1: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

This wonderful work of fiction was my first book 0f 2010 about Oskar Schell, an 8-year-old boy who loses his beloved father in the September 11th attacks. He finds a key his father left behind - and no lock. He traipses around all five boroughs of New York to find the answer and deal with his grief - with just one clue.

It's very sad. But very well done.

368 pages.

2: The Learners by Chip Kidd

For any of my siblings who may wonder about what a) graphic design is or b) what a graphic design student experience is, Chip Kidd's "The Learners" is a great start. Well, technically, the first book "Cheese Monkeys" is better, though that was my last book of 2009.

In "The Learners," we meet the recent grad in his first job experience at an agency in New Haven, CT. Alert: psychological experiments play a heavy role in the book.

Extra: Chip Kidd is a legendary book cover designer for such authors as David Sedaris and Michael Crichton. You can see his work here. To some extent, graphic design is a character in the book - with clever layouts to emphasize emotion, etc.

A novel in 288 pages.