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By Kathryn StockettThe Help

The setting for this uplifting novel is Jackson, Miss., 1962, where black women were trusted to raise white children...but not to polish the household silver! Skeeter returns to her community from college, determined to become a writer. As a social activist, she begins collecting the stories of the “help”--the black women on whom the country club set relies, but also mistrust and keep in their places. Told through the perspective of Skeeter and two of the maids -Aibileen and Minny, it is about women of strength and dignity who carry on and manage to care about others despite an unjust system. This is a book you just won’t want to end---thought provoking, humorous, and unfor-gettable.

– Margaret, Bookseller, Pittsburgh Int’l Airport

Best Books of 2009

Book of the Year

Constantine sat down next to me, at the kitchen table. I heard the cracking of her swollen joints. She pressed her thumb hard in the palm of my hand, something we both knew meant Listen. Listen to me. “Ever morning, until you dead in the ground, you gone have to make this decision.” Constantine was so close, I could see the blackness of her gums. “You gone have to ask yourself, Am I gone believe what them fools say about me today?”

She kept her thumb pressed hard in my hand. I nodded that I understood. I was just smart enough to realize she meant white people. And even though I still felt miserable, and knew that I was, most likely, ugly, it was the first time she ever talked to me like I was something besides my mother’s white child. All my life I’d been told what to believe about politics, coloreds, being a girl. But with Constantine’s thumb pressed in my hand, I realized I actually had a choice in what I could believe.

From The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

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$ 24.95

Best Books of 2009

The Year of the Flood

A companion piece, if not exactly a sequel, to Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood features some overlapping characters and explores the same terrain (but from a different vantage point). Where Oryx focused primarily on science and survival, Flood adds a hefty dose of heart and faith. With the world’s ecological and sociological framework in decline, a small underground religious movement named God’s Gardeners takes root. Led by the charismatic leader Adam One, the sect seeks to commune with and preserve nature while protesting the scientific abominations of gene-splice technology creating new life forms such as the lion/lamb creature and the pigs with human brains. When the waterless “flood” hits, a plague ravages the city that threatens to eliminate the human race. Two women have survived in isolation. We see the past through their stories, but each must make the decision of how to move forward in the new desolate and dangerous landscape. One of Atwood’s major strengths is that even in this hopeless world, her heroines and her readers never lose hope! Year of the Flood is a thought-provoking thriller; serious literature that is also one heck of a good read.– Kyle, General Manager, Albuquerque, NM

$ 26.95

by Margaret Atwood

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Little Bee is a refugee novel that evokes the best qualities of The Lovely Bones. Its tragedy is tempered with humor. Its infectious wit is fortified with depth. It is a thrilling and horrific story of how the lives of a Nigerian girl and a suburban London couple intersect in wildly unexpected ways. Little Bee radiates with a vibrancy that you find in only the very best fiction. Don’t miss it.– Sara, VP of Book Purchasing, Atlanta, GA

Spoonerby Pete Dexter

With Spooner Pete Dexter, the author of the National Book Award winning Paris Trout has delivered a loosely autobiographical retelling of his own life. This is something of a departure for Dexter whose books usually deal in visceral themes with an unsparing, unflinching eye. Here the approach is humorous and engaging and though there are moments of violence and risk they are counter balanced by a human warmth and charm. A fine book by one of my favorite authors.– Matt, VP of Book Operations, Los Angeles, CA

The Magiciansby Lev Grossman

Have you ever loved a book series so much that you used to imagine that it was real and that you could visit its world? Did you read it so many times that you had it memorized? Quentin Coldwater fell in love with a series of books. Because of them he learned how to do magic tricks. Because of those magic tricks and his belief in magic, his presence in the world was made known to real magicians and a school called Brakesbills College, a magical version of Harvard, or an adult version of Hogwarts. When Quentin gets into this dream college, gets his dream career, he realizes that it wasn’t what he really wanted, but not until he is corrupted by power, almost beyond repair. It is a very interesting modern story about a boy’s journey to manhood.– Valerie, Operations Manger, Chicago, IL

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Best Fiction

Best Books of 2009

The Lacuna

Barbara Kingsolver’s first novel in nine years is an engrossing story of revolution, art, searching for one’s place, all wrapped up in the atmosphere of 1930s Mexico topped with a tasty dollop of political machina-tions. Harrison William Shepherd spends his formative years in the household of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. It’s there that he meets Leon Trotsky, becoming enmeshed in an unlikely group of bodyguards and politicos and seduced by this exotic and dangerous life. The story is told through narrative, letters, journal entries and articles as we follow Shepherd from Mexico back to the states, looking and yearning for a place to belong. This quiet man’s story is as colorful, textured and intriguing as a Kahlo painting.– Sydne, Book Buyer, Atlanta, GA

by Barbara Kingsolver

Fool by Christopher Moore

Vulgar, bawdy, endearing and hilarious. Christopher Moore brings his twisted sense of humor to new heights with this retelling of King Lear. Told through the eyes of the Kings fool, Pocket of Dog Snogging, Fool unleashes Shakespeare from literary snobbery and lets him run wild in the streets.– Shannon, Regional Book Manager, Chicago, IL

The Song Is You

At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, I have to confess there is something I love as much (or even more) than books. Music. As an art form, music is powerful beyond all reason, but elusive and fleeting as well. Though attempts to capture its impact in print are laden with challenges, this beautiful love song of a novel succeeds brilliantly. Julian Donohue is a middle-aged advertising producer whose marriage is in ruins, when he stumbles into a bar and discovers Cait O’Dwyer, an Irish singer on the cusp of superstar-dom. Their courtship is bizarre and unlikely, but reason has little to do with passion. The Song is You is a bittersweet and thoroughly entertaining evocation of music as soundtrack to our emotional lives.– Sara, VP of Book Purchasing, Atlanta, GA

by Arthur Phillips

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Best Fiction (cont.)

Lark & Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips

This beautiful, poetic novel straddles a decade. At one end is Robert, a soldier in Korea fighting a war he wanted no part of, stranded in a tunnel with Korean refugees. Ten years away, Robert’s son Termite lives in West Virginia with his stepsister Lark and her aunt Nonie. Lark is devoted to Termite, a boy with profound physical challenges, and with Nonie they make up an unconventional family that includes neighbors and a lover. As Robert tried to protect a small girl and her blind brother while pinned down in a tunnel by enemy bullets, Lark battles with Social Services to keep Termite with his family. Termite can’t walk or talk but he takes a turn at narrating this touching story, bringing to mind Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. The mystery of what happened to Termite’s mother and of Lark’s parentage brings an element of suspense to this engrossing novel that has a touch of the mystical.– Sydne, Book Buyer, Atlanta, GA

$ 14.951/5/10

Cutting for Stone

This enthralling family saga moves from India to Ethiopia to an inner-city hospital in New York City. Twin boys are born at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa to an English surgeon and Sister Mary Joseph, a devout young nun. Sister Mary dies birthing the boys and the father, distraught with grief, disappears, leaving the care and raising of the twins to the adopted parents, both doctors at the Mission hospital. This sweeping novel is a richly layered tale of family, love, heartbreak, war, medicine, and patriotism, all bound together in beautiful prose. The characters are well drawn and compelling. The reader also gets some insight into the history and political turmoil in Ethiopia in the 1950’s. I will find it hard this year to read anything to surpass this beautiful novel.– Margaret, Bookseller, Pittsburgh, PA

by Abraham Verghese

Best Books of 2009

$ 26.95

Best Fiction (cont.)

“Undisputed

heavyweight

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fighting about?”

- George Carlin

Kyle, General Manager, Albuquerque, NM1.

a Jewish mobster reminiscent of Meyer Lansky’ story. It takes place in New York in the early 60s and conjures the time and setting with a touch of nostalgia and an eye for all the right details. No Holden Caulfield-esque whining for young Russell Newhouse, our brash streetwise narrator. Sure he has reasons to complain but he’s too busy learning how to run a criminal syndicate to waste time on that. Pitch perfect and engaging, The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats is a great book that deserves to find a wide audience.

2.3. 4.5.6.7.8.9.10.

I picked up Liz Jensen’s The Rapture as a lark. Who doesn’t like to contemplate the end of the world as a bit of entertainment? But Jensen’s ambitious and original new novel grabbed me within the first few chapters and never let me go. An ingenious combination of eco-thriller, psychological chiller, and apocalyptic/biblical horror story--The Rapture is a smart read that is both timely and plausible in its set-up, but mysterious and otherworldly in its execution. It is a rare and beguiling mix of genres that serves the story well through to its powerful and exciting climax. At the heart of The Rapture is an intriguing, damaged heroine. Gabrielle Fox is a therapist rebuilding her life after an accident has killed her family and left her paralyzed. Vulnerable and raw, she is charged with a new patient--a sixteen year old girl who viciously murdered her mother. Manipulative and disturbed, Bethany Krall also seems to have a talent for predicting natural disasters. Gabrielle struggles to uncover a logical explanation--is it a hoax, dementia, or something more unexplainable? But can Gabrielle handle the truth? As more of Bethany’s visions come true, the debate of science versus faith becomes a pivotal element as a dangerous end is foretold.

Bookseller Favorites

The Rapture by Liz Jennings

Year of the Flood by Margaret AtwoodFool by Christopher Moore

How I Became A Famous Novelist by Steve Hely

Darling Jim by Christian Moerk

Fall by Colin McAdam

Sweeping Up Glass by Carolyn Wall

Breathers by S.G. Browne

In This Way I Was Saved by Brian DeLeeuw

Blood Safari by Deon

Manhood for Amateurs

This book is funny, smart and soulful. What Manhood for Amateurs basically amounts to is an impres-sionistic memoir formed from a series of short interwoven essays that riff on fatherhood, brotherhood, husband-hood and various other aspects of maleness. Chabon is a great writer but to dwell on the quality of his prose (which here as always is quite fine) misses the point. This book has real heart and warmth and touches on some home truths about what it might mean to be a Man (yes, note the capital M) in this day and age. As my brother awaited the birth of his second child I handed him a copy of Manhood for Amateurs. It’s that kind of book.– Matt, VP of Book Operations, Los Angeles, CA

by Michael Chabon

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

The cover tells us a lot...a Syrian-born New Orleans resident, canoeing through the flooded streets fol-lowing Hurricane Katrina. This true story is told by Eggers after countless interviews with Zeitoun, a successful painting contractor, who sends his family to safer ground while choosing to stay in the city to protect his property and to help others. What happens to Zeitoun after he is arrested by an armed squad is a horror story of bureaucratic brutality and injustice. How he survives and is reunited with his family is a riveting story, one the reader will long remember. – Margaret, Bookseller Pittsburgh Int’l Airport

Eating AnimalsEating Animals complements recent books from Michael Pollan, Barbara Kingsolver, and others, building a new literature of conscientious consumption. On-again, off-again vegetarian Foer sets out to separate fact from fiction regarding the meat industry, in order to make responsible dietary choices for his new baby. Though he appears to have an impartial agenda, he quickly becomes mired in overwhelming evidence of atrocities that rightfully engender a sense of bewilderment and outrage. Is the public truly unaware of the dire health-hazards that we are creating through factory farming? The institutionalized tor-ture of animals? The global depletion of fisheries? Or are we tacitly complicit in the name of convenience and profit? Most poignantly, Foer juxtaposes his grandmother’s near starvation in the Holocaust with his own ethical dilemmas about food. He deliberately invokes one of the most potent lessons of that travesty. There were criminals, and there were victims, but it was the bystanders that let it happen. Eating Animals is not without its flaws, but it is an impassioned and timely call to action that we ignore at our peril.– Sara, VP of Book Purchasing, Atlanta, GA

Jonathan Safran Foer

Best Books of 2009

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Last Wordsby George CarlinLet me start by saying that I’ve been a fan of George Carlin since I was a kid. I have fond memories of sitting around with friends laughing at his record Class Clown on which appears the famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) skit “7 Words You Can Never Say on Television”. There was a time when I had most of that skit memorized and I can still rattle off those seven words. Carlin’s irreverent sense of humor and sharp social criticism clearly helped inform and influence the development of modern stand-up comedy. For better or worse (again, depending on your point of view) it certainly was formative to my own idea of what is funny and what is proper. Last Words tells Carlin’s story from the moment of his birth (literally) to the last few years of his life. While charting the highs and lows of his career Carlin also discusses his struggles with drug addiction and his sometimes tumultuous home life. The result is occasionally harrowing. But make no mistake this is a very funny book. It’s funny the way Carlin was funny, smart and cynical and just a bit off kilter. It’s autobiography by way of stand-up routine and like the best of Carlin’s routines it stings just a little bit even as it tickles your funny bone.– Matt, VP of Book Operations, Los Angeles, CA

$ 26.99

Best Non-Fiction

Best Books of 2009

Where Men Win Glory

Although a lot of this story has been covered in newspapers, magazines, and books, Krakauer wraps it all into a readable, dramatic story. Where Men Win Glory is an important book and a must-read. It shines a light on the number of wartime deaths that are the result of friendly fire and the lengths the government will go to cover them up. Pat Tillman may not have had the mind of your typical soldier (he was an atheist and vocally opposed to the Iraq War), but he definitely had a soldier’s heart. Pat was willing to die for his fellow soldiers and the beliefs that were important to him. It is a shame the government could not handle his death with dignity and honesty. An amazing man and an amazing story. – Justin, Marketing Manager, Atlanta, GA

by Jon Krakauer

Either You’re in or You’re in the Way by Logan and Noah Miller

So, I love movies--it’s a fact! When I heard the concept behind the true life struggles chronicled in Either You’re In or You’re In The Way by amateur filmmakers/authors Logan and Noah Miller--I knew this was a story for me. Twin brothers from meager circumstances, with no money, and no real Hollywood con-nections embark on a journey to produce one of their screenplays as a tribute to their late father. Setting a time frame of one year--from start to finish--they battle against the odds to assemble a crew and cast (that included Ed Harris) and live their dream! People will enjoy the Miller’s adventure as a great underdog tale. It’s a brisk, positive, and life-affirming page turner.– Kyle, General Manager, Albuquerque, NM

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Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

I did not know much about the small African Nation of Burundi until reading this book. With so many ongoing struggles throughout the world, it’s difficult to keep track of the wheres and whys. Deogratias is the central character in this stunning true story of a young man’s journey from the other side of the world to the streets of New York, his education at Columbia University all the way through medical school, and his eventual return to Burundi to found a desperately needed medical clinic. The coffee shop I frequent recently began selling a fair-trade coffee from Burundi. I purchased some out of curiosity, and it’s quite good. Sometimes when I drink it I think of the journey it made from Africa to here, and of the farmers struggling to grow it, and I’m glad to have read this book and learned about another part of the world which I may never see. – George, Bookseller, Pittsburgh, PA

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Best Non-Fiction (cont.)Lit by Mary Karr

Mary Karr calls Lit “my journey from blackbelt sinner and lifelong agnostic to unlikely Catholic.” Fol-lowing The Liars’ Club and Cherry, this third installment of Karr’s memoirs chronicles her college years, marriage, motherhood and becoming a college professor -- all achieved while being an alcoholic. Her trip to the bottom and through rehab and recovery are told with brutal honesty, dark humor and grace. Karr overcomes a chaotic upbringing and a genetic disposition to addiction and ultimately finds spiritual comfort in this painfully frank account. Her sense of humor keeps this from becoming unbearably dark yet there is never a doubt that she is in a fight for her life.– Sydne, Book Buyer, Atlanta, GA

$ 25.99

Best Non-Fiction (cont.)

Emergency

When a friend gave me a copy of Neil Strauss’s Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life, I originally thought it was a joke. What could a writer, whose previous books involved profiling rock bands, porn stars, and his own success as a pickup artist, possibly write that would be useful in a real emergency situation? I was pleasantly surprised with Strauss’s very rational, mature, and personal journey in pur-suit of safety for himself and his loved ones. Emergency begins with an overview of several key events that contributed to Strauss’s recognition that he could not take his safety for granted, nor assume that in true emergency situations, help would be organized or readily available. The rest is filled with his own experiences in becoming that very man who is prepared for anything. He learns how to kill an animal for food, how to gain dual citizenship, how to shoot guns and live off the land, and many more skills that would come in handy should the system that protects him eventually fail. While the ideas might be easy to write off as extremist, the author’s presence and charisma throughout the book makes this an entertaining, but informative, primer in basic survivalism. By staying away from the rhetoric and politics that might alienate some readers, Strauss has created an enjoyable read that will appeal to anyone who wants to feel safer in these uncertain times. – Ryan, Supervisor, Chicago, IL

by Neil Strauss

Best Books of 2009

$ 16.99

StitchesWhile tragic in its story, David Small’s Stitches is an enriching and redemptive tale of one boy’s struggles through the chaos of youth. It is a profound, intense memoir of his childhood struggles with cancer and his dysfunctional family. Losing his voice to throat surgery, Small has his neck, as well as his life, sewn back together, leaving scars that are much worse than just the physical. In Stitches, Small has combined a limited word use with a simple drawing style to reinforce the sparse, constrictive life that he lived. – Ed, Inventory Planning, Atlanta, GA

by David Small

$ 24.95

Bookseller FavoritesJustin, Marketing Manager, Atlanta, GA1. 2.3. What happens when the cost of supply drops to almost zero? Chris’ insight into this unique situation of theInternet Age is well thought out and researched. Surprisingly, profits could be higher than ever while cus-tomers pay next to nothing for information, services and even physical products in the coming years.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

What happens when the cost of supply drops to almost zero? Chris’ insight into this unique situation of the Internet Age is well thought out and researched. Surprisingly, profits could be higher than ever while customers pay next to nothing for information, services and even physical products in the coming years.

Super Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

Genesis by Bernard BeckettWhere Men Win Glory by John KrakauerMortal Coils by Eric NylundContagious by Scott SiglerEmergency by Neil StraussLockdown by Alexander Gordon SmithAccidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich

Catching Fire by Suzanne CollinsFree by Chris Anderson

Best Books of 2009

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Best Books of 2009

Matt, VP of Book Operations, Los Angeles, CA1. My favorite novel of the year, The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats is a fast paced ‘coming of age while mentored by a Jewish mobster reminiscent of Meyer Lansky’ story. It takes place in New York in the early 60s and conjures the time and setting with a touch of nostalgia and an eye for all the right details. No Holden Caulfield-esque whining for young Russell Newhouse, our brash streetwise narrator. Sure he has reasons to complain but he’s too busy learning how to run a criminal syndicate to waste time on that. Pitch perfect and engaging, The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats is a great book that deserves to find a wide audience.

2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.

My favorite novel of the year, The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats is a fast paced ‘coming of age while men-tored by a Jewish mobster reminiscent of Meyer Lansky’s story. It takes place in New York in the early 60s and conjures the time and setting with a touch of nostalgia and an eye for all the right details. No Holden Caulfield-esque whining for young Russell Newhouse, our brash streetwise narrator. Sure he has reasons to complain but he’s too busy learning how to run a criminal syndicate to waste time on that. Pitch perfect and engaging, The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats is a great book that deserves to find a wide audience.

Ryan, Supervisor, Chicago, IL1. Chronic City is a big, bold novel that once again proves that Jonathan Lethem is one of the most inventive authors writing today. Set in Manhattan, the story revolves around Chase Insteadman, a former child actor in his thirties who lives comfortably off the royalty checks from his early career. No longer much of an actor, Chase’s only current claim to fame is being engaged to an astronaut who is trapped on the International Space Station. When a chance meeting with an eccentric rock critic/poster artist named Perkus Tooth leads to a new friendship, Chase is initiated into a new world, and an alternative way of looking at his life and his city. The beauty of Chronic City is in its denseness. Lethem has written a book that is bursting at the spine, jam packed with endless pop culture references, long winding conversations (some fueled by drugs), and beautiful imagery. It is an unconventional story that pulls you in with the details and charms with its observations about life in these complicated times. 2. Love and Obstacles by Aleksandar Hemon3. Emergency by Neil Strauss2.3.4.5.6.7.8.

Chronic City is a big, bold novel that once again proves that Jonathan Lethem is one of the most inventive authors writing today. Set in Manhattan, the story revolves around Chase Insteadman, a former child actor in his thirties who lives comfortably off the royalty checks from his early career. No longer much of an actor, Chase’s only current claim to fame is being engaged to an astronaut who is trapped on the Inter-national Space Station. When a chance meeting with an eccentric rock critic/poster artist named Perkus Tooth leads to a new friendship, Chase is initiated into a new world, and an alternative way of looking at his life and his city. The beauty of Chronic City is in its denseness. Lethem has written a book that is bursting at the spine, jam packed with endless pop culture references, long winding conversations (some fueled by drugs), and beautiful imagery. It is an unconventional story that pulls you in with the details and charms with its observations about life in these complicated times.



The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats by Hesh Kestin

Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem

Love Obstacles by Aleksander Hemon

The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Golden City by John Twelve Hawks

Emergency by Neil Straus

A Pint of Plain by Bill Barish

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower Apache by Ed Macy

Manhood for Amateurs by Michael ChabonSpooner by Pete DexterClose Calls with Nonsense by Stephen BurtEating the Dinosaur by Chuck KlostermanThe Magicians by Lev GrossmanRoad Dogs by Elmore Leonard Last Words by George CarlinMirrors by Eduardo GaleanoWhat the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

Best Books of 2009

Valerie, Operations Manager, Chicago, IL1. 2. An interesting take on the Salem Witch Trials and a mystery to boot. Imagine working on your doctorate, explaining why the world went hysterical over witches in the 1600s, only to find out that maybe witches are real When Connie gets roped in to selling her Grandmother’s house, what was supposed to be a few weeks of cleaning and packing turns into a mystery of a lifetime. Who was Deliverance Dane and why did her Grandmother have a key and a small piece of paper with this woman’s name on it? As Connie gets closer to the answers, sorting through generations of grudges and gossip, her life becomes threatened. 3. 4. 5. 6. 397. 8. 9. 10.

Kenneth, General Manager, Chicago, IL1. Set in rural Michigan, these beautifully written stories are an ode to the scarred and oftentimes lonely men and women working dead end jobs, cooking meth, loving, and living how they always have, most just scraping by while driving around in their beat-up pick-ups and living in houses which have seen better times. Like Winesburg, Ohio before it, American Salvage enters the canon of American Literature full blast. Ms. Campbell writes with a compassionate pen and her wise empathy, balanced and understated, makes the reader believe that not only are these humans worthy of salvation, in American Salvage, they will find it.

2. 3. 4.5.6.7.8.9.10.

An interesting take on the Salem Witch Trials and a mystery to boot. Imagine working on your doctorate, explaining why the world went hysterical over witches in the 1600s, only to find out that maybe witches are real. When Connie gets roped in to selling her Grandmother’s house, what was supposed to be a few weeks of cleaning and packing turns into a mystery of a lifetime. Who was Deliverance Dane and why did her Grandmother have a key and a small piece of paper with this woman’s name on it? As Connie gets closer to the answers, sorting through generations of grudges and gossip, her life becomes threatened.

Set in rural Michigan, these beautifully written stories are an ode to the scarred and oftentimes lonely men and women working dead end jobs, cooking meth, loving, and living how they always have, most just scraping by while driving around in their beat-up pick-ups and living in houses which have seen better times. Like Winesburg, Ohio before it, American Salvage enters the canon of American Literature full blast. Ms. Campbell writes with a compassionate pen and her wise empathy, balanced and understated, makes the reader believe that not only are these humans worthy of salvation, in American Salvage, they will find it.



The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Clues: The Black Circle by Patrick Carma

The Strain by Guillermo del Torro & Chuck Hogan

Evermore by Alyson Noel

American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Methland by Nick Reding

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower

Book of Night Women by Marlon James

Babylonian Trilogy by Sebastien Doubinsky

Tinkers by Paul Harding

What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

The Hospital for Bad Poets by J.C. Hallman

Is the Rectum a Grave? by Leo Bersani

The Silver Lining

The Silver Lining challenges company’s executives to take stock of what works during these difficult times. Implementing Anthony’s tools and innovative ideas will provide The Silver Lining a company needs to survive.– Susan, Bookstore Manger, Pittsburgh, PA

by Scott D. Anthony

What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

From bestselling author Malcom Gladwell comes this collection of vignettes first published in The New Yorker. In his always telling wit, Malcolm once again triumphantly reveals the quirks and drive that make our world interesting, and insightfully reveals those questions that are always on our mind. He is not only a brilliant mind but an outlying genius and one of the best journalists alive. Always readably fascinating. I couldn’t put it down and read those I had read already again. Irresistible.– Kenneth, General Manager, Chicago, IL

Super Freakonomics

Challenging the way we view the world again! Levitt and Dubner open up new ways of thinking about pimps, global climate change, organ donation and drunk driving. A welcome, well researched, amusing follow- up to the smash hit Freakonomics. Who knew statistics could be so much fun?– Shannon, Regional Book Manager, Chicago, IL

by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

Adland by James P. Othmer

Adland by James P. Othmer is 2 books for the price of one: a memoir of a life spent in the ad business and a Gladwellian survey of that field. Advertising permeates almost every aspect of our lives. We are studied, cubby-holed demographically and marketed to in nearly every waking moment. This book gives insight to the processes at play and thinking behind those processes. It struggles with questions of moral-ity raised by the business and examines the evolving role and approach of that business as it transforms from the staid Mad Men of Madison Avenue venture of old into something global, viral and new. Told with wry humor and an insider’s sense of significant detail Adland is both entertaining and profound.– Matt, VP of Book Operations, Los Angeles, CA

Best Books of 2009

Cheap by Ellen Ruppel Shell

It really is true; you get what you pay for. This book tells you why. The price of a product does not always - and sometimes quite intentionally so - reflect the true cost of its production. In our continuing global quest for more-cheaper-faster, we’ve sacrificed quality, sustainability, and even basic human values and rights. Shell teaches without lecturing, and if you want to know the true cost of consumption, this book is a highly enlightening read.– George, Bookseller, Pittsburgh, PA

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Best Business Interest

Best Books of 2009

Sara, VP of Book Purchasing, Atlanta, GA1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8. Sherman Alexie writes a lot about stereotypes: of Indians, of Whites, of women and men, writers and art. He creates characters with a capital “C”, who cope with and perpetuate those stereotypes as they navigate the tragedy and tedium of their lives. Alexie’s work is filled with dark humor, stoic indignation, raunchiness and poignancy. A great deal of what he writes is among the best I have ever read, and I think this is why I love it; his ability to balance so many conflicting (and affecting) tendencies on the edge of his fine prose, our never knowing which way the scales might shift by the end of the piece. The fabulous title story in War Dances appeared in The New Yorker earlier this year. A writer, just diagnosed with a brain tumor, must care for his dying father. The son’s search for a blanket in the hospital yields unexpected warmth. In another story, a vintage clothing dealer obsessively courts a woman in airports around the country. Though War Dances is somewhat more uneven than his last few collections, it is still a very good book, and it reinforces the fact that although Sherman Alexie writes about stereotypes, he certainly can’t be described that way.

9. 10.

Sherman Alexie writes a lot about stereotypes: of Indians, of Whites, of women and men, writers and art. He creates characters with a capital “C”, who cope with and perpetuate those stereotypes as they navigate the tragedy and tedium of their lives. Alexie’s work is filled with dark humor, stoic indignation, raunchiness and poignancy. A great deal of what he writes is among the best I have ever read, and I think this is why I love it; his ability to balance so many conflicting (and affecting) tendencies on the edge of his fine prose, our never knowing which way the scales might shift by the end of the piece. The fabulous title story in War Dances appeared in The New Yorker earlier this year. A writer, just diagnosed with a brain tumor, must care for his dying father. The son’s search for a blanket in the hospital yields unexpected warmth. In another story, a vintage clothing dealer obses-sively courts a woman in airports around the country. Though War Dances is somewhat more uneven than his last few collections, it is still a very good book, and it reinforces the fact that although Sherman Alexie writes about stereotypes, he certainly can’t be described that way.

Sydne, Book Buyer, Atlanta, GA1. 2.3.4. Rhoda Janzen grew up in a Mennonite community and left as quickly as she could. She got her PhD and a teaching post, and married an artist that was bi-polar and an atheist. After he finally got a well-paying job they splurged on a home by the lake. Then, after a hysterectomy she is in a serious car accident just after her husband leaves her for someone he met on gay. com. That Mennonite community she fled welcomes her back as she recovers physically and emotionally. With great humor and an impressive vocabulary she recounts her recuperation and shares her newfound appreciation for the lifestyle she had previously fled. Her tale is told with honesty and irreverence that doesn’t belittle or ridicule. 5.6.7.8.9.10.

Rhoda Janzen grew up in a Mennonite community and left as quickly as she could. She got her PhD and a teaching post, and married an artist that was bi-polar and an atheist. After he finally got a well-paying job they splurged on a home by the lake. Then, after a hysterectomy she is in a serious car accident just after her husband leaves her for someone he met on gay.com. That Mennonite community she fled welcomes her back as she recovers physi-cally and emotionally. With great humor and an impressive vocabulary she recounts her recuperation and shares her newfound appreciation for the lifestyle she had previously fled. Her tale is told with honesty and irreverence that doesn’t belittle or ridicule.



The Song is You by Arthur Phillips

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Spooner by Pete DexterThe Help by Kathryn Stockett

Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver



Sweeping Up Glass by Carolyn Wall

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhonda Janzen

Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon

Satchel by Larry Tey

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

In the Valley of the Kings by Terrence Holt

Sunnyside by Glen David Gold

Lit by Mary Karr

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

Fool by Christopher Moore

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazeu The Missing by Tim Gautreaux

War Dances by Sherman Alexie

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From heart-pounding adrenaline rushes to heart-wrenching personal choices, Catching Fireis a worthy sequel to The Hunger Games. Set in a dystopian world, every year each district must choose two young competitors for the games. Their lives hang in the balance and only skill and luck will allow one person to live. Katniss, our heroine, after surviving last year’s competition just wants to be left alone, but events soon prove that this year might be harder than she could ever imagine.– Anne, Book Buyer, Atlanta, GA

Sharon Creech revisits the setting of Bloomability , and the joyful poetry of Love that Dog/Hate that Cat in the sweet, spare, and (yes), whimsical tale of an angel that lives in a tower in the Swiss Alps, the arrival of new American residents, and the ensuing transformation of the entire village. A lovely literary escape for all ages.– Sara, VP of Book Purchasing, Atlanta, GA

This is the first book in a trilogy. Thomas, a teenage boy, goes up in an elevator and wakes up in a strange place called the Glade, with strange boys, and no memory of who he is, how he got there, or how to get out. Everyone has a job. No one remembers who they are or how they got there. They are surrounded by a maze that they must solve in order to get out. But Thomas wants to be a Runner, and when he arrives, everything changes. The next day, a girl appears, barely conscious and with a note in her hand that said that she was going to be the last arrival and it was the beginning of the end. The Maze Runner was totally compelling. I can’t wait for books 2 and 3!- Valerie, Operations Manager, Chicago, IL

Best Books of 2009

Catching Fire

The Unfinished Angel

The Maze Runner

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

by Suzanne Collins

by Sharon Creech

by James Dashner

In The Magician’s Elephant , Kate DiCamillo has created a modern day fairytale, complete with orphans, a magician, and a very lost elephant. Will Peter find his sister Adele? Will the magician be granted forgiveness? Will the poor elephant find its way home? DiCamillo deftly weaves together her story about lost souls in a redemptive message about the importance of hope.– Anne, Book Buyer, Atlanta, GA

The Magician’s Elephantby Kate DiCamillo

by Jeff Kinney

$ 17.99

$ 15.99

$ 16.99

$ 16.99

$ 13.95

Book 4 in the Wimpy Kid series is about Gregory’s summer vacation. It starts off great, getting to spend time at his friend’s country club. But then he gets in trouble for charging too much to his friend’s parents’ account and can’t hang out anymore. So then he wants to spend his vacation sleeping until the afternoon, watching TV and playing video games. But Mom of course says “No”. Dog Days is appealing partly because it reflects our current reality. Gregory’s family can’t go on their usual family vacation because money is tight, just like most families now. These books are always great because you can actually get inside the head of someone Gregory’s age, and how they think and why they act the way they do. They are hilarious even for adult readers.- Valerie, Operations Manager, Chicago, IL

Best Books of 2008

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Hudson Booksellers Best Books of 2009 were selected through a nominated shortlist and voting process by a panel of booksellers and managers across the country. Books were selected for achievements ranging from literary style, entertainment and readability, to timeliness and treatment of subjects and themes.

I don’t know what happened to the Future. It’s as if we have lost our ability or our will to envision anything beyond the next hundred years or so, as if we lack the fundamental faith that there will be any future at all beyond that not too distant date. Or maybe we stopped talking about the Future around the time that, with its micro-chips and its twenty-four-hour news cycles, it arrived. Some days when you pick up the newspaper, it seems to have been co-written by J.G. Ballard, Isaac Asimov, and Philip K. Dick. Human sexual reproduction without male genetic material, digital viruses, identity theft, robot firefighters and minesweepers, weather control,pharmaceutical mood engineering, rapid species extinction, U.S. presidents controlled by boxes mounted between their shoulder blades, air-conditioned empires in the Arabian desert, transnational corporatocracy, reality television: Some days it feels as if the imagined future of the mid-twentieth century were a kind of checklist, one from which we have been too busy ticking off items to bother extending it. Meanwhile, the dwindling number of items remaining on that list - interplanetary colonization, sentient computers, quasi-immortality of consciousness through brain download or transplant, a global government (fascist or enlightened) - have been represented and re-represented so many hundreds of times in films, in novels, and on television that they have come to seem, paradoxically, already attained, already known, lived with, and left behind. Past, in other words.

From Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon

hudson booksellers best books of 2009

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