To repeat what I’ve said in previous years: my philosophy for “best” lists is rather different from that of most publications and blogs. I write about the best books I read during the year, regardless of when they were published. This year, the pool of possible “bests” is deep and wide, because I read 119 books in all genres, a more than 50% increase in total books read. I wrote 36 full length reviews for various outlets, mostly for this blog, and another 43 short reviews.

I was able to read so much during 2009 for a couple of reasons. First, I undertook a project in February to read a short novel every day, defined as a novel of fewer than 200 pages. It was an interesting experiment that I intend to repeat in 2010 (in fact, more than 28 books are already piled up, ready to go). I also read an unusually large number of graphic novels: 26 in all, of varying quality. Those two factors pushed the total up significantly. Of that total, another 56 books were science fiction, fantasy or horror, making literature of the fantastic by far the biggest category in which I read last year. The remaining books are an eclectic mix of mainstream fiction, mysteries and nonfiction, probably the most diverse reading I’ve done in any number of years.

The two best books I read in 2009 were both novels of the fantastic written by women, and neither has gotten the attention I think it deserves. The first is Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente, which is perhaps the most imaginative book I’ve ever read. I’ve heard it described as a novel about a sexually transmitted city, and that seems like the best way to tell you what it’s about in just a few words. Have sex with the right person, and you, too, can travel to Palimpsest, a city of marvels and horrors. When you awaken, a map of the portion of the city you visited will be tattooed on some portion of your body. The only way to return – and you will want to return – is to again have sex with someone else who has visited Palimpsest. If you want to visit a part of the city you haven’t visited before, you need a different sexual partner. Sex in this book is both incredibly tawdry and extremely loving, but it is almost never anything more than a means to an end rather than an end in itself. I’ve never read anything like this book. I can’t wait to see what Valente comes up with next.

The other best of the year is The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan. This horror novel, a story told by a classically unreliable narrator, is both literary and visceral. It is the story of a woman who has retreated to a farmhouse in New England to finally write a novel that is long overdue to her publisher, a novel for which the advance has already been spent. Near the farmhouse is a red oak tree of mysterious and undefined power. This novel is rooted in Poe, Hawthorne, Lovecraft and M.R. James; indeed, I’d go further and call it a quintessentially American novel. This is Kiernan’s best work yet.

These two novels are the ones that still haunt my dreams. But they are not the only books I loved in 2009. I chronicled the best books I read in the first half of the year here. During the last six months of the year, the following were the best, in no particular order.

Tokyo Cancelled by Rana Dasgupta. More a collection of intertwined stories than a novel, Tokyo Cancelled posits that a number of airline passengers have been stranded at an airport when their flight to their final destination is cancelled. In order to pass the time, they tell one another stories. The stories are surreal, weird, and wonderful. My favorite involves magic Oreos that enable a woman to become a fashionable clothing store. Yes, I typed that correctly. Great work! I hope to read this Indian author’s only other published book, Solo, soon.

Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel by Jonathan Maberry, reviewed here. This exciting novel is a combination of a zombie story and a terrorism thriller, and never lets up for so much as a paragraph. The hero, Joe Ledger, is a Baltimore police detective who gets pulled into a shady governmental agency known as the Department of Military Science because of his speed, his strength and his brains, all of which are necessary to fight what begins as an undefined threat. Things steadily go from bad to worse, and Ledger has to figure out a solution and lead a team to defeat the zombie threat before it spreads. Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel is a roller coaster of a novel. I’m looking forward to Ledger’s next outing.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman, reviewed here. I’m one of few who liked this novel, one about the equivalent of Hogwarts in the United States, a college for those talented in magic. Grossman strives more for realism than Rowling ever did (which is much of Rowling’s charm, of course; I adore the Harry Potter novels), and his book is often depressing. It seems knowing how to do magic doesn’t really solve all of life’s problems, and can even cause more than pursuing a different career – especially when you get caught up in an alternate world that resembles Narnia. The Magicians is far from a perfect novel, but I liked it very much. Grossman has intimated that there will be a sequel; I, for one, want to learn more about his young magicians.

Unclean Spirits: Book One of the Black Sun's Daughter and Darker Angels: Book Two of The Black Sun's Daughter by M.L.N. Hanover, reviewed here. These books taught me that I like urban fantasy after all. Even though the covers depict a woman dressed in black leather with a tattoo on her lower torso – danger signs if there ever were any – the plots of these novels about Jayne Heller and her team fighting supernatural terror are clean, strong and fast. I zipped through these books in no time, enjoying every minute. Once again, I’m looking forward to the next book about this character. M.L.N. Hanover, otherwise known as Daniel Abraham, has become one of those authors on my “must buy” list.

The Living Dead, edited by John Joseph Adams, reviewed here. I never knew there were so many ways to tell a zombie story. Adams, who has appeared on the scene as an anthologer of note in the last couple of years, has culled through zombie stories published in the last 50 years or so and come up with the cream of the crop in this scary, funny, brilliant collection. Standout stories by John Langan and Scott Edelman anchor a collection that belongs on every zombie-lover’s bookshelf.

Metatropolis, edited by John Scalzi, reviewed here. John Scalzi’s authors share a future world where globalization has caused the collapse of the United States’ economy and global warming has further worked its will on life as we know it. In my review, I called it “hard science fiction in which the science is economics.” Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi and Karl Schroeder all contribute stories differing widely in tone and effect, but which all together give one a vision of a world that may be closer than we think. Scalzi has indicated on his popular website, Whatever, that Metatropolis will be coming out in paperback in 2010, so if the lovely Subterranean Press edition doesn’t fit your pocketbook, you’ll nonetheless be able to enjoy this excellent science fiction soon.

Fire by Kristin Cashore. Cashore’s first book, Graceling (reviewed here) was so enjoyable that I snatched up Fire as soon as I saw it. Fire is a sort of prequel to Graceling, set in the same world, though a different part of it. Like Graceling, it features a strong female character who knows what she wants and refuses to be manipulated by more powerful men. This is feminist fiction in which the main character doesn’t have to wind up alone and loveless. And it’s feminist fiction that isn’t the reading equivalent of taking medicine; it’s more like eating a good steak. If you have a daughter, a niece, or a granddaughter who needs to be taught that women can do anything and still be happy, give her these two books. If you have a son, a nephew or a grandson who needs to know that strong women are admirable and desirable, give him these two books. I gave them to my bookworm nephew for Christmas in 2009, thinking that he’d enjoy them despite the common wisdom that boys don’t like books in which girls are the main characters. I’ve heard no complaints.

Sasha (A Trial of Blood and Steel, Book I) by Joel Shepherd, reviewed here. Sasha features another strong female character, one who can fight a physical and political battle with skill as great as – or perhaps greater than – any male in her world. And her world calls for skill, riven with strife as it is. A religious war is coming, and Sasha must figure out where she stands when her (royal) family is on the aggressive side of the divide and her heart and moral conscience are on the other. The complexities of this first of a series rival those of George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire, and anyone who loves epic fantasy is in for a treat. Sasha will be followed by Petrodor (Trial of Blood & Steel, Book II), which will be published this coming March.

The Pine Deep Trilogy by Jonathan Maberry, comprised of Ghost Road Blues, Dead Man's Song and Bad Moon Rising. Pine Deep is a farming town that has the reputation of being the most haunted town in America – a reputation that it uses to encourage tourism, especially at Halloween time. Between the Haunted Hayride, the parade, the film festivals and every other possible moneymaking venture, the town believes it might survive the crop blight that has struck most of the farms in the area. But the blight seems to be a portent of worse things to come. The tension builds over the course of the three books, as the characters grow and change with the situation. Clocking in at a total of 1500 pages, these books will keep you busy reading for some time, but you won’t regret a moment of it.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. This is steampunk at its very finest. In an alternate Seattle, a steam-powered earthmover (the titular Boneshaker) has wreaked havoc and released the Blight, which turns those who breathe it into zombies. (It was a very big year for zombies.) The son of Priest’s main character has gone over the wall into the old city in order to clear his dead father’s name, and is in terrible danger there. The mother and son have their separate adventures before finding one another, as well as finding the mysterious man who invents amazing things behind that wall. I’ve read a fair number of Priest’s novels, and I think this one is her best yet.

The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston. I’m somewhat late to the party on this one; it’s been praised to the heavens in a number of forums, and I’ve yet to see a mention of it that isn’t a rave. It deserves the praise. This thriller features a fellow who’s been unemployed since a tragedy in his life, but who finds employment when he really needs it with a company that specializes in cleaning up homes and businesses after the violent death of a human being. Did you ever wonder who cleans up the scene after the police leave? Charlie Huston tells you in detail, even as his characters get caught up in the murders themselves.

So: 27 books out of 119 have been designated as “best.” It was a good year when that many books can move me to such delight. Here’s hoping 2010 will equal 2009 for reading quality.