As we approach the end of the year, I look forward to the best books lists published by various media outlets and retailers, such as trade journals, newspapers and online booksellers. Over the next few days, I’ll be linking to some of these lists to see how different sources build their own best lists. First up — the venerable New York Times…

The New York Times gives some insight into the best books selection process in its Paper Cuts Blog: see Choosing the 10 Best Books of 2010.

The Times 100 Notable Books are listed in alphabetical order by title, and divided into two categories: Fiction & Poetry and Nonfiction. See the full list here.

The best of the best, the 10 Best Books of 2010, includes 5 titles each in fiction and nonfiction:

Fiction

FREEDOM by Jonathan Franzen
THE NEW YORKER STORIES by Ann Beattie
ROOM by Emma Donoghue
SELECTED STORIES by William Trevor
A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan

Nonfiction

APOLLO’S ANGELS: A History of Ballet by Jennifer Homans
CLEOPATRA: A Life by Stacy Schiff
THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
FINISHING THE HAT: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) With Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, ­Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes by Stephen Sondheim
THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

The Times also published a list of the 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2010 as well. Click here to see it.

Tomorrow, I’ll take a look at Amazon’s year-end best books lists…stay tuned!