Best Reads of 2009 (So Far)

I'm inspired (as usual) by Jess, after a discussion on Tuesday night about the best books we've read so far this year. Jess detailed hers on her blog, and since I can never talk about/think about/read books too much, I've decided to follow suit (with some help from my Goodreads page, because I honestly can't remember all of the books I've read so far this year, and I don't want to leave out anything good).

10 Best '09 Reads (January - June)


1. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks (NF)
The top spot definitely belongs to World War Z, however; besides the fact that zombies are my new disaster movie, Brooks does an incredible job in detailing the zombie war from many different perspectives and in easily distinguishable voices -- no mean feat. Plus, the chapter on the dogs who worked with the military to locate and destroy zombies? Totally made me cry.


2. Y: The Last Man series by Brian K. Vaughn (graphic novel)
Jess's husband, Steve, gave me the first book in this series for my birthday last year, and I loved it. So I asked for volumes 2-10 for Christmas, and my awesome parents gave me all of them. What I love about Y: The Last Man is, first and foremost, the last man himself, Yorick Brown, who is simultaneously hysterical and heartbreaking. Actually, that phrase could really sum up the series as a whole. And the last pane of the story -- what an iconic, and entirely appropriate, image to end on.


3. The Troy trilogy: Lord of the Silver Bow, Shield of Thunder, Fall of Kings by David Gemmell (historical fiction)
I've already talked about the Troy trilogy ad nauseum, but that's because it is awesome!


4. Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (YA)
Jess knows me so well -- she gave me this end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it YA book (and its companion novel) for Christmas, and wow. Just wow. Miranda's voice is amazingly written, and Pfeffer doesn't pull any punches: when the moon is knocked closer to Earth by a meteor, there really are no astronauts headed up to put it back on course. I love that Pfeffer is relatively unflinching about how people react to disaster on a global scale.



5. Pledged by Alexandra Robbins (NF)
I was simultaneously fascinated and horrified by Robbins' in-depth look at sorority life, and I truly could not put this book down. I especially like how Robbins turns what is, by itself, the engrossing story of a year in the life of four sorority girls into a call for Panhellenic reform.

Well, I've managed to cover my top five and expended all of my remaining energy. I'll do the other half of my top ten tomorrow!