Best Books of 2009

(Being books read in this year rather than those published)

 The Graveyard Book is one of the few novels I've read in the last year that I plan to reread, rave about, and lend to everyone who will borrow it. Far from being grim, this story is gentle and captivating.  It's been months now since I've read it, and still I feel a calm joy when I think about it.

Nobody Owens spends his childhood amongst the graveyard ghosts, learning the culture and ways of the dead, and eventually about the living world outside.  His story parallels that of Mowgli in the Jungle Book, which adds a little metaliterary fun, but would not weaken the story for those who haven't read it.   My own memory of Kipling being rusty,  I think I'll reread those stories before picking up the Graveyard Book again.

Gaiman has won some serious kudos for this book, including the 2009  Newbery Medal, so I'm hardly unique in loving him for it.  Happily for me, the feeling seems mutual.  His journal entry for the day he received the award is tagged, "God I Love Librarians".

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The best comic title I read this year was Bill Willingham's Fables series.  I'll admit that when it first crossed my path I found the premise gimmicky, but after several years of  hearing word-of-mouth praise, I succumbed to curiosity  and soon joined the chorus.  Fables relates the stories of fairy tale figures, forced to flee their own world and build a clandestine refugee community in our own New York City.

The familiarity of the core characters creates an emotional shortcut for readers to settle into this world, and as the stories progress they're given time to develop beyond their origin-tales.  The Frog Prince is a particular favourite of mind, which I would not have anticipated at the beginning of the series.  Fables is a good all-around comic, with excitement, intrigue, romance, mystery, and all those other elements we look for to entertain and charm us.   Happily for us all, Fables has now published 92 issues and is still going strong.

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Working as a children's librarian, I skim through innumerable picture books, keeping an eye out for new storytime favourites, or titles to recommend to parents when they come to me with questions.  However, my favourite picture book from this year is not one that has made the children laugh, although I hope it has, but one that fills me with ridiculous glee.

Beware of the Frog tells the story of a little old lady who lives at the edge of a "big dark scary wood" with nothing to protect her except for her pet frog.  One by one, we watch as monsters approach her quaint little cottage and chuckle at the "Beware of the Frog" sign before being efficiently and neatly dispatched by the eponymous pet.

Fantastic, detailed images are part of the charm, but may be too intricate to present to a group of kids.  Consequently, I don't use this book in storytime, but I can't wait to share this with my niece and nephew once they're old enough to enjoy it with me.