Best Books of 2009 Lists!

Yesterday, the first business day in November, both Amazon.com and Publishers Weekly published their annual Best Books lists. Now, I really like lists. I'm not exactly sure I can explain why, but I like making my own "Best of..." or "Recommended if you like..." lists, and looking at others and seeing where we agree or disagree. (Oh, I can't be the only person who feels this way. Raise your hand if you can agree with me!)

The BEST and MOST EXCITING news is that Beautiful Creatures (Litle, Brown / Dec. 1, 2009) by the wonderful Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl is #1 on Amazon's Best Books for Teens, and #5 on Amazon's Best Books Overall for 2009!!!!! This is incredible news. I'm reading Beautiful Creatures right now, and Amazon is right in describing BC as possibly the next super-sensation in the YA market. It's suspenseful and interesting from the first page, as compulsively and easily readable as Stephenie Meyer's books, and has the subtle romantic development of Maggie Stiefvater's. Oh, wait... I should stop using all the good quotes now, and save them for my review! Hehe.

I'm also incredibly happy about this because it's always fantastic to see a YA novel being so recognized in a literary world where an overwhelming number of people still disregard YA as "real" literature. Take that, nay-sayers! Guess who has the #5 position on the Best Books of 2009 list? In other, related BC-news, Beautiful Creatures is now in stock at Amazon and rumored to also be so at Barnes & Noble, so if you can't wait until December, go and order it now! And congrats to Kami and Margie for this well-deserved recognition!

I've retyped the rest of the Best Books for Teens 2009 list below, with my commentary next to them. How many have you read and how many do you want to read/have on your TBR mountain?

2. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic / Aug. 1, 2009) - If you don't know what this one is about, I don't know which rock you've been living under for the past several months. I wasn't such a fan of Shiver as others seem to be, but I still love Maggie's luscious writing, and still recommend this as a worthy follow-up to Twilight.

3. Going Bovine by Libba Bray (Delacorte / Sept. 22, 2009) - I haven't read this yet, but it's Libba Bray. You can't go wrong. The end.

4. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (Simon Pulse / Oct. 6, 2009) - Not only can you not go wrong with any book Scott writes, Leviathan is also appropriately groundbreaking and amazing. You shouldn't miss this one!

5. Claudette Colvine: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip M. Hoose (Farrar, Strous and Giroux / Jan. 20, 2009) - I haven't heard of this one, but it's about the civil rights movements in the 1950s. I'll pick it up!

6. Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork (Arthur A. Levine / March 1, 2009) - I've been wanting to read this story about an autistic MC since I heard about it this past spring.

7. Fire by Kristin Cashore (Dial / Oct. 5, 2009) - Rightfully on this list. This book is amazing and definitely one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. Adults will also highly enjoy this one as well.

8. Chaos Walking, Book 2: The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness (Candlewick / Sept. 8, 2009) - I have heard nothing but good things about this series and am determined to read the first book (which I have) over winter break, at which point I can promptly rush out and buy this one!

9. The Hunger Games, Book 2: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic / Sept. 1, 2009) - Well, this is another one that doesn't need an introduction. I didn't think it was quite as good as the first book, but it's still a worthy sequel, and I'm still hooked on this series, desperate to find out how the third book goes.

10. If I Stay by Gayle Forman (Dutton / April 2, 2009) - Aw, YAY! This was one of my favorite books this year as well. In fact, I think I'll reread it soon. I could use a book that makes me cry...

You should also check out the middle-grade list, where the number one spot is rightfully claimed by When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (#21 on the Overall Best Books list) and also features Dani Noir by the lovely Nova Ren Suma! And here's the Best Books of 2009 main page. Go crazy from there. I know I have.

Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books of 2009 list is also up, and features a lot of the same titles, plus a few others that very much deserve the attention. Be sure to check it out so you can be convinced to pick them up and add them to your TBR mountain! From that list, I look forward to reading Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor, and The Uninvited by Tim Wynne-Jones.

And here's Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2009, featuring many adult titles that I have on my TBR shelf. The books on that list that I'm determined to get through during winter break include: The Lost City of Z by David Grann, Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, Boneshaker by Cherie Priest, Soulless by Gail Carriger, Columbine by Dave Cullen, and a Jon Krakauer book.

So what books on those lists are you looking forward to reading? What books would you also put on those Best Books list? I'm going to do a feature with my lists obsession in December, so you can watch out for that in a month or so!