Best Debut Fiction

From NPR, the Best Debut Fiction of 2009:

Stephen King's Favorite Books

Check out the Master of Horror's picks for the top books of 2009.

More Favorite Book Covers

In the third installment of the Book Design Review's Favorite Book Covers of 2009, The Book Table in Oak Park, IL offers their selections.

Books of the Decade

In addition to the end of the year lists, the end of the decade lists are starting to appear.  From the Guardian, 50 books that defined the decade.

2009 Biographies

2009 was a big year for biographies.  Here are some of the biographies appearing on the end of year Best-Of lists:

• Ayn Rand and the World She Made by Anne C. Heller

• Cheever: A Life by Blake Bailey

• Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor by Brad Gooch

• Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi

• The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America by Douglas Brinkley

• Samuel Johnson: A Biography by Peter Martin

• Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong by Terry Teachout

• Robert Altman: The Oral Biography by Mitchell Zuckoff

• The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles

• True Compass: A Memoir by Edward Kennedy

• Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa by Mark Seal
  

Books for Book Clubs

From NPR, Best Books for a Book Club.

New York Times Best Sellers

Click here for the latest New York Times best sellers lists.

Mesmerizing Mysteries

From NPR, the Year's Most Mesmerizing Mysteries.

Book TV

Here are some of the highlights from this weekend's Book TV schedule:

Googled: The End of the World as We Know It by Ken Auletta

This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen Reinhart

On Thin Ice: The Changing World of the Polar Bear by Richard Ellis

Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits by Linda Gordon

The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness by Harlow Unger

Amazon's Best Books of the Month

Check out Amazon's choices for the Best of December.

Favorite Book Covers

For its annual look at the best book covers, the Book Design Review asked three independent bookstores to submit their favorite book covers from 2009.  Part One includes selections from WORD in Brooklyn, NY.  Part Two comes from RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, NH.  Check back next week for Part Three!

L.A. Times Favorite Books

From the L.A.Times, Favorite Fiction of 2009 and  Favorite Nonfiction of 2009.

Indie Next

Check out the recommendations from independent booksellers in the December Indie Next List.

New York Times Best Sellers

Click here for the latest New York Times best sellers lists.

New York Times Notable Books

The editors of the New York Times Book Review have revealed their selections for the 100 Notable Books of 2009 and the Ten Best Books of 2009.

Here are the Ten Best Books of 2009:

Fiction
Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy

Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore

Half-Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls

A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert

Nonfiction
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes

The Good Soldiers by David Finkel

Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr

Lords of Finance: The Bankers who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed

Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life by Carol Sklenicka

Book TV

Here are some of the highlights from this weekend's Book TV schedule:

Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for the Holidays by Joel Waldfogel

Love Leadership: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World by John Hope Bryant

On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery by Robert Poole

Defend the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5 by Christopher Andrew

When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment by Mark Kleiman

Holiday Gift Ideas

From NPR, Season's Readings: Top Picks From Indie Booksellers.

January Releases

Place your holds on these upcoming titles:

Fired Up by Jayne Ann Krentz
Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert
Impact by Douglas Preston
Noah's Compass by Anne
Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky
The Five Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Iron River by T. Jefferson Parker
The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton
Blacklands by Belinda Baer
Snapped by Tracy Brown
Thereby Hangs a Tail by Spencer Quinn
The Girl with Glass Feet  by Ali Shaw
Genuine Lies by Nora Roberts
The First Rule by Robert Crais
Treasure Hunt by John Lescroart
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith
Where the God of Love Hangs Out by Amy Bloom
The Wolf at the Door by Jack Higgins
The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell
Be Careful What You Pray For by Kimberla Lawson Roby
The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes
Gator a Go-Go by Tim Dorsey
Tea with Hezbollah by Ted Dekker and Carl Medearis
Blood Ties by Kay Hooper

Hudson Book Discussion

Following up his bestselling memoir, All Over But the Shoutin', Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bragg again creates a soulful, poignant portrait of working-class Southern life by looking deep into his own family history. This new volume recounts the life of his maternal grandfather, Charlie Bundrum, who died in 1958, one year before Rick was born. Lacking a grandfather, the New York Times reporter sets out to build one "from dirt level, using half-forgotten sayings, half-remembered stories and a few yellowed, brittle, black-and-white photographs. (From Publishers Weekly)


Join us this Thursday, December 3 at the Hudson Library for a lively discussion of Ava's Man by Rick Bragg. Copies of the book are available at the Reserves Desk. Please contact the library at 861-3040 for more information.

Date & Time: Thursday, December 3 @ 1:00 pm
Location: Hudson Library Conference Room
**Registration not required**