Another 2009 Top 5 List - Respected Guest Blogger

My head is spinning (not unlike the Great World in Colum McCann's 9/11 novel which shows up on many top 2009 lists and figures prominently on my "to read" list) from the marked site interactivity spike resulting from one (ONE!) offer to guest blog a 2009 top 5 list.

OK, so many of you (I realize that there aren't "many of you" to begin with, but bear with me here) are likely intimidated to add to the blog, via comment or as guest blogger (or, more likely, you just don't exist). I give this guest blogger great credit, and you should give her opinions some weight. She is one of my recommendation "go to" people, though we do not share an affinity for self-help books. Among other various and sundry accomplishments, she recommended Owen Meany, and the novel she listed first below would have been in the mix for my 2009 picks, but I read the novel in 2008.

She's also a Kindle snob.

In her words: "My best books are not necessarily the best books I've read, but these are the books that had the most impact on me. When I think back on the year, these stand out, each for a different reason."

Without further ado. . .

The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones

As a foodie, I was attracted to this book because of the in-depth discussion of Chinese cuisine (of which I know little about). But the two main characters, Sam and Maggie, were far more memorable than the food. They are both quiet characters -- no witty dialogue or engaging repartee -- but their taciturn demeanor is what made them real for me. I particularly enjoyed how the author wrote about Maggie's grief (she is recently widowed at the start of the book). We learn about Maggie and her dead husband through Maggie's flashes of memories of simple, every day life events with her husband. (I think this is what real grieving is -- re-living the memories of the ordinary moments with someone who is gone.) And, we learn about Sam through the history of his elders and their commitment to traditional Chinese cooking. These are characters who stick with you long after you've forgotten the ending of the book.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Settlerfield

This isn't high-brow literature (which you might expect from an author who is likened to Austen or Bronte), but it is a fun read. It's a modern day Victorian mystery, with family secrets, large country estates, and stories within stories. But the best part of this book is the pacing. The mystery slowly unravels, but you never feel as if the book plods. For someone who is known to race to the ending, I enjoyed simply letting the story unfold as the author doles out bits of the plot. I'm also partial to this book because it was the first one I read on my Kindle and I was surprised to find how quickly I was engaged in the story, forgetting that I was reading from an electronic device. (how about an entire blog entry to the pros/cons of the Kindle?)  [Editors Note:  click here]

Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

I think most reviewers would describe this as chick lit, but it is so much more than that (which is not to denounce chick lit, of which I am a big fan; this book simply transcends the genre). It is indeed a love story -- but the real love story that shines through is the one between Cornelia (a waitress) and Clare (an 11-year-old girl in need of a mother). It's the kind of read that makes you feel a little bit more human. Yes, at times, the story is a little too tidy, with all the pieces falling into place just so, but I can forgive that because this book just made me feel good.

Getting Things Done by David Allen

Moving away from fiction, this next favorite of mine is more about what you can take away from the book, than about the book itself. With a cult-like following, David Allen's Getting Things Done is a book I would normally avoid if only because I loathe a book that is heralded as a universal fix for anything. But the methodology detailed in this book for organizing your life (and thus allowing you to be more productive) simply works. Like other productivity/self-help books, the writing is overly simplistic and annoyingly repetitive; however, within weeks of implementing the process (which involves capturing everything that is going on in your life so that you don't have to keep fretting about things) I found that I slept better (no more waking up with random thoughts of things that needed to be done), was less distracted, and had more free time. With the onslaught of information we receive today, I think everyone needs a means of dealing with their stuff. This one worked for me.

Go Put Your Strengths to Work by Marcus Buckingham (or any of the Buckingham Strengths based books)

Another entry in the business/self improvement category. And, another book that will not wow you with the writing. You could read any of the Marcus Buckingham books and come away with the same info -- what would happen if each of us had a real sense of our strengths and offered them up at every opportunity? And, what would a business look like if it worked on discovering the strengths of each of its employees and utilizing those strengths to further the business, instead of forcing employees to develop the skills they don't have? Buckingham's books challenge you to make an honest assessment of your own strengths and to start volunteering those strengths whenever possible. It's a very interesting (and refreshing) view of career development because it seems to me that most folks spend more time focusing on the things they need to improve, instead of the things at which they excel. This book made me think a lot about the best model for running a business and my own career development. This is a book I wish I had read in my 20s, so I've recommended it to several college-aged relatives.