This was a good reading year with many memorable books. Narrowing my favorites down to a Top 10 list is always difficult, but here we go:
Top 10 Books Read in 2010
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (by Sherman Alexie)
- Girl in Translation (by Jean Kwok)
- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (by Dave Eggers)
- Jane Eyre (by Charlotte Brontë) - re-read
- Mockingbird (by Katherine Erskine)
- My Name Is Asher Lev (by Chaim Potok)
- Olive Kitteridge (by Elizabeth Strout)
- The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (by Anne Fadiman)
- Still Alice (by Lisa Genova)
- The Help (by Katherine Stockett)
* My favorite book of the year, as I explained in this post, was Girl in Translation. But all of the books above were worthy contenders, and several others nearly made the list.
* As always, most of the books I read in 2010 were fiction; however, I do love nonfiction, particularly memoirs, and read seven:
- Arctic Homestead (Normal Cobb)
- Beautiful Boy (David Sheff)
- Blue Like Jazz (Donald Miller)
- Center of the Universe (Nancy Bachrach)
- Long Way Gone (by Ishmael Beah)
- Mountains Beyond Mountains (Tracy Kidder)
- Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (Anne Fadiman)
I absolutely loved Beautiful Boy, Long Way Gone, and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. I'm planning to read more nonfiction in 2011.
• I added 42 book to my Ever-Growing TBR list, and I marked off just 24. That means that over half of the books I read in 2010 did not come from my TBR list, so it continues to grow faster than I can conquer it. But that's OK. I learned about books from posts on The Sunday Salon, Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books, the Book Review Carnival, from various internet sources, and especially from other book bloggers.
• I also read lots of juvenile fiction, both to my own kids and as part of literature classes that I teach. I can't remember all of these, but some are: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; Maniac Magee; Crazy Lady; Tangerine; Sounder; Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; When My Name Was Keoko ; The Winged Watchman; Cheaper by the Dozen.
• Below is the total list of books read, minus the juvenile fiction. Each link leads to a review. My star-ranking system is as follows: 5 stars--must read; 4 stars--highly recommended; 3 stars--enjoyable; 2 stars--ick; 1 star--no, no, no.
- Abide with Me (Elizabeth Strout)****
- Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie)*****
- Arctic Homestead (Norma Cobb)***
- Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (Ernest Gaines)****
- Beautiful Boy (David Sheff)****
- Blue Like Jazz (Donald Miller)****
- Breath, Eyes, Memory (Edwidge Dandicat)****
- Bridge of Sighs (Richard Russo)**
- Bright Side of Disaster (by Katherine Center)***
- Buffalo Soldier (Chris Bohjalian)****
- Center of the Universe (Nancy Bachrach)**
- Devil Amongst the Lawyers (Sharyn McCrumb)*
- Elizabeth and Her German Garden (Elizabeth von Arnim)***
- Four to Score (Janet Evanovich)***
- Girl in Translation (Jean Kwok)*****
- Girl Who Stopped Swimming (Joshilyn Jackson)***
- Half Broke Horses (Jeannette Walls)****
- Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (Dave Eggers)****
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (Jamie Ford)***
- Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë) Reread*****
- Language of Trees (Ilie Ruby)****
- Last Night at Twisted River (John Irving)****
- Like Water for Chocolate (Laura Esquivel)***
- Long Way Gone (by Ishmael Beah)****
- Mockingbird (Katherine Erskine)*****
- Mountains Beyond Mountains (Tracy Kidder)***
- Mudbound (by Hillary Jordan)***
- My Name Is Asher Lev (Chaim Potok)*****
- Nectar in a Sieve (Kamala Markandaya)****
- Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro)****
- Olive Kitteridge (Elizabeth Strout)****
- One for the Money (Janet Evanovich)***
- Picture Bride (Yoshiko Uchido)****
- Queen of the Big Time (Adriana Trigiani)***
- Saffron Kitchen (Yasmin Crowther)**
- Season for Second Chances (Diane Meier)***
- Shanghai Girls (by Lisa See)***
- South of Broad (Pat Conroy)***
- Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (Anne Fadiman)*****
- Still Alice (Lisa Genova)*****
- Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (A. McCall-Smith)***
- Tell Me About Orchard Hollow (Lin Stepp)***
- The Help (Kathryn Stockett)****
- Though Waters Roar (Lynn Austin)**
- Three to Get Ready (Janet Evanovich)***
- Two for the Show (Janet Evanovich)***
- When My Name Was Keoko (Linda Sue Park)****
- Whiter Than Snow (Sandra Dallas)***
6 comments:
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Asher Lev are two of my favorite books. It sounds like you had a great reading year. I hope 2011 is just as great. Happy New Year.
Still Alice was such a good book--heartwrenching. I do want to read The Help, Olive Kitteridge and Girl in Translation one of these days. They've been in my TBR collection for awhile now.
Here's to a great year in books!
Happy New Year, happy to have found you, I am a new follower.
Still Alice is an all time favourite, her newest is releasing this month I believe.
My goal is to try Memoirs this year, so I will try a few from yur recommendation. Long way Gone is already on my Wishlist.
My fav of 2010 if interested
http://teawithmarce.blogspot.com/2010/12/tea-time-with-marce-2010-list-of.html
Glad to see The Help made your list, as I've pulled it off the shelf to read this year. Happy new year!
You've got a great list there! I also love reading memoirs. I would also like to read "Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down"
Happy reading!
What a great reading year for you! I just passed Absolutely True Diary on to my little brother--he's 14 and I figured he probably hears much worse at school than he'll read in the book (though I didn't feel that way at first).
Happy 2011 to you! Hope it's a great year.
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