The 2009 Andys

You saw what I read in 2008. Which books are awarded the 2009 Andys from this list? The winners are:

Books I Most Enjoyed Reading a Second Time
The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
Children of God, Mary Doria Russell
I almost never read books twice. At some point I expect I’ll enjoy reading these a third time. I recommend these two books constantly. Previously I blogged about Russell here.

Best Portrait of the United States in Microcosm
Friday Night Lights, H. G. Bissinger
Greed, materialism, racism and sports fanaticism are writ large in Texas, where everything is oversized. That’s why we can see them more easily in this classic, but we dare not dismiss them as being quirks of “those” people in Texas. They were true and continue to be all too true of the United States in general.

Most Underlined and Marked Up
Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, Kenneth E. Bailey
The premise behind Bailey’s project is that peasant culture changes very little over the centuries; therefore, one of the best way to understand the culture of the Gospels is to study contemporary Middle Eastern peasant culture. That approach creates a wealth of remarkable insights in every chapter. Here is just one example.

Best Book About Chicago
The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson
This bestseller weaves two stories that are quintessentially Chicago: (1) civic ambition on a massive scale and (2) murder.

Book That Best Fulfilled an Unintended Purpose
Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting, Robert McKee
The subtitle tells us this is a book about how to write a screenplay. But I found it immensely helpful in understanding how to watch a movie. McKee upacks how movies are structured on both macro and micro levels. Fascinating and revealing.

Book I Blogged On the Most
Publishing for Profit, Thomas Woll
I went through this book chapter by chapter, which you can see summarized here.

Most Unexpectedly Melancholic Book
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
I’ve wanted to read this 1980s science fiction classic for some time. When I did, I was surprised at the subtle tone of sadness that wove through the book but which became most pronounced at the end, even as a galaxy-sized victory unfolds.

Most Sensational Title That Actually Fulfilled Its Hype
The Lost History of Christianity, Philip Jenkins
The twentieth century was not the first time Christianity was a world religion. Read what happened over a thousand years ago that you’ve never even heard of before. This truly “lost history” is astonishingly revealed in another Philip Jenkins triumph.

Most Flippant Book About a Serious Topic
Sin in the Second City, Karen Abbott
A book about sex trafficking in Chicago (and the United States) in the first two decades of the twentieth century shouldn’t make it all sound like great fun. But this book does just that.

Most of my reading, of course, comes at the recommendation of others. If you’d like to suggest books for consideration for the 2010 Andys, I’d be glad to hear of them.