Wicked Lil Pixie’s Top 10 of 2009
December 8, 2009 in Best of 2009
Jackie at Literary Escapism is organizing The Book Blogger Top 10 this year with Weekly Geeks. Jackie asked that I post my Top 10, even though voting closed December 4 (I am so behind on life!)
Let me tell you, I thought it would be easy and it so isn’t. I have read so many amazing books this year, it was hard to narrow it down to just 10. I did it and I’m still whimpering that it can’t be my Top 20.
Here we go then, my Top 10 of 2009. In no order.
Living in small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane True always knew she didn’t quite fit in with so-called normal society. During her nightly, clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jane to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human.
Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures alternatively terrifying, beautiful, and deadly- all of which perfectly describe her new “friend,” Ryu, a gorgeous and powerful vampire.
It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: a dog can heal with a lick; spirits bag your groceries; and whatever you do, never-ever-rub the genie’s lamp.
Ex-detective Macmillan has a taste for bad girls, but his last lover really took the cake-and his humanity. Now a half-demon, Mac’s lost his friends, his family, and his job. Then a beguiling vampire asks for his help to find her son. Suddenly, Mac has a case to work-one that leads him deeps into the supernatural prison where Mac learns that cracking the case will cost him his last scrap of humanity.
Delaney Markham doesn’t just see dead people, she hears them too. And FYI-communicating with tortured souls all day can really wreak havoc on your love life. Sans boyfriend, Delaney makes the best of her gift by holding séances to make ends meet-that is until one incredibly annoying ghost just won’t go away.
Besides being sinfully hot-in a college professor sort of way-all signs point to Clyde Atwell being much more than the ordinary spirit. In fact, he’s a newbie demon whose first assignment is to take Delaney back down to hell with him. Yeah, like that’s going to happen on the first date.
Two fashionista zombies on the lam leave a trail of carnage from Seattle to Rapid City, S.D., in this unabashedly raunchy sequel to 2008′s Happy Hour of the Damned. Narrator Amanda Feral, who sneers at the poor fashion sense of her victims before eating their brains, coaxes fellow zombie Wendy Miller to accompany her on a visit to Amanda’s dying, abusive mother. They pick up the pace when their vampire friend, Gil, offends a strip club owner, who chases them with a pack of werewolves. Someone also keeps beheading members of Amanda’s pickup entourage, but it’s hard to credit her outrage given her own homicidal proclivities. Casual browsers drawn in by sarcastic, hip comments may be taken aback by deliberately filthy incidents involving genitalia and excrement; this is not a tale for the weak of stomach.
In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina Kane has the only profession fit for an outcast: assassin. But, her latest mission threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races and Sabina must scramble to figure out which side she’s on. She’s never brought her work home with her—-until now.
This time, it’s personal.
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf–her wolf–is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human–or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.
In the arms of her lover Michael, Cin Craven has found satisfaction for her most primal longings, reaching heights of pleasure no mere human could ever imagine. She has also found a purpose for her unearthly powers. Cin is a member of The Righteous, a band of slayers that hunts down vampires who inflict evil upon the world. With Michael by her side, Cin’s latest mission brings her face-to-face with Marrakesh, a beautiful, half-mad vampire queen charged with slaughtering humans. If she’s found guilty, Marrakesh will pay with her life. But Cin is convinced that someone —or something—far more ruthless is trying to steal the queen’s throne.. It’s a mission that will pit Michael and Cin against each other for the first time, awakening their darkest instincts and testing their love like never before…
Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it was Merit’s. She was doing fine until a rogue vampire attacked her. But he only got a sip before he was scared away by another bloodsucker—and this one decided the best way to save her life was to make her the walking undead.
Turns out her savior was the master vampire of Cadogan House. Now she’s traded sweating over her thesis for learning to fit in at a Hyde Park mansion full of vamps loyal to Ethan “Lord o’ the Manor” Sullivan. Of course, as a tall, green-eyed, four-hundred- year-old vampire, he has centuries’ worth of charm, but unfortunately he expects her gratitude— and servitude. But an inconvenient sunlight allergy and Ethan’s attitude are the least of her concerns. Someone’s still out to get her.
Since half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her undead lover Bones met six years ago, they’ve fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire, and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it’s time for a vacation. But their hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when Cat awakes one night in terror. She’s having visions of a vampire named Gregor who’s more powerful than Bones and has ties to her past that even Cat herself didn’t know about.
Gregor believes Cat is his and he won’t stop until he has her. As the battle begins between the vamp who haunts her nightmares and the one who holds her heart, only Cat can break Gregor’s hold over her. She’ll need all the power she can summon in order to bring down the baddest bloodsucker she’s ever faced . . . even if getting that power will result in an early grave.
So there you have it, my Top 10 of 2009. I will be doing a genre specific one during the holiday season, but these books are my MUST BUYS of 2009. Thanks to the authors for writing such wickedly delicious books.











[...] top ten books of 2009 have been posted here, I was early as I posted them for Literary Escapism’s Top 10’s. So…Happy New [...]
Thanks for the mention, Natasha! I’m honored to be included in such a wonderful group!