In somewhat-random order, here are the ten best books I read this year:
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.
- Varieties of Disturbance by Lydia Davis.
- Rasskazy by Mikhail Iossel and Jeff Parker (editors).
- Demon Theory by Stephen Graham Jones.
- We Did Porn by Zak Smith.
- Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut.
- The Mystery Guest by Grégoire Bouillier.
- The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño.
- The Exquisite by Laird Hunt.
- Beowulf by Anonymous.
And, again in somewhat-random order, here are the ten worst books I read this year:
- The Pact by Jodi Picoult.
- The End of Alice by A. M. Homes.
- The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont.
- Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Auster.
- All the Sad Young Literary Men by Keith Gessen.
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.
- Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.
- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.
- Shining at the Bottom of the Sea by Stephen Marche.
- Who the Hell is Pansy O'Hara? by Jenny Bond and Chris Sheedy.
And there you have it, kids: the best and worst of over sixty books read this year. Happy trails.



Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is on my worst reads for the year list too!
Posted by: Stefanie | December 27, 2009 at 06:04 PM
That book was atrocious. It was like reading "Pride and Prejudice" while a group of drunk college freshmen watches a zombie-movie marathon.
Posted by: Brandon | December 27, 2009 at 09:07 PM
Took me a while, but just wanted to say "thank you" for reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies so that I don't have to.
Posted by: theorist | January 19, 2010 at 12:47 PM