Compilation of 2009 Best Books Lists - Nonfiction

Lists 2009 nonfiction books and a compilation of each book's year-end list honors

 

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes

Amazon #26 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Publisher's Weekly Top 10 Books of 2009

New York Times 10 Best Books of 2009

Janet Maslin's Top 10 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

TIME Magazine #1 Nonfiction Book of 2009

National Book Critics Circle Finalist

Library Journal Best Boooks of 2009 (31)

Salon Best Nonfiction of 2009 (5)

Barnes & Noble 10 Best Nonfiction of 2009

Seattle Times Best Books of 2009

ALA Notable Books 2010 (12)

LA Times Book Prize Finalist: History

 

Cheever: A Life by Blake Bailey

Amazon #18 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Publisher's Weekly Top 10 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

TIME Magazine #10 Nonfiction Book of 2009

National Book Critics Circle Finalist

Pulitzer Prize for Biography Finalist

Christian Science Monitor Best Nonfiction of 2009

LA Times Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

Booklist Top of the List 2009: Fiction

 

Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City by Greg Grandin

Amazon #13 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

NBA Finalist

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

National Book Critics Circle Finalist

Pulitzer Prize for History Finalist

Boston Globe Best Nonfiction of 2009

New Yorker Best Nonfiction of 2009

Barnes & Noble 10 Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009


Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed

Amazon #43 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

New York Times 10 Best Books of 2009

Janet Maslin's Top 10 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

TIME Magazine #5 Nonfiction Book of 2009

Pulitzer Prize for History Winner

Financial Times Best Books of 2009

Economist Best Books of 2009

New Yorker Best Nonfiction of 2009

 

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

Amazon #2 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

TIME Magazine #8Nonfiction Book of 2009

National Book Critics Circle Finalist

Hudson Bookseller’s Best Nonfiction of 2009 (10)

San Francisco Chronicle Best Nonfiction of 2009

LA Times Best Nonfiction of 2009

Barnes & Noble 10 Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

Seattle Times Best Books of 2009

LA Times Book Prize Finalist: Current Interest


The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

Amazon #58 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Publisher's Weekly Top 10 Books of 2009

Michiko Kakutani's Top 10 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Christian Science Monitor Best Nonfiction of 2009

Barnes & Noble 10 Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

ALA Notable Books 2010 (12)

 

Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong by Terry Teachout

Amazon #33 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

Michiko Kakutani's Top 10 Books of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle Best Nonfiction of 2009

Economist Best Books of 2009

Washington Post 10 Best Books of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

 

The Good Soldiers by David Finkel

Amazon #36 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

New York Times 10 Best Books of 2009

Michiko Kakutani's Top 10 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Boston Globe Best Nonfiction of 2009

ALA Notable Books 2010 (12)

 

Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr

New York Times 10 Best Books of 2009

Michiko Kakutani's Top 10 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

TIME Magazine #3 Nonfiction Book of 2009

National Book Critics Circle Finalist

Hudson Bookseller’s Best Nonfiction of 2009 (10)

New Yorker Best Nonfiction of 2009

Barnes & Noble 10 Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

Seattle Times Best Books of 2009

 

 

 

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Columbine by Dave Cullen

Amazon #69 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

LA Times Best Nonfiction of 2009

Salon Best Nonfiction of 2009 (5)

ALA Notable Books 2010 (12)

LA Times Book Prize Finalist: Current Interest

 

Stitches: A Memoir by David Small

Amazon #9 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Publisher's Weekly Top 10 Books of 2009

Hudson Bookseller’s Best Nonfiction of 2009 (10)

LA Times Best Nonfiction of 2009

Washington Post 10 Best Books of 2009

Barnes & Noble 10 Best Nonfiction of 2009

ALA Notable Books 2010 (12)

 

The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T. J. Stiles

NBA Winner

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Pulitzer Prize for Biography Winner

Financial Times Best Books of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle Best Nonfiction of 2009

Christian Science Monitor Best Nonfiction of 2009

Boston Globe Best Nonfiction of 2009

New Yorker Best Nonfiction of 2009

Barnes & Noble 10 Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

 

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Amazon #54 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Hudson Booksellers Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle Best Nonfiction of 2009

New Yorker Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

ALA Notable Books 2010 (12)

LA Times Book Prize Finalist: Current Interest

 

The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America by Douglas G. Brinkley

Amazon #65 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Boston Globe Best Nonfiction of 2009

Barnes & Noble 10 Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

Booklist Editor's Choice 2009


Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-time Eater by Frank Bruni

Amazon #28 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

My Paper Chase: True Stories of Vanished Times By HAROLD EVANS

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Financial Times Best Books of 2009

Economist Best Books of 2009

New Yorker Best Nonfiction of 2009





 

Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival by Norman Ollestad

Amazon #6 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

 

 

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba

Amazon #10 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

 

 

The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 by Thomas E. Ricks

Amazon #11 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

 

 

 

 

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan

Amazon #17 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

LA Times Best Nonfiction of 2009

 

 

 

Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi

Amazon #32 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

 

 

 

Genesis by Bernard Beckett

Amazon #49 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

 

 

 

Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker by James McManus

Amazon #55 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower by Adrian Keith Goldsworthy

Amazon #57 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

 

 

 

 

The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch

Amazon #59 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

 

 


 

 

 

 

Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability by David Owen

Amazon #71 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

 

 

The Letters of Samuel Beckett: Volume 1, 1929-1940 by Samuel Beckett

Amazon #72 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Economist Best Books of 2009

 

 

The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street by Justin Fox

Amazon #76 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Robert Altman: The Oral Biography by Mitchell Zuckoff

Amazon #78 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

 

 

The Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957-1965 by Sam Stephenson

Amazon #81 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

 

 

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall

Amazon #85 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

ALA Notable Books 2010 (12)

 


Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life by Winifred Gallagher

Amazon #86 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

 

 

D-Day: The Battle for Normandy by Antony Beevor

Amazon #90 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

Financial Times Best Books of 2009

TIME Magazine #2 Nonfiction Book of 2009

 

 

 

The American Painter Emma Dial: A Novel by Samantha Peale

Amazon #95 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

 

 

Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals by Christopher Payne

Amazon #96 Editor's Top 100 Books of 2009

 

 

 

 

Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebook by David M. Carroll

NBA Finalist

 

 

Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species by Sean B. Carroll

NBA Finalist

Financial Times Best Books of 2009

Economist Best Books of 2009

 

The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy by Adrienne Mayor

NBA Finalist

 

 

A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon by Neil Sheehan

Publisher's Weekly Top 10 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford

Publisher's Weekly Top 10 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Land of the Lost Souls: My Life on the Streets by Cadillac Man

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

 

 

Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape by Edited by Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

 

 

Food for Thought, Thought for Food by Edited by Richard Hamilton and Vincente Todolo

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

 

 

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

 

 

The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream by Patrick Radden Keefe

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

ALA Notable Books 2010 (12)

 

True Compass: A Memoir by Edward M. Kennedy

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

Michiko Kakutani's Top 10 Books of 2009

Boston Globe Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

 

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

Hudson Bookseller’s Best Nonfiction of 2009 (10)

 

 

Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

Washington Post 10 Best Books of 2009

LA Times Book Prize Finalist: Current Interest

 

Gabriel García Márquez by Gerald Martin

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

Booklist Editor's Choice 2009

 

Larry’s Kidney by Daniel Asa Rose

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

 

 

Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays by Zadie Smith

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

TIME Magazine #4 Nonfiction Book of 2009

LA Times Best Nonfiction of 2009

 

 

Horse Soldiers: The Extraordinary Story of a Band of U.S. Soldiers Who Rode to Victory in Afghanistan by Doug Stanton

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 by Gordon S. Wood

Publisher's Weekly Best Nonfiction of 2009 (23)

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

LA Times Book Prize Finalist: History

 

 

 

 

Raymond Carver: A Writer’s Life by Carol Sklenicka

New York Times 10 Best Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

Seattle Times Best Books of 2009

 

 

Che's Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image By MICHAEL CASEY

Michiko Kakutani's Top 10 Books of 2009

 

 

In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic By DAVID WESSEL

Michiko Kakutani's Top 10 Books of 2009

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Financial Times Best Books of 2009

 

 

The Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics Was Reborn By LOUISA GILDER

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Ayn Rand and the World She Made By ANNE C. HELLER

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Library Journal Best Boooks of 2009 (31)

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

 


The Case for God By KAREN ARMSTRONG

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Financial Times Best Books of 2009

 

 

City Boy: My Life in New York During the 1960s and ’70s By EDMUND WHITE

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Closing Time: A Memoir By JOE QUEENAN

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Cold: Adventures in the World’s Frozen Places By BILL STREEVER

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

LA Times Book Prize Finalist: Science

 

 

A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent By ROBERT W. MERRY

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression By MORRIS DICKSTEIN

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

LA Times Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits By LINDA GORDON

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle Best Nonfiction of 2009

New Yorker Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

Seattle Times Best Books of 2009

LA Times Book Prize Finalist: Biography

 

The Evolution of God By ROBERT WRIGHT

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found By MARY BEARD

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor By BRAD GOOCH

National Book Critics Circle Finalist

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Boston Globe Best Nonfiction of 2009

New Yorker Best Nonfiction of 2009

Booklist Editor's Choice 2009


 

The Ground Truth: The Untold Story of America Under Attack on 9/11 By JOHN FARMER

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Hiding Man: A Biography of Donald Barthelme by By TRACY DAUGHERTY

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America By STEVEN JOHNSON

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

The Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-shek and the Birth of Modern China By HANNAH PAKULA

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir By CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

The Lost Child: A Mother’s Story By JULIE MYERSON

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Lost in the Meritocracy: The Undereducation of an Overachiever By WALTER KIRN

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Louis D. Brandeis: A Life By MELVIN I. UROFSKY

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Economist Best Books of 2009

Seattle Times Best Books of 2009

LA Times Book Prize Finalist: Biography


 

The Mercy Papers: A Memoir of Three Weeks By ROBIN ROMM

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town By NICK REDING

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

LA Times Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

Seattle Times Best Books of 2009

 

 


 

 

A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster By REBECCA SOLNIT

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

LA Times Best Nonfiction of 2009

New Yorker Best Nonfiction of 2009

San Francisco Chronicle 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend By LARRY TYE

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Securing the City: Inside America’s Best Counterterror Force — the NYPD By CHRISTOPHER DICKEY

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom By GRAHAM FARMELO

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Economist Best Books of 2009

LA Times Book Prize Finalist: Science

 

Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original By ROBIN D.G. KELLEY

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

The Third Reich at War By RICHARD J. EVANS

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

Christian Science Monitor Best Nonfiction of 2009

 

 

The Weight of a Mustard Seed: The Intimate Story of an Iraqi General and His Family During Thirty Years of Tyranny By WENDELL STEAVENSON

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women From 1960 to the Present By GAIL COLLINS

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector By BENJAMIN MOSER

National Book Critics Circle Finalist

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

LA Times Best Nonfiction of 2009

 

 

Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity By DANIEL JONAH GOLDHAGEN

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009

 

 

Yours Ever: People and Their Letters By THOMAS MALLON

New York Times 100 Best Books of 2009