Amid the twinkly decorations, dancing sugarplums and ubiquitous holiday cheer, a bracing dose of dark humor might be nice, don't you think? For book lovers, we're recommending a volume that offers just that: "The Dreaded Feast: Writers on Enduring the Holidays" (Abrams Image, 192 pages, $15.95). It's a collection of essays, short stories and poetry from some of our finest writers, both wry and dark, including Hunter S. Thompson, John Cheever, John Waters, David Sedaris, Calvin Trillin and Augusten Burroughs. Or consider our recommendations for some of the best in nonfiction and fiction from 2009.
Nonfiction
Changing My Mind
By Zadie Smith (Penguin Press, 320 pages, $26.95)
The author of novels "White Teeth" and "On Beauty" pens essays on British comedy, feminism, Katharine Hepburn and Obama.
House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street
By William D. Cohan (Doubleday, 480 pages, $27.95)
Cohan, a former investment banker, recounts the 10 days when Bears Stearns collapsed and the financial meltdown of 2008 began.
Strength in What Remains
By Tracy Kidder (Random House, 304 pages, $26)
Pulitzer Prize-winner Kidder tells the story of Deo, a refugee who landed in New York City after escaping genocidal civil war in Burundi. Kidder "may have just written his finest work," says The New York Times Book Review.
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
By T.J. Stiles (Knopf, 736 pages, $37.50)
The 2009 National Book Award winner, this biography drew a rave review from The N&O for its scope and insight.
Fiction
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned
By Wells Tower (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 256 pages, $24)
In his debut story collection, Tower, who grew up in Chapel Hill, creates a fine tension between wry humor and primal rage, says Publishers Weekly. The title story, about a Viking siege, manages to be funny and poignant.
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
By Daniyal Mueenuddin (W.W. Norton, 256 pages, $23.95)
Mueenuddin's collection of linked stories draws a portrait of feudal Pakistan in the midst of transformation. A National Book Award finalist, the collection is likely to be the first widely read book by a Pakistani author, The Washington Post says.
This Wicked World
By Richard Lange (Little, Brown and Co., 416 pages, $23.99)
Multiple reviewers praise Lange's knack for creating unforgettable characters in this literary crime novel set in seedy Los Angeles locales.
A Gate at the Stairs
By Lorrie Moore (Knopf, 336 pages, $25.95)
The N&O called her first novel in 15 years Moore's most sustained, fully realized long fiction to date.
