Books of 2010

Reading is my favorite thing to do. Really. I remember getting my first library card and having to reach up to the desk and panicking at the prospect of not being able to print my whole name on the teeny-tiny line. In the past few years, I started keeping a list. It's a neat exercise because when I review it at the end of the year, it brings back boatloads of memories - where I was, how I felt, what else was going on in my life at the time. This time, inspired by Jillian, I'd like to share it. Any/all feedback welcomed! (Just be nice.)

(in reverse chronological order)

Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain (SU)

A Secret Kept by Tatiana De Rosnay

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (NF) (DS)

Private by James Patterson

Honeymoon by James Patterson

Of Love and Evil by Anne Rice (AP)

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers* (BG)

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer*

All We Ever Wanted Was Everything by Janelle Brown

River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West by Rebecca Solnit (BG) (NF)

My Reading Life by Pat Conroy* (AP)

Running the Books by Avi Steinberg* (AP)

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman (DS)

Trespass by Rose Tremain (AP)

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett (AP) (DS)

In the Hot Zone by Kevin Sites (SU)

Being Dead by Jim Crace (NF)

While I Was Gone by Sue Miller

Disclosure by John Grisham

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (BG)

Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King

Crossers by Philip Caputo

The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli

Invisible by Paul Auster*

Duma Key by Stephen King (SU)

The Poet by Michael Connelly

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

So Much For That by Lionel Shriver

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

Bangkok 8 by John Burdett (BG)

The Book of Fires by Jane Borodale*

Confessions of a Tax Collector by Richard Yancey* (SU)

Family History by Dani Shapiro

A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham

The Straight Man by Richard Russo

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis* (SU)

The Jasmine Trade by Denise Hamilton

Object Lessons by Anna Quindlen

The Summer I Dared by Barbara Delinsky

The History of Danish Dreams by Peter Hoeg

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (BG) (NF)

All Over the Map by Laura Fraser^

The Gravedigger’s Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates

The Cave by Robert Penn Warren (BG)

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (DS)

Day of the Locust by Nathaniel West (BG)

The Crowning Glory of Call Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore

Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday (BG)

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo (DS)


Key:

* = It’s really tough to get a star. The book must be exceptional, remarkable and memorable.

BG = Read for book group
AP = Reviewed for AP
NF = Not finished. So boring, I simply couldn’t bear to read it all the way through. I only recently gave myself permission to leave a book unfinished.
SU = Surprised! Picked up somewhere for free and was pleasantly surprised.
DS = Disappointed! Really, really wanted to read for whatever reason and was sorely disappointed.

^ = Special kudos to my friend, Laura, for her wonderful (second) memoir published this year!