Best of 2009: Publisher's Weekly and Amazon

Publishers Weekly has announced their best books of 2009.

Here are only a few of the books listed that caught my eye that were picked are:

Best Fiction: Drood
Dan Simmons (Little, Brown) Narrated by Wilkie Collins, this unsettling and complex thriller imagines a frightening sequence of events that prompts Collins's friend and fellow author, Charles Dickens, to write The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Dickens's last, uncompleted novel.

Science Fiction: Boneshaker
Cherie Priest (Tor) The dramatic first novel in Priest's Clockwork Century universe sends a determined 35-year-old single mom into a ruined city full of zombies and poison gas, where she must save her son from a mad inventor.

Mass Market (my personal favorite list because I am a Mass Market junkie):

Captive of Sin
Anna Campbell (Avon) Campbell pulls out all the stops with this heart-wrenching historical romance. A hastily wed heiress must help her husband, a war hero, recover from post-traumatic stress that leaves him unable to bear human touch.

Soulless
Gail Carriger (Orbit) Carriger combines Victorian romance, supernatural creatures, steampunk sensibilities and a healthy dose of the bizarre in her hilarious debut.

A Dark Love
Margaret Carroll (Avon) Carroll develops what could be a stock story of an abusive marriage into a pulse-pounding romantic thriller with a strong, inspiring heroine determined to save herself.

Publisher’s Weekly also announced their Best Children and Teen Books for 2009:

Some on the list that caught my eye were:

Wintergirls
Laurie Halse Anderson (Viking) A powerful exploration of anorexia, dysfunction and death, Anderson's story of a friendship ripped apart is moving and haunting.

Going Bovine
Libba Bray (Delacorte) An angel, a dwarf, cults, wormholes and mad cow disease all factor into the surreal cross-country road trip that teenage Cameron takes, in a satirical story that's as memorable as it is funny.

Fire
Kristin Cashore (Dial) Introducing Fire, a human “monster” with psychic abilities, this companion novel to Graceling expands the scope of Cashore's fantasy world and offers twists, intrigue and romance aplenty.

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Catching Fire
Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press) This much-awaited sequel to Collins's dystopian bestseller, The Hunger Games, doesn't disappoint; it's immersive, voracious reading as the ramifications of Katniss's actions in that book spread.

If I Stay
Gayle Forman (Dutton) Masterful characterizations make the tragedy at the core of this novel all the more devastating, as narrator Mia weighs the decision to live or die.
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Shiver
Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic Press) Lyrical and thoughtful, this paranormal romance between a girl and a werewolf offers wit, an intriguing mythology, and dual (but equally honest and compelling) narratives

Amazon's editors have also announced their top ten books for 2009:

Let the Great World Spin - Colum McCann (Random House)
Strength in What Remains - Tracy Kidder (Random House)
Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (Henry Holt)
Brooklyn - Colm Toibin (Scribner)
Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Little, Brown)
Crazy for the Storm - Norman Ollestad (Ecco)
The Girl Who Played with Fire - Stieg Larsson (Knopf)
The City & the City - China Mieville (Del Ray)
Stitches - David Small (Norton)
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer (William Morrow)

And I cannot fail to list Amazon's top ten romances for 2009:
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Angels’ Blood- Nalini Singh
Smooth Talking Stranger- Lisa Kleypas
Kiss of a Demon King- Kresley Cole
The Perfect Poison- Amanda Quick
Bending the Rule- Susan Andersen
What Happens in London- Julia Quinn
Fireside- Susan Wiggs
A Duke of Her Own- Elosia James
Immortal Outlaw- Lisa Hendrix
Angel Lane- Sheila Roberts

For all the other winners in the various categories, click on the links.