Goodbye, 2009. You were pretty good, as far as years go. But can I offer you the tiniest bit of constructive criticism? That thing you did with the Publishers Weekly list of the top 100 books of the year? It really rankled some folks. The aftershocks are still rolling.

This fall, Publishers Weekly named the top 100 books of 2009. How many female writers were in the top 10? Zero. How many on the entire list? Twenty-nine.

I wish I were scandalized, or at least surprised. I'm not. I understand the invisible prejudice -- from the inside out. I'm a woman, but I've been a sexist, too.

In my grad school thesis, written at 23, you'll find young men coming of age, old men haunted by war, Oedipus complexes galore. If I'd learned nothing else, it was this: If you want to be a great writer, be a man. If you can't be a man, write like one.

Also, you sucked at economics. That's all. Sleep tight, 2009.