top ten.

it's no secret that i'm in love with gossip girl.

so i was pretty excited when a friend of mine sent me

these top ten lists. 

my favorite, 

surprisingly,

isn't chuck's top ten nyc restaurants

but 

dan's top ten books of 2009. 

coincidently,

a lot of these are on amazon's best books of the month lists. 

the list & my comments:

this is where i leave you by jonathan topper

heartfelt family drama/belated coming-of-age story; sounds like dan's life in a book. 

too much happiness: stories by alice munro

short stories; with a theme - who are we? do we change in relationships?

eating animals by jonathan safran foer

i loved foer's everything is illuminated -

this book sounds like a mix of foer & michael pollan (my favorite food writer). 

i've put this one on my list,

although i've never heard any of the gossip girl characters say anything about food.

the believers by zoe heller

you may remember heller from the screenplay notes on a scandal... 

the believers is set in nyc in 2002, 

a comic novel about hypocrisy of all kinds - fitting for the nyc socialites.

the blonde of the joke by bennett madison

"val, friendless and adrift, finds francie and adopts her religious devotion to slutty ensembles and shoplifting." sounds like georgina to me! 

sag harbor by colson whitehead

autobiographical novel about a black student in an elite manhattan private school - 

i can see dan's character relating to feeling out of place... 

nocturnes by kazuo ishiguro

i loved ishiguro's never let me go - 

this a collection of 5 short stories that seems somewhat similar to her other novel. 

await your reply by dan chaon

a thriller - about the "lives of three strangers interconnected in unforeseen ways." 

the help by kathryn stockett

i have heard great things about this book from my stepmom, 

but i find it hard to believe dan's character from gossip girl would read it - 

it's about a black woman and social activist in the age of 

country clubs and the civil rights movement.

changing my mind: occasional essays by zadie smith

short stories on topics including "literature, movies, going to the oscars,

british comedy, family, feminism, obama, katharine hepburn, and anna magnani" 

sounds interesting.

they were fun to research! 

i'm not sure i'll add any to my bookshelf

except maybe eating animals. 

for now

but i am counting down the days

until the next new gossip girl

and my celeb crush

(chuck bass)

and listening to eric's #10 best album of 2009:

bon iver's blood bank ep 

 ( ;