Thursday, December 30, 2010

Books read in 2010

I make a list at the beginning of every year of books I'd like to read during that year. It's not a "only read these books" list, as there is plenty of room for more reading. This year I made it through all but one! I realized by the beginning of December I wouldn't have time to get through a huge Dickens novel in time.

I read 38 books in 2010, some of them were amazing and others...not so much... :)

Stand out favorites were:

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie. My roommate was in this play in college so I decided to read it. I read a Poirot story by Christie as well and decided I like Miss Marple better.






Sense & Sensibility (insight edition) by Jane Austen (and Bethany House) - I'm working my way through all of Austen and I'm not *so* in love with every single one. This one, however, was excellent and I really enjoyed the "insight edition" done by Bethany House. It reminded me of reading from a Norton Anthology where they have all the interesting tidbits in the margin only this was more like reading the book along with a friend who was having the same thoughts as you were.






God of the Hive by Laurie R. King - I wasn't as impressed with the first half (The Language of Bees - which must be read prior to this one) but I absolutely love the whole Mary Russell series and am well on my way to owning all of them.






Wayfarer by R.J. Anderson - a kidlit book with a fantastic take on faery lore, this is number two in the series and I highly recommend them both.






Sarah Addison Allen - read all of her books. Seriously. They are magical in a really unconventional way and I was delighted by them. Thank you Cat for the recommendation.






The Sandy Knoll Murder, Legacy of the Sheepshooters by Melany Tupper - SO not what I was expecting but it was historical, factual, well researched and totally fascinating story about a famous murder in a little town in Oregon.






Enchantment by Orson Scott Card - I read this book a few years ago and liked it and I liked it even more the second time around. It's a fantastic blend of folklore and modernity and it makes you really believe the fairy tales are true.






Not even close to favorites were:

Fair Blows the Wind by Louis L'Amour - I love L'Amour and I almost couldn't finish this one. It would have been fine if he hadn't gone 60 pages in with one story and then taken up the next 275 with a completely different story and gone back to the original one for the last 30 pages. That's not a literal page count but it feels pretty darn close. If you want to read one of his many fantastic books, don't make it this one.

Notes From The Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - this one felt like reading the diary of a crazy person and I thought I was going to go crazy myself.

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith - I have to confess I didn't even finish this one. I thought it would be funny but really it was just awful. Someone on facebook said this book was like taking Huck Finn and replacing all the dialogue with Chuck Norris facts and I think that was a pretty good description of what odd butchery it was.

You read anything else on my list and you should be alright, just avoid those unless you seriously want a challenge. :)

Did you read any good books this year?



5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi!

Thanks for all your wonderful posts. I love reading through your posts whenever I get the time to do so. You're so passionate about what you write, which is why I've awarded you the Stylish blogger Award. :-)
I don't know if you accept awards, but if you're interested, check out the following link for more information:

http://thecreativemuslimah.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-very-first-award.html#more


Enjoy your award!
-The Creative Muslimah

AlphaBetsy said...

I found Sarah Addison Allen this year as well and absolutely love her writing. I have read all that is out there and can not wait for more. I'm listening to Garden Spells at work right now. :)

Lisa said...

Thanks for the list and the great idea! Maybe I'll spend part of my New Year's Eve making my own for 2011. Here are 3 books that I enjoyed this past year:

Dog On It by Spencer Quinn - cracked me up because it's written from the dog's POV.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson - I don't read too much nonfiction but thoroughly enjoyed this one about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows - LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it, probably on my top 10 books of all time list.

D.M. McGowan said...

I am just so sad!
No where in your list did I see "Partners" by D.M. McGowan or "Homesteader" by D.M. McGowan.
Neither is or will be one of the great classics but they are entertaining and there's a little history in each one.
If you can find someone who still has a copy (not me) of "The Great Liquor War" you could read that one too.
Dave

www.dmmcgowan.blogspot.com

a line from Lynn @ Large said...

Lisa gave me Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith for Christmas. These two ranch hand brothers read Sherlock Holmes stories and use his "deducifyin" skills to solve a murder of another hand on the ranch they're working on. Forbes magazine says "A wild, well-told western mystery." It was well written and with your Sherlock interest you'd probably enjoy it.