PW has released their “first ever” list of the top ten books of the year (the list is also featured in USA Today’s “Book Buzz” column).

Not missing a beat, Connie Ogle of the Miami Herald asks why ALL the books are by men.

Really, PW? No women wrote great books in 2009? Not Margaret Atwood, not A.S. Byatt? Hmmmm. Makes me skeptical.

She acknowledges that, in a press release, PW had noted that the list is not “politically correct,” but said “the balance of our top 100 reflects a remarkable diversity.” That list will appear next week.

Below are the top ten — note that the list is in alpha order by title; the first title is not being annointed the #1 pick. To see the list with reviews, click here.

The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes (Pantheon)

Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon (Ballantine)

Big Machine by Victor LaValle (Spiegel & Grau)

Cheever by Blake Bailey (Knopf)

A Fiery Peace in a Cold War by Neil Sheehan (Random)

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (Norton)

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer (Pantheon)

Lost City of Z by David Grann (Doubleday)

Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford (Penguin Press)

Stitches by David Small (Norton)

BookForum‘s Omnivore blog (not to be confused with Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog) says Ayn Rand is currently “so in vogue that even designers such as Ralph Lauren are finding inspiration in her writing” and links to the stunning number of recent articles about her, fueled, in part, by two new biographies.

Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right Jennifer Burns Retail Price: $27.95 Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA – (2009-10-19) ISBN / EAN: 0195324870 / 9780195324877

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Ayn Rand and the World She Made Anne C. Heller Retail Price: $35.00 Hardcover: 592 pages Publisher: Nan A. Talese – (2009-10-27) ISBN / EAN: 0385513992 / 9780385513999

Librarians spotted Mennonite in a Little Black Dress at BEA and made it a “Shout ‘n’ Share” pick.

In this memoir, Rhoda Janzen writes about a period when her life takes about as many wrong turns as possible, bringing her to do what she never thought she could — return home to her Mennonite family.

It came out two weeks ago and is gaining momentum. Libraries were showing comfortable hold levels just before publication, but holds have increased rapidly in the last two weeks.

The Daily Beast — calls it hysterical; “In the tradition of David Sedaris, it’s her family who is the source of the book’s biggest laughs, and its heart.”

People Magazine — gave it four out of four stars

And, the author was profiled in USA Today.

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home Rhoda Janzen Retail Price: $22.00 Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. – (2009-10-13) ISBN / EAN: 080508925X / 9780805089257

Also in audio from HighBridge:

• CD: 9781598879070; $29/95; 10/13

Downloadable audio from OverDrive

Amazon has started its countdown of the best books of ’09, in ranked order, Casey Kasem style (with the small difference that Kasem was about popularity, not quality), from 100 to #1.

It’s hard to believe, but this is the tenth year for Amazon’s list. This year, they are doling out twenty choices per day, leading up to the big reveal of the Top Ten on Monday.

Here’s what they’ve given us so far; check Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog for upcoming lists.

100. The Interrogative Mood, Padgett Powell

99. The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder, and the Birth of the American Mafia, Mike Dash

98. The Anthologist, Nicholson Baker

97. Imperial, William T. Vollmann

96. Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals, Christopher Payne

95. The American Painter Emma Dial, Samantha Peale

94. Inherent Vice, Thomas Pynchon

93. Nobody Move, Denis Johnson

92. The BLDGBLOG Book, Geoff Manaugh

91. American on Purpose, Craig Ferguson

90. D-Day, Antony Beevor

89. The Complete Stories of J.G. Ballard, J.G. Ballard

88. The Children’s Book, A.S. Byatt

87. Half Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls

86. Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life, Winifred Gallagher

85. Born to Run, Christopher McDougall

84. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Jacqueline Kelly

83. American Rust, Phillipp Meyer

82. Never Smile at a Monkey, Steve Jenkins

81. The Jazz Loft Project, Sam Stephenson

80. Ad Hoc at Home, Thomas Keller

79. Toby Alone, Timothee de Fombelle

78. Robert Altman: The Oral Biography by Mitchell Zuckoff

77. Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffenegger

76. The Myth of the Rational Market, Justin Fox

75. George Sprott: 1894-1975, Seth

74. Juliet, Naked, Nick Hornby

73. Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath, Michael and Elizabeth Norman

72. The Letters of Samuel Beckett, Vol. 1, 1929-1940, Samuel Beckett

71. Green Metropolis, David Owen

70. Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, Eric W. Sanderson

69. Columbine, Dave Cullen

68. A New Literary History of America, edited by Greil Marcus and Werner Sollors

67. Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli

66. Await Your Reply, Dan Chaon

65. The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, Douglas Brinkley

64. Lowboy, John Wray

63. Everything Matters!, Ron Currie Jr.

62. Shiver, Maggie Stiefvater

61. Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, Michael Ruhlman

The U.N.’s top climate official declared today that “time is running out” for a global warming treaty and urged that it be finalized at the Copenhagen conference in December. One of the stumbling blocks is the U.S. Senate which is seen as “unlikely” to agree to the treaty’s provisions by the time of the conference.

Meanwhile, rising on Amazon, is The Real Global Warming Disaster by Christopher Booker, available in the UK now, but not coming out in this country until January, after the conference winds up. It is currently at #64 on Amazon’s U.S. sales rankings.

Booker, a long-time columnist for the UK’s Sunday Telegraph has drawn attacks for years for claiming that asbestos and second-hand smoke are not harmful, and that mad cow disease does not affect humans. Unsurprisingly, he also claims that global warming is a hoax, foisted on us by a small group of “global warming zealots” armed with faulty research.

As we mentioned earlier, a new book examines the issues behind the debates, Why We Disagree About Climate Change.

The Real Global Warming Disaster: Is the Obsession with “Climate Change” Turning Out to Be the Most Costly Scientific Blunder in History? Christopher Booker Retail Price: $29.95 Hardcover: 368 pages Publisher: Continuum – (2010-01-15) ISBN / EAN: 1441110526 / 9781441110527

We’ve written here before about the great reviews piling up for the novel Blame by Michele Huneven.

In most cases, books are reviewed at pub date or shortly thereafter. Publishers hate it when reviews are spread out over several weeks because it lessens the cumulative impact.

That may be true, but when a book continues to be reviewed long after publication, it signals that reviewers have fought for it against all the other titles coming through the pipeline.

And, here comes yet another strong review for Blame, nearly two months after publication (I know, but with hundreds of books coming out daily, two months is a long time), on NPR’s Web site.

I just finished reading Blame and can attest that the reviewers are correct in their praise, but it should be emphasized that it’s a great story that will have you thinking about it long after you finish the last page.

Blame: A Novel Michelle Huneven Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux – (2009-09-01) ISBN / EAN: 0374114307 / 9780374114305

Unabridged audio from Blackstone

• Read by Hillary Huber
• 8 Tapes; 9781433293320; $32.98
• Playaway; 9781433293399; $59.99
• 1 MP3CD; 9781433293368;$14.98
• 9 CD; 9781433293337; $50.00

Large Type: Thorndike; Hdbk; 12/1/09; 9781410420930; $31.95

Downloadable audio from OverDrive

Many years from now, some cultural historian will come up with a plausible theory about why vampires are so popular right now.

For now, the Philadelphia Inquirer observes that today’s vampires are quite different from your father’s; once inherently evil, now they can be lovable heroes.The theme of morality runs through many current popular vampire movies and novels.

To fully explore this subject, the article suggests the huge vampire anthology, The Vampire Archives.

The Vampire Archives: The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) Retail Price: $25.00 Paperback: 1056 pages Publisher: Vintage – (2009-09-29) ISBN / EAN: 0307473899 / 9780307473899

Before you get excited by the Wall Street Journal headline, “From Australia, the Next J.K. Rowling?,” do what the Christian Science Monitor suggests, Google “the next J.K. Rowling.” Time gave Stephenie Meyer that title last year, long after she was already a phenomenon. Philip Pullman was also a candidate, but the other names that surface have so far not panned out.

So, here’s the story. Struggling married mother of four, Australian Rebecca James, decides to bet all she has on her ability to write a book. The resulting  Beautiful Malice, “a gritty psychological thriller for teenagers and upward,” suffered many rejections before suddenly being picked up by an agent who took it to the Frankfurt Book Fair last week, where it engendered an international bidding war.

Bantam was the high bidder for U.S. rights, spending “up to $600.000,”  for Beautiful Malice and a second thriller, Cooper Bartholomew is Dead, says the WSJ.

One of the American underbidders says the book offers young adults something totally different, “a smart and literary psychological thriller.”

By the way,  Scholastic paid $105,000 for the rights to publish Harry Potter back in 1997, which amounts to $140,306 in 2009 currency. At the time, it was the largest amount ever paid for a debut childrens book

Of course, that was before Harry Potter proved what profits were lurking in the childrens book market.

Worried that there aren’t enough YA vampire movies in the pipeline?

Worry no more; The Hollywood Reporter announces that DreamWorks Studios has acquired the rights to the five-book Wicked series.

The producers say, “Wicked has all the elements for a great movie–adventure, mystery, star-crossed lovers, bitter enemies, and the supernatural. [the script writers] came in with an intriguing take on the books and a story that we feel will really speak to all audiences.”

Release is planned for 2012.

The movie will be based on the first two titles in the sereis, Witch and Curse, which are available in one volume.

Wicked: Witch & Curse Nancy Holder, Debbie Viguié Retail Price: $7.99 Paperback: 672 pages Publisher: Simon Pulse – (2008-09-09) ISBN / EAN: 141697119X / 9781416971191

At the end of September, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, the first in a 3-vol YA paranormal romance series about werewolves, was acquired. No release date was given.

Shiver Maggie Stiefvater Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Scholastic Press – (2009-08-01) ISBN / EAN: 0545123267 / 9780545123266

And, last year, the House of Night series was optioned. The newest title in that series has just been released.

Tempted (House of Night Novels) P. C. Cast, Kristin Cast Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin – (2009-10-27) ISBN / EAN: 0312567480 / 9780312567484

For a second, I was worried. After last night’s interview with Jeff Kinney, Michelle Norris of NPR‘s All Things Considered, introduced the next segment by saying, “Not everybody is enthusiastic about the Wimpy Kid series. Some parents feel uneasy about their children identifying with a main character who is at times selfish, lazy and whose high jinks often land him in trouble.”

I prepared for an attack on the series, but instead, bookseller Tanya Turek, who blogs about children’s books at Book 4 Your Kids.com, explained how parents can use the books as jumping-off points for discussion of issues like lying to adults and being mean to other kids.

Listen to the interview here.

As evidenced by the uproar over the climate change chapter in SuperFreakonomics, the topic can raise passions.

Today, the NYT blog, Green Inc., interviews the author of Why We Disagree About Climate Change. As the NYT points out, a global summit on climate change will take place two months from now.

It appears that only Choice reviewed the book (11/1/09), calling it, “…exceptionally well written and informative…Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals; general readers.”

According to WorldCat, the book is owned in 200 university libraries and just one public library.

Why We Disagree About Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity Mike Hulme Retail Price: $28.99 Paperback: 432 pages Publisher: Cambridge University Press – (2009-05-25) ISBN / EAN: 0521727324 / 9780521727327

It doesn’t have the production values of a Ken Burns series. In fact, it looks like a 12-week Harvard course, which is, in fact, what it’s based on.

Nevertheless, the PBS series, Justice: What’s the Right Thing To Do has turned the companion book into a bestseller. It hits the NYT hardcover nonfiction bestseller list at #16 (tied with #15) this week, one spot below the tie-in to the Ken Burns series, The National Parks.

Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? Michael J. Sandel Retail Price: $25.00 Hardcover: 320 pages Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux – (2009-09-15) ISBN / EAN: 0374180652 / 9780374180652

Below are the major releases for next week; several have already been received by the libraries we checked.

Young Adult

10/27  Cast, P.C. and Kristin Cast, Tempted (House of Night Series #6); most libraries have received their copies.

On the heels of Untamed being voted #8 on the YALSA Teen Top Ten list, the latest in the series which has been on the NYT Childrens Series list for 59 weeks. With that track record, the books are impervious to reviews, but nonetheless, the current issue of Entertainment Weekly tackles it and gives it a B, noting that the  “philosophizing goes on a bit too long.”

The next book in the series, according to PC Casts’ blog, will be Burned. No release date is given.

Tempted (House of Night Novels) P. C. Cast, Kristin Cast Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin – (2009-10-27) ISBN / EAN: 0312567480 / 9780312567484

BBC Audio; 9780792764564; $89.95
Audio downloadable from OverDrive

Fiction

10/27 Auster, Paul,  Invisible — Some libraries have received their copies.

10/27 Irving, John,  Last Night in Twisted River — Reviewed in the current Entertainment Weekly, A-

10/27 Harris, Charlaine, Grave Secret — This is a Harper Connelly mystery. The next original Sookie Stackhouse novel is coming May 2010.

10/27 Maguire, Gregory,  Matchless: A Christmas Story

10/27 Rice, Anne,  Angel Time — People, 11/2, gives it  3.5 of 4 stars — “first in a planned series of metaphysical thrillers…[a] thrilling, richly researched tale..[Rice’s] Christian message is sometimes heavy-handed, but the story zips along…”

Angel Time: The Songs of the Seraphim Anne Rice Retail Price: $25.95 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Knopf – (2009-10-27) ISBN / EAN: 1400043530 / 9781400043538

Random House Audio, 9780739316085, $35
Random House Large Print, 9780739377352, Pbk, $26
Audio Downloadable from OverDrive

————–

10/27 Roberts, Nora, Bed of Roses; most libraries have received their copies.

Mystery

10/27 Baldacci, David, True Blue; most libraries have received their copies.

True Blue David Baldacci Retail Price: $27.99 Hardcover: 464 pages Publisher: Grand Central Publishing – (2009-10-27) ISBN / EAN: 0446195510 / 9780446195515

BBC Audio, 9781600249730, $44.98
Grand Central Large Print, 9780446546973, $94.99
Audio and eBook downloadable from OverDrive

Science Fiction

10/27 Jordan, Robert, Gathering Storm; most libraries have received their copies.

Memoirs

10/27 Burroughs, Augusten, You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas

10/27 Epstein, Jason, Eating: A Memoir

We never tire of books about rescued shelter animals. This week’s People gives 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars to Come Back, Como by Steve Winn, calling it “a sweetly written, poignant tale of puppy love.” (For a look at all the books reviewed in People this week and in the past month, go to our Weekly Magazines listing).

But, poor Como was not reviewed prepub, so few libraries own it. If you need more than the People review to convince you, the introduction and first chapter are available on Harper’s Web site.

Come Back, Como: Winning the Heart of a Reluctant Dog Steven Winn Retail Price: $23.99 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Harper – (2009-10-01) ISBN / EAN: 006180259X / 9780061802591

Downloadable from OverDrive

We’re delighted that John Green’s Paper Towns was voted the #1 title on the 2009 YALSA Teens Top Ten. We were dying to see how John reacted to the WWE Divas’ announcement, but the link on the YALSA Web site just didn’t work, no matter how many times we clicked it (we did see some rather alarming SmackDown videos and Snoop Dogg kicking it; hard to take first thing in the morning).

So, we tried that trusty standby, YouTube and, voilà, there it is.

It appears the Divas have John locked, alone, in a hotel room. Hope he gets out soon.

Below is the full list of winners:

1. Paper Towns by John Green (Penguin/Dutton)
2. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
4. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry)
5. Identical by Ellen Hopkins (Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry)
6. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)
7. Wake by Lisa McMann (Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse)
8. Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast (St. Martin’s Griffin)
9. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (Disney-Hyperion)
10. Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)