Monday, January 4, 2010

Gerard's Top 12 Books for 2009

Last year was an excellent reading year for me! I read 58 books which I am proud of. Most were very enjoyable and to pick just 12 for the best ones was hard. I went back and forth on my choices, but here is a list of my final top favorites for 2009 (Each are linked to my previous book reviews):

1. Pack of Two by Caroline Knapp
about an owner and her relationship with her dog and other owners and their relationship with their dogs.

2. Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton
about special forces in Afghanistan--nonfiction.

3. Boy In the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne about the Holocaust but fiction.

4. Last Stand of Fox company by Bob Duran and Tom Clavin about a group of Marines in the Korean war.

5. Public Enemies by Bryan Burrough about criminals and the beginning of the FBI--nonfiction.

6. Columbine by Dave Cullen about the shooting spree at Columbine High School--nonfiction.

7. When The Game Was Ours by Jackie MacMullan about basketball players Larry Bird and Magic Johnson-nonfiction.

8. Life's That Way by Jim Beaver about a husband dealing with his wife who has cancer--nonfiction.

9. First Fall Classic by Mike Vaccaro about the beginning of a baseball league--nonfiction.

10. A Dog's Life--Autobiography of a Stray by Ann Martin about a stray dog told from the dog's point of view. Karen liked this one too!

11. Adventures With Ari by Kathryn Miles)about her, her dog and nature--nonfiction.

12. The Unlikely disciple by Kevin Roose about a college boy at Brown University transferring to Liberty University to see what Evangelicals were really like--nonfiction.

Your comments are welcome. I'd be interested to know if any of you read any of these that I recommended and what books you liked best that you read last year. As you can see from the above list, I like nonfiction books best.

Have a blessed and Happy New Year!

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10 comments:

Daisy said...

We saw the movie "Boy in the Striped Pajamas." It was hard to watch, but we're glad we saw it.

Rebecca Mecomber said...

Some of these look interesting. I am an avid non-fiction book reader. Although, my book lists grow shorter and shorter every year, because I spend more time on the Internet, reading blogs. :S

Rebecca @ FreakyFrugalite

BeadedTail said...

I read Columbine last year too. We lived in Colorado when that tragedy happened so I remember a lot of what he wrote about but boy, did he ever make it real all over again.

Helene said...

Thanks for sharing this list! I wondered about the Boy in the Striped Pajamas so I'm glad to see it on your list. I heard about the Columbine book on GMA and I'm still not sure I get through the whole thing without constantly sobbing.

Katinka said...

Stopping by from SITS and wishing you a HAPPY TUESDAY!!!

Melissa B. said...

I read Columbine, and it still makes me sad. Those of us who worked in high schools during that terrible time still bear the emotional scars.

Anonymous said...

That's awesome!
Seems like I never have time to read books anymore.

gm said...

Cullen , who first reported on the story for the online magazine Salon, acknowledges in the book's source notes that thoughts he attributes to Klebold and Harris are conjecture gleaned from the record the pair left behind.

Jeff Kass takes a more straightforward approach in "Columbine: A True Crime Story," working backward from the events of the fateful day.
The Denver Post

Mr. Cullen insists that the killers enjoyed "far more friends than the average adolescent," with Harris in particular being a regular Casanova who "on the ultimate high school scorecard . . . outscored much of the football team." The author's footnotes do not reveal how he knows this; when I asked him about it while preparing this review, Mr. Cullen said he did not necessarily mean to imply that Harris was sexually active. But what else would such words mean?

"Eric and Dylan never had any girlfriends," the more sober Mr. Kass writes, and were "probably virgins upon death."
Wall Street Journal

The Silver Age Sara said...

I think I'd be more likely to read the books on Karen's list although some of yours look very interesting as well.
How was the book on Columbine? Such an awful tragedy. I still remember it so vividly.

The Bumbles said...

I gave Andy "When the Game was Ours" for X-Mas which he is reading and enjoying now. Jackie MacMullan is a terrific writer and I enjoy watching her on ESPN and listening to her weekly on the local Boston sports radio interviews. I miss reading her in the Globe though.

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