Best Books of 2009 at the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany December 2nd was a HUGE success with eighty people attending. Of course, the delicious homemade scones by the president, Susan Moose, added to the evening as well. The Book House did an amazing job in seating almost everyone comfortably to listen to the favorite books of Dr. Sherry Guice, Matthew McElligott, Marggie Skinner, Liz Yanoff, and Mary Beth Farr.
Dr. Guice’s favorites:
- Hunger Games & Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
- Bog Child by Siohban Dowd
- Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick
- Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Meyers
- Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Matthew McElligott’s favorites:
Picture Books
- The Duchess of Whimsy by Peter de Seve and Randall de Seve
- Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca
- Darwin by Alice B. McGinty
Middle Grade
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
- The Yggyssey by Daniel Pinkwater
Adult
- How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely
- Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli
- Cartoon Modern
Margaret Skinner’s favorites:
Hardcover Fiction
- Cutting for Stone by Verghese
- War Games by Alexie
- Year of the Flood by Atwood (done in back, not in front of store)
- Museum of Innocence by Pamuk
- That Old Cape Magic by Russo
- Sacred Hearts by Dunant
- Italian Shoes by Mankell
- The Lacuna by Kingsolver (forgot to include this, but it is WONDERFUL!!
Hard Cover Nonfiction
- Strength in What Remains by Kidder
- Healing of America by Reid
- Goat Song by Kessler
- Hudson Valley A Cultural Guide (in back, not front of store)
- Crow Planet by Haupt (back of store only)
Paperback Fiction
- Housekeeper & The Professor by Ogawa
- There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby by Petrushevskaya
- Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Drayson
- Next Queen of Heaven by Maguire
Paperback Nonfiction
- Travels with Herodotus by Kapuscinski
Mary Beth Farr’s favorites:
- Peace, Locomotion by Woodson
- After by Efaw
- The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Burd
- Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Cholendenko
Liz Yanoff’s favorites
- Lunch Lady by Jarrett Krosoczka
- Baby Mouse Dragon Slayer by Jennifer Holm and Matt Holm
- The Blue Shoe by Roderick Townley and Mary GrandPré
- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Submitted by Josephine Sorensen. Vice President of Albany City Area Reading Council.


