Submitted by Bethanne on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 9:20am
I'm going to push this one live without too much commentary for the moment, because I want everyone to have the chance to watch and laugh along with me, Ron Charles (fiction editor for The Washington Post), Louis Bayard (book reviewer and bestselling author), and Maureen Corrigan (book reviewer for NPR's Fresh Air).
Try to stay until the very end, because we do discuss...#fembook! Why weren't more women on the Best of 2009 lists? Some interesting opinions, here.
I hope you'll let me know what you think of this roundtable, because we'd love to have this group back to The Book Studio. If you prefer to email rather than leave a comment: thebookmaven at gmail dot com. Thanks!
Favorite book of the year
- Ron: A Gate at the Stairs, by Lorrie Moore
- Louis: Soul of the Age: A Biography of the Mind of William Shakespeare, by Jonathan Bate
- Maureen: The Believers, by Zoe Heller
Favorite non-fiction
- Bethanne: Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City, by Greg Grandin
- Louis: Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, by Terry Teachout
Most overhyped
- Maureen: The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver and Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
- Louis: The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown
Most overlooked
- Ron: 31 Hours, by Masha Hamilton
- Maureen: The Man in the Wooden Hat, by Jane Gardam and the Moe Prager Series, by Reed Farrel Coleman
- Louis: The Secret Speech, by Tom Rob Smith
Favorite debut novel
- Ron: American Rust, by Philipp Meyer
- Maureen: Say You're One of Them, by Uwem Akpan
Favorite book cover
- Ron: The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet, by Reif Larsen
- Maureen: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney
Other recommended books
- Maureen: Books about the 1930s: The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR'S Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience, by Kirstin Downey; The Food of a Younger Land, by Mark Kurlansky; and Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression, by Morris Dickstein
- Ron: Lark and Termite, by Jayne Anne Phillips
Best Books of 2009 Panel Discussion
Book critics Maureen Corrigan, Ron Charles and Louis Bayard discuss the best books of 2009.
Authors mentioned in this post:
Books mentioned in this post:
A Gate at the Stairs, Soul of the Age: A Biography of the Mind of William Shakespeare, The Believers, , Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, The Lacuna: A Novel, The Lost Symbol , 31 Hours, The Man in the Wooden Hat, , American Rust: A Novel, Say You're One of Them, The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Empty Ever After (A Moe Prager Mystery), The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR'S Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience, The Food of a Younger Land, Lark and Termite
Post new comment