I love the Top & Bottoms lists created at the end of every year by the  4 Mystery Addicts book discussion group. The sheer diversity of favorite books is heartening. (I always make somebody’s list 🙂 But I’m more intrigued by the books that make both lists: favorites and least favorites. It reminds me again that every reading experience is subjective and that readers bring their own perceptions and experiences to what they read. A whooping 31 books were listed this year both as someone’s favorite and someone’s least favorite. Here are the top 10 books with at least one vote in each category for 2009:

1. THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE by Steig Larsson  (14 T,  2 B)
2. ECHOES FROM THE DEAD by Johan Theorin (11 T, 1 B)
3. THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE by Alan Bradley  (7 T, 7 B) Clearly a love it or hate it experience.
4. A RULE AGAINST MURDER by Louise Penny (6 T, 1 B)
5. THE MYSTIC ART OF ERASING ALL SIGNS OF DEATH, by Charlie Huston, (5 T, 1 B)
6. THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST aka THE TWELVE by Stuart Neville (4 T,  1 B)
7. THE LANGUAGE OF BEES by Laurie King (3 T, 1 B)
8. A DUTY TO THE DEAD by Charles Todd (3 T, 2 B)
9. BEAT THE REAPER by Josh Bazell (2 T,  2 B)
10. BLUE HEAVEN by C.J. Box (2 T, 1 B)

What were your favorite (or least favorite) books that you read in 2009?