The best literature of 2009 includes A.S. Byatt's sprawling historical novel, a collection of short stories from Wells Tower, Nick Hornby's musical love story, and a book of essays from Zadie Smith.

Check out our list of the Top 10 books of 2009.

In Alphabet Juice,humorist Roy Blount Jr. collects a compendium of words alphabetically to explore their origins, spellings, pronunciations,and various other aspects in as unique and funny a writer's reference book imaginable. Read more.

_{Photo credit: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux}

Oxford University Press announced the New Oxford American Dictionary's Word of the Year (WOTY) for 2009:

unfriend - verb - To remove someone as a 'friend' on a social networking site such as Facebook.

As in, "Lucius made an obnoxious comment on my Facebook wall so I decided to unfriend him."

In 2008, the Word of the Year was hypermiling, and in 2007, locovore. Other WOTY front-runners considered this year by Oxford University Press included:

sexting - the sending of sexually explicit texts and pictures by cellphone
funemployed - taking advantage of one's newly unemployed status to have fun or pursue other interests
birther - a conspiracy theorist who challenges President Obama's birth certificate
ecotown - a town built and run on eco-friendly principles

See the full list and weigh in with your opinion about the WOTY at the Oxford University Press Blog.

Robert Sabbag's Down Around Midnight recounts the horrific plane crash that he survived in 1979 and the results of the author's recent attempts to contact the other survivors, bystanders and first responders. Best known for his book about the 1970's cocaine craze Snowblind, Sabbag proves capable in relating the kind of story that no author ever really expects that they might need to write. Read more.

_{Photo credit: Penguin}