I liked looking back last year at 2008 so this year I’m also looking back at 2009. I didn’t make my goal of reading 100 books, but at 79 books I was above last year’s number (77). Anyway, here’s my Best of 2009 list, broken down in the same way I broke down books last year:
The Books that Blew Me Away – This is a very small list, just three books, like last year. I only put books on the list when a book consumes me.
- Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliosotti
- Fire by Kristin Cashore
- Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn (this is technically a 2010 book. Review to come) –
- Doubleblind by Ann Aguirre
- Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James
- Salt and Silver by Anna Katherine
- Endless Blue by Wen Spencer
- Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews
Books I Really Liked/ Keepers – these are also recommended and all have several moments that I loved in them and I think many people will like these books:
- Soulless by Gail Carriger
- Silent Blade by Ilona Andrews
- Graceling by Kristin Cashore
- Way of the Shadows by Brent Weeks
- On the Edge by Ilona Andrews
- Must Love Hellhounds (anthology) Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook, and Charlaine Harris — I liked 2 of the 4 stories a lot
- Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
- Heroes at Risk by Moira J. Moore
- Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
- Sins & Shadows (Shadows Inquiries) by Lyn Benedict
- The Stars Down Under by Sandra McDonald
- The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percey Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber
- What Happens in London by Julia Quinn
- Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow
- Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James
- Hope’s Folly by Linnea Sinclair
- Blue Diablo (Corine Solomon, Bk 1) by Ann Aguirre
- Kitty Raises Hell (Kitty Norville, Bk 6) by Carrie Vaughn
- What I Did for Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
- Kitty and the Silver Bullet (Kitty Norville, Bk 4) by Carrie Vaughn
- Austenland by Shannon Hale
- Kitty Takes a Holiday (Kitty Norville, Bk 3) by Carrie Vaughn
And for my New Year’s Resolution – First I have the usual one which is to read 100 books.
- 2006 – 103 books
- 2007 – 99 books
- 2008 – 77 books
- 2009 – 79 books
The second resolution is to make the TBR go down. I was really bad over my Christmas vacation and the TBR is over 190 right now. The plan is that I can’t buy a book unless I read two or more. Let’s hope I have the willpower.
specficromantic 
Happy New Year, janicu! Great lists, several of the books has made it to my wishlist(or TBR pile) this year because of your review. I bought Soulless after reading your review and I devoured it =D
I’m trying to be strict regarding my TBR pile as well, ideally I will not buy more books before I’ve read all the books in it(but who am I kidding, I most probably haven’t got that amount of willpower).
Oh, so glad you liked SOULLESS. That one turned out to be hit or miss with some people, but I really thought it was just so fun. The tongue-in-cheek aspect really got me.
I don’t think I could live off the TBR completely. There are books coming out that have me thinking: *WANT*! So the goal is for it to at least o down faster than it comes up. 😀
I wish I could read as fast as you do! WOW, I think my best reading year was 1997 when I read 61 books.
This year I’m reading my pleasure TBR list to 13 books. It is really difficult to do it, but I have to. I need to save time–and energy–for school reading and for writing.
I’m glad my favorite authors publish only one or two books a year. I don’t have many authors I absolutely adore, so I guess that’ll make things a bit easier for me. Hm, I’m thinking about adding Ilona Andrews to my list, you just sound too enthusiastic about her lol.
Oh you should add Ilona Andrews. I also say that she gets better as the series goes on. I just love Kate & Curran. Hee 🙂
It turns out that if I read about an hour a day that gets me through a book in about 3-4 days, which is where the numbers come from, but you know, life gets in the way of even an hour a day!
I love the way you organized your list, Janicu! And, unsurprisingly, I’m really sort of in love with all three on your Blew You Away list. That’s quite a triumvirate right there. Makes me want to go re-read CLOCKWORK HEART right now.
I’m actually reading SALT AND SILVER right now and laughing several times a page sometimes. It’s good. And your list reminds me I really need to start the Kitty Norville series. I’ve got them all sitting in my TBR stack. Knowing you like them that much is definitely encouraging. 🙂
I had a system where books with full marks = the ones that *consumed*, near full were close to blowing me away and then like one mark off full marks went into keepers. 🙂
I totally keep CLOCKWORK HEART by my bed so I can reread bits when I want to. And I gave my mom SILENT IN THE GRAVE yesterday. Wondering if she started to read it yet!
The Kitty books are different from the rest a little in that I was most impressed by the more “real world” rather than “story” feel they had. If that makes sense. Hmm. A lot of the books I liked have strong relationships. Seems to be a preference of mine.