Favorite Books of 2010

[mellenhead]

So what did you love this year?

Mine:

The lonely polygamist : a novel / Brady Udall - I LOVED this book, great characters, great writing. My fav of the year.

Wolf Hall : a novel / Hilary Mantel (About the Tudor's, Henry VIII)

Matterhorn : a novel of the Vietnam War / Karl Marlantes

Six wives : the queens of Henry VIII / David Starkey - If you are a fan of Henry VIII or the Tudor era, this book is awesome

Room : a novel / Emma Donoghue.

An object of beauty : a novel / Steve Martin.

[Spudd]

Of the books I read in 2010, these are my favorites (order is the order I read them in, from most recent to longest ago):

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Saturday - Ian McEwan

I'm only part-way through "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" but I think it will be a favorite as well.

[Bugsy]

These all got 4.5/5 (I stole Rowan's rating scale ):

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

And these got 4/5:

Idiot America by Charles P. Pierce

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I'm not going to meet my goal, but if I can finish the one I'm reading now by the end of the year (maybe possible...we'll see) I'll have read 18 books--3 of which were nonfiction--this year. That's way more than I'd been reading in previous years. If not for the wedding, I'd have a good probably 4 more.

[Spudd]

I had forgotten about the Hunger Games! I thought I put it on my list at the library before, but apparently not - so I just added it. Looking forward to that!

[Sílvia]

Love is a strong word, and I think I only loved The Help (sorry to disappoint, Mellen ). However, these were quite good:

-Stieg Larssons's trilogy
-The Weight Of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf
-The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
-The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
-El Tiempo entre Costuras by María Dueñas - I forget what it's going to be called in English, but keep an eye out for this name. It's her first novel, about a regular woman turned spy during world war 2. It was very good.

[Spudd]

Silvia, I just added all your favorites to my list.

Except that last one - I don't think it's out yet in English. If you hear of it coming out in English let me know!

[Sílvia]

Spudd, I posted this link when I was reading it:

http://www.bookpage.com/the-book-case/tag/maria-duenas/

Also, I'm flattered! I hope you don't hate them all...

[Spudd]

You pointed out recently that we seem to usually have the same taste, so hopefully it's a safe bet. I also added all Mellen's and Bugsy's to my list as well. I have a good list now.

[Bugsy]

I added your lists to mine as well. It's going to take me a lifetime to get through all of these books!

[Beverly]

Some of my favorites were:

The Help, The Hunger Games books, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and Words the Dog Knows. I'm sure there were some other good ones in there, but they're escaping me at the moment.

[Rowan]

5 Stars
Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter

4-4.5 Stars
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Other Eight Hours (non-fiction)
A Thousand Splendid Suns
So Much for That
Never Look Away
Caught
Fear the Worst
Throw out 50 Things (nonfiction)
Room
Leaving the World
Strangers at the Feast
The Good Daughters
I'd Know You Anywhere
My Name is Mary Sutter
This is Where We Live

The 2 non-fiction books listed have been read multiple times.
I really learned a lot from them.

[Spudd]

Rowan, how did you get into Linwood Barclay? He's from around here, but I didn't know he was famous.

[Rowan]

Spudd, I grabbed him randomly off the new release shelf at the library. I love his writing - he's one my fave finds for this year.