Best of aught nine: BOOKS

So this was the year I remembered how much I love to read. I spent the first half of the year writing exclusively, but once I bought my Kindle in June (or was it May?), it was all over.

I've read over 130 novels this year.

130+

That's not so much an accomplishment as it is an obsessive compulsive disorder that probably requires a prescription. Or three. But I can think of much worse obsessions to have than one with the written word.

So without further ado, the best, most memorable books I read in 2009 are:

The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne

I would review this myself, but The Smart Bitches did it SO MUCH BETTER and their review was the reason I read the book in the first place.

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

This book was actually written in 1995, but I didn't happen upon it until this year and now I've read every. single. book. that Loretta Chase has ever written. She's one of my all-time favorite authors.

My favorite line in the book is this one:

"For the first time, Dain had an inkling of what it must feel like to be Bertie Trent [the protagonist's socially-retarded brother], owning the necessary human quantity of grey matter, but possessing no notion of how to make it function."

Every word Loretta Chase writes is magic, but this book is exceptional.

Flowers From the Storm by Laura Kinsale (whom you can follow on Twitter, if you so desire)

This novel immediately went down as one of my all-time favorites. If you're a romance genre skeptic, this is the book that will change your mind and make you a believer. It's beautifully written and in spite of its length (close to 200,000 words if my Kindle length estimate is correct), I could NOT put it down. I loved the story - a steadfast Quaker falls in love with a Duke when she rescues him from a mental institution run by her uncle.

Kinsale's characters are so unique and imperfect that you can't wait to read the next page. The Duke's post-stroke VOICE alone makes this book a must-read. I'm really looking forward to Laura's upcoming 2010 release of Lessons in French.

Butterfly Tattoo by Deidre Knight (On Twitter)

I finished this book nearly a month ago and I still can't stop thinking about it. I'm pretty sure I'll be thinking about it for YEARS. It's that memorable. That WIDE. It was the first book I've ever read that stuck its pick into the soil of the romance genre and then tilled the hell out of it. In a good way.

This is a romance novel about a former actress who falls in love with a man named Michael, the desperate, loving father of a scarred 8-year-old girl. He's a widower and his ex-lover is a MAN named Alex.

I had no idea I could so easily fall in love with a sexually ambidextrous hero, but I did. And quickly. Michael Warner is one of the best characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I think I cried about five times as I read his story.

Broken by Megan Hart (Also on Twitter)

This book is *erotica* and it utterly and beautifully lived up to the genre. Am I supposed to be embarrassed that I read erotica? Because I'm not. At all. It's one of my favorite genres and this book was SO well written I would recommend it not only to those who already read in this genre, but to anyone brave enough to try it for the first time. This book would be an excellent place to pop your erotica-reading cherry. (heh) (Sorry!)

Sadie's husband, Adam, her first and only love, is paralyzed from the shoulders down after a skiing accident only one year into their marriage (but something like a decade into their relationship). After several years of taking care of him and watching him slip away from her emotionally, she has a non-physical affair with Joe. Sadie and Joe meet in public once a month and every month he gives her a graphic description of one of his recent sexual conquests. Not having been touched by anyone in more than two years, Sadie imagines every one of his stories is about her.

I loved the way Joe's stories came alive through the author's use of an assumed first-person present tense narrative (hard to explain, but Joe's stories are written from the point-of-view of the woman he's with, only it's Sadie's interpretation of what it would be like to be that woman). Sadie's story and the real time line are in past tense and the whole book is in first person. I loved the flow of the book, the pacing, the anticipation of it. The characters were more than just bodies (like with some erotica); they were more complex than most of the literary characters you find even in book-club fiction. I literally couldn't put it down once I started it.

I know I'm going to keep thinking about this story for a long time. I'm an extremely physical person and it made me think A LOT about how dead I would feel inside (and out) if my husband ever stopped reaching for me, even if it wasn't his fault that he couldn't.

I already wrote about Outlander here, so I don't need to rehash that one. (Recap: Oh, JAMIE, be still my heart.) (Also: I haven't been able to make it past book five. TOO long!)

Also noteworthy:

The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano

Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches Guide to Romance Novels (AKA: Why reading romance novels doesn't lower your IQ!)

Everything ever written by Julia Quinn

Victoria Dahl's contemporary series (Start Me Up, Talk Me Down) (Also on Twitter)

Charlene Harris's Sookie Stackhouse books (the crack cocaine of vampire fiction)

Yes, I realize these are all romance novels, but that's pretty much all I read this year and I won't apologize for it.

Comments

[Amy]

I am a closet reader of Harlequin romance novels. I've been reading them since I was 12 and while they are not the best books in the world. I do enjoy them every month. I listened ( I have an hour plus commute so I listen to a lot of boooks on CD in the car) to Outlander at your reccomendation and really enjoyed it so I'm excited to try some of theese.

[Mandi]

Wow, I'm so glad I'm not the only one that had their love of reading re-ignited by the Kindle. What a magical machine! I just got mine a couple months ago but I've been reading like a fiend ever since. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that it's so portable and goes everywhere I go, and my entire library is RIGHT THERE no matter what I feel like reading at the time.

[Jaime]

I hope there's no prescription required, because I'm up to 132 books read myself!

[Joy]

Twilight gave me the reading bug when I read it last November. After I finished the series, I could NOT stand not having something to read. I was so hungry again to read, and I hadn't felt that way in a long time. I began devouring the Sookie Stackhouse, and when I was desperate re-read a bunch of books that were in my bookcase.

I don't have the kindle, but I do have an iPhone, and that has about 9 novel apps, some love poems, and the entire works of shakespeare loaded onto it. I still have to get to the Outlander Series, but right now, I'm working on the Vampire Diaries. I am going to save your recommendations and put them on my list!

[Meighan]

Reading is one of my favorite things to do! There are few things I love more than getting totally 100% lost in a book and its story. I also read romance novels, because I do not like to think while I read and I love the mindless pleasure of it.

I do have an author suggestion for you. Janet Chapman - her Highlander series is very good. Good sex, time travel and plenty of man meat. Check it out!!

[Rachael]

DOOOOOD. I have a running goal of 52 books/year and I totally failed this year. 130+ CRAZY! But, it's great to see that other people in the world are still actually reading. I never got past The Fiery Cross, but loved the Outlander books and want to read them again, and am a huge Sookie Stackhouse fan too. Have you read any Laurell K Hamilton? They're a bit *ahem* more hard core, but it sounds like you might be okay with that, and they are wonderful stories.