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40 Books From 2009 You Should Read

Posted on February 7, 2010 by John DeNardo in Books // 4 Comments

At an AggieCon panel this weekend, panelists Ellen Datlow, Scott Cupp and Jayme Lynn Blaschke named an excellent selection of books released last year that are more than worth a look. (I hope I captured them all!)


  1. A Blood of Killers by Gerard Houamer
  2. A Book of Endings by Deborah Biancotti
  3. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
  4. British Invasion edited by Christopher Golden, TIm Lebbon, and James A Moore
  5. Clockwork Phoenix 2: More Tales of Beauty and Strangeness edited by Mike Allen
  6. Collected Stories by Lewis Shiner
  7. Drood by Dan Simmons
  8. Elegy Beach by Steven R. Boyett
  9. Everland and Other Stories by Paul Witcover
  10. Finch by Jeff VanderMeer
  11. Fugue State by Brian Evenson
  12. Gaslight Grotesque: Nightmare Tales of Sherlock Holmes edited by J. R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec
  13. He Is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson edited by Michael A. Arnzen Hellbound Hearts
  14. Hespira: A Tale of Henghis Hapthorn by Matthew Hughes
  15. Last Days by Brian Evenson
  16. Lovecraft Unbound edited by Ellen Datlow
  17. Madder Mysteries by Reggie Oliver
  18. Midnight Picnic by Nick Antosca
  19. Northwest Passages by Barbara Roden
  20. Phantom edited by Paul Tremblay and Sean Wallace
  21. Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe edited by Ellen Datlow
  22. Powers: Secret Histories by John Berlyne
  23. Slow Sculpture: Volume XII: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon by Theodore Sturgeon
  24. Tesseracts Thirteen: Chilling Tales of the Great White North edited by Nancy Kilpatrick and David Morrell
  25. The Best of Gene Wolfe by Gene Wolfe
  26. The Best of Michael Moorcock by Michael Moorcock
  27. The Catacombs of Fear by John Llewellyn Probert
  28. The City & The City by China Mieville
  29. The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny (Volume 1) by Roger Zelazny
  30. The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny (Volume 2) by Roger Zelazny
  31. The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny (Volume 3) by Roger Zelazny
  32. The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny (Volume 4) by Roger Zelazny
  33. The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny (Volume 5)by Roger Zelazny
  34. The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny (Volume 6) by Roger Zelazny
  35. The Dead That Walk: Flesh-Eating Stories edited by Stephen Jones
  36. The Domino Men by Jonathan Barnes
  37. The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay
  38. The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry
  39. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
  40. Trips (Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg) by Robert Silverberg

Related posts:

  1. TOC: Best Horror of the Year #2 edited by Ellen Datlow
  2. TOC: Teeth: Vampire Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
  3. TOC: ‘Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells’ Edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling
  4. Table of Contents: THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR, VOLUME 6 Edited by Ellen Datlow
About John DeNardo (13012 Articles)
John DeNardo is the Managing Editor at SF Signal and a columnist at Kirkus Reviews. He also likes bagels. So there.
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4 Comments on 40 Books From 2009 You Should Read

  1. Carl V. // February 7, 2010 at 7:26 am //

    Manual of Detection was fantastic.  I so regret not doing a review of it when it was fresh in my mind.  I am glad that it has won Berry an award and I hope to see the book up on other awards shortlists here soon.  Boneshaker as well, what a fun story with a really interesting protagonist (Briar Wilkes).  The Windup Girl is one off the list that I am wanting to read and I’ve read a lot of good things about A Book of Endings here recently.

  2. Ben W. // February 8, 2010 at 10:25 am //

    I loved Midnight Picnic and Last Days… two hugely underappreciated novels from last year.  Can’t recommend them enough.  Very interested to read The Little Sleep, The Windup Girl, and A Blood of Killers, too.

  3. Adam Christopher // February 9, 2010 at 1:10 am //

    Nice list, and it’s great to see Boneshaker made it. That was one of my two top books for 2009 – really a remarkable novel!

    However, I’m disappointed that Stephen King’s Under the Dome isn’t there. That was my book of the year, and it may well be King’s masterpiece.

  4. John D. // February 9, 2010 at 6:59 am //

    The audience was asked for books to add…King’s book (and some others) comepletely slipped my mind.

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