Holiday Books 2009: Dan and Michael's Recommendations

Literary Fiction:

Half-Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Thrillers:

Pursuit of Honor by Vince Flynn

Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child

Biography:

Literary Life by Larry McMurtry

Satchel, the Life and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye

Thelonius Monk by Robin Kelley

Louisa May Alcott—The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen

Cooking:

Mad Hungry by Lucinda Scala Quinn

Baking by James Peterson

Ad Hoc at Homeby Thomas Keller

Nature:

Sibley Guide to Trees by David Allen Sibley

Bedside Book of Beasts by Graeme Gibson

Coffee table/art: 

White on White: Churches of Rural New England by Steve Rosenthal

The National Parks by Ken Burns & Dayton Duncan

Far Out—A Space-Time Chronicle by Michael Benson

Picture books:

The Super Hungry Dinosaur by Martin Waddell

Princess Party by Joy Allen

Pouch! by David Ezra Stein

Middle readers:

The Georges and the Jewels by Jane Smiley

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 1-4 by Jeff Kinney

Young Adult:

Million-Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica

Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Travel:

African Air by George Steinmetz

History:

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

Abigail Adams by Woody Holton

Fourth Part of the World by Toby Lester

Current events:

Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof

Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson

College/twenty-something:

The Onion Presents Our Front Pages

Pets/animals:

Homer’s Odyssey by Gwen Cooper

Sports: 

The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons

Satchel by Larry Tye

Born to Runby Christopher McDougall

Poetry:

The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker

Dearest Creature by Amy Gerstler

Local authors:

Favor Johnson by Willem Lange

Following the Water: A Hydromancer’s Notebook by David Carroll

Hippie Chick by Joe Monninger

Stocking stuffers:

Oxford’s Very Short Introductions –Buddhism, Existentialism, Judaism, etc.

Sourcebooks “Do You Know” series—Yankees, Red Sox, WWII, etc.          

Pomegranate’s “Knowledge Cards”

2009 Book of the Year

The Lost Symbol by
Dan Brown

Favorite New Hampshire Books:

The 2010 Poets' Guide to New Hampshire: More Places, More Poets,
Edited by John-Michael Albert

The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother's Memoir by Katrina Kenison

Top Ten Staff Recommendations

Fiction

Await Your Reply: A Novel by
Dan Chaon

The Wild Things by
Dave Eggers

Someone Knows My Name: A Novel by
Lawrence Hill

Last Night in Twisted River: A Novel by
John Irving

Under the Dome: A Novel by
Stephen King

The Lacuna: A Novel by
Barbara Kingsolver

The Last Day: A Novel by
James Landis

Wolf Hall: A Novel by
Hilary Mantel

Going Away Shoes: Stories by
Jill McCorkle

A Gate at the Stairs by
Lorrie Moore

Non-Fiction

Open: An Autobiography by
Andre Agassi

The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War by Caroline Alexander

The Case for God by
Karen Armstrong

Sister in War: A Story of Love, Family and Survival in the New Iraq by Christina Asquith

The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War by
James Bradley

Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Strength in What Remains by
Tracy Kidder

The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America Its Name by Toby Lester

The Hidden Life Of Deer: Lessons From the Natural World by
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

Staff Picks for Young Adult Readers

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Shiver by
Maggie Stiefvater

Best Children's Picture Book of the Year

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee