who oversee everything. It’s Survivor + Big Brother with some Lord of the Flies and a touch of Lost mixed in, and I couldn’t pull myself away from it.

The Longest Trip Home, by John Grogan (memoir, rated 4/5): John Grogan is a born storyteller with a conversational writing style, and I found myself laughing out loud in numerous places while reading The Longest Trip Home, particularly during the first two sections. The last section of the book is more reflective and emotional, and readers with aging parents may feel it keenly. Grogan’s issues with the Catholic Church particularly resonated with me, because I have similar ones of my own.

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett (fiction – literary/historical, rated 4.25/5): I’ve just finished reading this, so my review isn’t posted yet…but it probably doesn’t matter, because you’ll be seeing this one in many book bloggers’ Top 10 lists. Kathryn Stockett’s first novel is a vivid, fascinating, and memorable story about the black maids who keep the houses and care for the children of the white housewives of Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s, the complex connections between them, and how the burgeoning civil-rights movement is beginning to change them all. This is another case of “a hundred book bloggers could be wrong, but they’re not” in their praise for this novel; The Help is a must-read.

Which of these have you read? Let’s discuss them in the comments, and tell me some of your 2009 favorites!