Best Books of 2009? I’ll Pass, Thank You.

Stephen King recently produced his annual top 10 books of 2009. This years list includes Rough Country by John Sanford, Drood by Dan Simmons and 2666, by Roberto Bolano. While this list is interesting (of course, I read it), I kind of don’t care.

There are a couple of reasons that I don’t like “best of” lists, especially for books. One is that almost all of these books are printed in hardcover. Very rarely, do I buy hardcover. Why? They cost more and if I’m going to be spending money on a book, it better be the most amazing book that I’m ever going to own if I’m going to fork over $24.95 for it. If the book sounds good, nine times out of ten, I’ll get it from the library, wait until it’s in paperback, or use my accumulated Christmas gift cards if it sounds like a must-read-it-now type of book.

Second, I’m always a day late and a dollar short. I love reading books after a craze (for example, The Road). Too much book hype, actually turns me off and I feel like there are too many opinions flying around for me to actually formulate an unbiased one of my own. I’ll wait until the craze is over. I’ll pick it up years later and it will seem like a gem, which, of course, I discovered.

Last, I like finding books. This reason is very connected to my anti-book craze status. But I like perusing the bookshelves for a new author or a new book that I’ve never in my life heard of. It’s like searching for a lost treasure. Half of the fun is the journey of finding the book. A book list that is served to me on a platter seems to me like you are giving me the treasure. I want to hunt around a little bit more. For me, that’s part of the journey and it’s not just the book itself.

Go ahead, post your lists, I’ll peruse through them, comment and argue about their credibility. But really…I probably won’t get to them anytime soon because I’ll be busy trying to find the dusty ones at the local library.