Besties: two of mine and lots of yours

I know that I've blogged on the silliness of all these "best books" lists that keep cropping up, but let's face it, we all like to share our favourites.  So here is a little (incomplete) compendium of the top ten list of top tens.  And just for the record, my own two 2009 faves include Paul Burman's The Snowing and Greening of Thomas Passmore (it was actually released in late 2008, but I read it in 2009), and Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Angel's Game. The latter isn't normally my cup of tea, but like Umberto Eco Zafón is something of a genre buster, and his writing moves way beyond any classifications like "thriller" or "mystery" (click on the link for my more detailed review).  As for Passmore, you can read my linked review for the full gushathon, but all I can say is that, a year on, lines still keep coming back to me.  I'm very excited that Paul Burman has reported another book about to be published shortly on his blog. 

Now for the others:
Guardian's Author Choice

New York Times
Washington Post
Readings Magazine
Huffington Post