Books I Read in 2009
Explore my curated list of books I read in 2009, featuring top picks and hidden gems across genres. Discover must-read titles and literary inspirations from my year in reading.
Book
The Tenth Circle
by Jodi Picoult
When the daughter of a comic book artist claims she has been raped at a party and her friends turn against her, she runs away to Alaska and her father must face his own violent past as he tries to find her.
Book
The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini
Traces the unlikely friendship of a wealthy Afghan youth and a servant's son, in a tale that spans the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy through the atrocities of the present day.
Book
Deep Dish
by Mary Kay Andrews
After years of hard work, Gina Foxton, chef extraordinaire and former runner-up Miss Teen Vidalia Onion, is hosting her own show, Fresh Start, on local Georgia public television. She's also dating the producer. But when Fresh goes bad, and she catches her boyfriend in flagrante delicto with the boss's wife, Gina decides it's time to pursue bigger dreams. Namely, a gig on national television. Gina knows she's destined to be the Cooking Channel's next superstar. But the execs also have their eyes on Tate Moody, Mr. "Kill It and Grill It" himself, host of the hunting-and-fishing cooking show Vittles. The ultimate man's man, Tate's a tasty side of beef with a large, swooning female fan base. Gina's loyal devotees consist of her free-spirit college dropout sister and her mother—who calls every single day. But when the smoke clears there can only be one TV chef standing as Gina and Tate get ready for the cook-off of their lives.
Book
Something Blue
by Emily Giffin
Warm and engaging; readers will find themselves cheering for Darcy as she proves people can change in this captivating tale. Booklist (starred review.).
Book
The Madonnas of Leningrad
by Debra Dean
Bit by bit, the ravages of age are eroding Marina's grip on the everyday. An elderly Russian woman now living in America, she cannot hold on to fresh memories—the details of her grown children's lives, the approaching wedding of her grandchild—yet her distant past is miraculously preserved in her mind's eye. Vivid images of her youth in war-torn Leningrad arise unbidden, carrying her back to the terrible fall of 1941, when she was a tour guide at the Hermitage Museum and the German army's approach signaled the beginning of what would be a long, torturous siege on the city. As the people braved starvation, bitter cold, and a relentless German onslaught, Marina joined other staff members in removing the museum's priceless masterpieces for safekeeping, leaving the frames hanging empty on the walls to symbolize the artworks' eventual return. As the Luftwaffe's bombs pounded the proud, stricken city, Marina built a personal Hermitage in her mind—a refuge that would stay buried deep within her, until she needed it once more. . . .
