Best of 2009: Fiction
A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein (Algonquin)
A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert (Scribner)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Amy Einhorn/Putnam)
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper)
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (Random House)
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Holt)
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (Scribner)
Lark and Termite by Jayne Ann Phillips (Knopf
The City & The City by China Mieville (Ballantine)
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson (Knopf)

Best of 2009: Nonfiction
Changing My Mind by Zadie Smith (Penguin Press)
Lit by Mary Karr (Harper)
Louisa May Alcott by Harriet Reisen (Holt)
Stitches by David Small (Norton)
Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder (Random House)
Googled by Ken Auletta (Penguin Press)
Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins)
The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes (Pantheon)
Home Game by Michael Lewis (Norton)
The Secret Lives of Buildings by Edward Hollis (Holt/Metropolitan)

Best of 2009: Teen reads
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman (Holt)
Gateway by Sharon Shinn (Viking)
Fire by Kristin Cashore (Dial/Penguin)
Going Bovine by Libba Bray (Random House)
If I Stay by Gayle Forman (Dutton)
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (Simon & Schuster)
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks (Houghton Mifflin)
This Full House by Virginia Euwer Wolff (HarperTeen)
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (Viking)

Best of 2009: Middle-grade books
The Doll Shop Downstairs by Yona Zeldis McDonough (Viking)
Everything for a Dog by Ann M. Martin (Feiwel & Friends)
The Evolution of Capurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (Holt)
Fortune's Folly by Deva Fagan (Holt)
Lincoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells (Candlewick)
Lincoln Shot by Barry Denenberg (Feiwel & Friends)
The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice (HarperCollins)
A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck (Dial/Penguin)
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb/Random House)
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (Little, Brown)

Best of 2009: Picture books
All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee (Beach Lane/Atheneum)
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated Tom Lichtenheld (Chronicle)
John Brown by John Hendrix (Abrams)
One Giant Leap by Robert Burleigh, illustrated by Mike Wimmer (Philomel)
Pouch by David Ezra Stein (Putnam)
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas (Beach Lane/Atheneum)
Skippyjon Jones: Lost in Spice by Judith Byron Schachner (Dutton)
The Lion & The Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown)
Trouble Gum by Matthew Cordell (Feiwel & Friends)
Willoughby & The Lion by Greg Foley (HarperCollins)

Best of 2009: Cookbooks
Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller (Artisan)
Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express by Mark Bittman (Simon & Schuster)
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child (Knopf)
Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber (Ten Speed)
Ten: All the Food We Love by Sheila Lukins (Workman)

Best of 2009: Audio Books
Fiction
Rain Gods by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster Audio)
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (Random House Audio)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Penguin Audio)
The Shawl and Rosa by Cynthia Ozick (HighBridge Audio)
The Women by T.C. Boyle (Blackstone Audio)

Nonfiction
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (Random House)
David Sedaris: Live for Your Listening Pleasure by David Sedaris (Hachette Audio)
Fool’s Gold by Gillian Tett (Tantor)
Losing Mum and Pup by Christopher Buckley (Hachette Audio)
Panic by Michael Lewis (Simon & Schuster Audio)