Time Magazine Releases Their Top 10 Books of 2009

With 2009 coming to a close, Time magazine has released their 2009 top 10 lists of 'everything.' And since Time is one of the most respectable news magazines, I thought their 'best books' top 10 list was one to take notice of.

The best fiction book of 2009, according to Time, is Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. The book is set in early-17th century England, and follows protagonist Thomas Cromwell who dreams of a better and more enlightened political future for England. While Cromwell does live in romantic England, the book strips his life of any romantic glamour and instead displays the frightening scenarios of daily life, and the vain, cynical, paranoid and treacherous citizens and dignitaries who would have lived around Cromwell at that time. Cromwell is almost an action hero in the novel, but his tragic downfall is simultaneously heartbreaking and inspiring.

The best non-fiction book of 2009, according to Time, is The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. The book is comprised of dozens of stories, but the most memorable follows William Herschel, the impoverished artist-turned-astronomer who designed and built his own telescopes and ended up discovering Uranus after becoming infatuated and enamored with the heavens.

The remainder of the top 10 list is below:

1. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
2. The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
3. Swimming by Nicola Keegan
4. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
5. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower
6. Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer
7. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
8. Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
9. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
10. The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell