Thursday, December 17, 2009

Most Popular Books of 2009

I’m always amused by the end of the year wrap ups from pundits and critics of the best and worst of everything during the year. I thought it would be fun to look back over the most circulated books here at the library – our greatest hits of 2009, so to speak.


The biggest splash, of course, was made by Greg Iles’ latest, The Devil’s Punchbowl, which not only stirred the literary pot in Natchez, but apparently the political pot as well.

Probably the most discussed and requested book was The Help by Kathryn Stockett, a narrative of 1960’s Mississippi family life from the viewpoint of – well – the help. Just about the time demand would die down a little, a new flurry of requests would start as a different group of readers discovered it. The most remarkable thing about this book is that it is Ms Stockett’s debut novel.

There were some new offerings by a number of authors not heard from for many years: Thomas Pynchon, John Irving, Pat Conroy, and E L Doctorow. Pat Conroy has a particularly loyal following in Natchez.

One book still causing a stir is The Shack by William P Young. I mean how many books claim to depict a weekend spent conversing with God in a shack?

Though originally published in 2004, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffeneger enjoyed great popularity last year among the book clubs and local readers in general. The release of the movie spurred another burst of interest. I found this book especially intriguing.

Dan Brown’s latest, The Lost Symbol, was highly anticipated and is still in demand.

Remember, one the new features of our online catalog is that patrons may request to receive an email when their favorite authors are about to release a new title.

I think overall 2009 was an exciting year for book lovers. We hope you will join us to see what 2010 has to offer.

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