Booklist has announced its “Top 10 First Novels of 2009″ and I’m pleased to say that one of my faves (and a past Random Revelations Staff Pick) has made the cut along with two other Random House titles. Here’s what they had to say:

The Invisible Mountain by Carolina de Robertis: “Words, so beautifully employed by this author, seem inadequate to convey the essence of this twentieth-century Uruguayan woman-centered family saga.”

Lime Tree Can’t Bear Orange by Amanda Smyth: “In lithe, lyrical prose, the author evokes the lush language of the West Indies and the modest lives lived at the mercy of fate.”

Precious by Sandra Novack: “Trouble simmers beneath the surface of a bucolic Pennsylvania town in Novack’s dramatic, elegantly rendered debut.”

Check out the full list of Top 10 First Novels here. Also, be sure to take a peek at the list of “Top 10 First Novels for Youth” featuring  some titles by our friends at Random House Children’s and Egmont.

-Marie

Bestselling author Laurie R. King’s newest, The Language of Bees, about Sherlock Holmes and his wife, got a knock-out review in Booklist today! Check it out on Booklist.com.

-David

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Brian Donovan’s latest book about NASCAR’s first Black driver, Wendell Scott, has just recieved a stellar review in Booklist! 

Jackie Robinson had it rough, to be sure, but Scott may have had an even rougher time down South… Don’t miss Hard Driving for your library!

Booklist Online picked one of my personal favorites from this season yesterday for this starred review. “The Gone-Away World” was first recommended to me at ALA by one of our sales reps, but I probably would’ve picked it up anyway because the cover is so bright it could confuse flora-seeking bees. Finally, Booklist has made the right comparison: Catch-22. Heller and Harkaway have very much in common. My favorite novels tend to be intensely ambitious (Infinite Jest, The Fountainhead) and funny/serious (The Corrections, Everything Is Illuminated), and Nick Haraway’s neon whirlwind of a debut fits into both of those molds. With its biting political satire, “off-centre” British wit, and boundless energy, this is sure to be a hit with the young & literary. Perhaps the geeky as well. Not that I’d know…

Below is an interview (the first of three parts) with the author, Mr. Harkaway.

-David