Friday, December 10, 2010

My Favorite Books of 2010...

For the Book Club this week, I am going to share with you my favorite books of 2010! 

  • The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larson...I read all three of the Millenium Trilogy books but this one was my favorite.  Reading them out of order, I read this one first, and was completely captivated by Lizbeth Salander.  This is a must-read series!
  • Resistance by Anita Shreve...This book is set during WWII and tells a compelling story about a Belgian woman and an American pilot.  The title says it all...on many levels...  This is my favorite of all of Anita Shreve's books that I have read.
  •  Baker Tower by Jennifer Haigh...I love an epic and this was also the first book I'd read by this author.  She tells a 60 year story about a mining town and the relationships & connections between the people who live and work there.  It was an excellent book!
  • The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan...Kids need amazing and compelling stories to read!  Rick Riordan captivated my 11 year old and I just had to see what the fuss was all about...his stories appeal to the imagination, blend historical fiction and twisted fairy tales, and pull you into a great hero's journey!  Fantastic!  {The movie was ok...but you have to read the books first}
  • The Help by Kathryn Stockett...I avoided reading this book for a long time and I'm not sure why.  I finally picked it up on the suggestion of a book-loving friend {thanks Colette} and I was hooked.  This is a story that I hadn't really considered before.  One of my favorite types of books are those that set the reader down in a time and place that are unfamiliar and teach you something new about a way of life.  This book accomplished that brilliantly!
  • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Schaffer...This is one of the best books I have ever read.  For weeks after I finished it, I tried to talk everyone I know into reading it for themselves.  It's so artfully written and tells such a compelling story.  I love books with rich character developement, so much so that you feel each character is a real person.  This is brilliant and you won't regret reading it...in fact pick it up right now if you haven't already read it!  You must read this book!
  • The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen...I just got swept away by this author and read everything she has in print.  I wrote in my book journal that this was my favorite of all her books.  She artfully combines just a little bit of magic into an otherwise lovely story about life.  Just that little touch of magic lends such a touch charm...in this book, books follow the main character Chloe around, as a way of telling her something important.  This is a really fun, relaxing read.
  • The Last Time I Was Me by Cathy Lamb...I also got swept away by this author and read all of her books this summer.  She has such an irreverant style of writing, that simultaneously cracked me up and reduced me to tears.  Her books handle heavy life issues with this touch of serious irreverance and the result is a truly satisfying read.
  •  The Things We Do For Love by Kristin Hannah..This was a delightful summer read.  Her characters are well written and this was a really good story.  Loved it!
  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins...I read all three books in this trilogy and the first one was my favorite.  There so many dimensions to this story line, and frequently I thought about how I would teach this or discuss it with my own kids.  Reading the trilogy, especially Mockingjay, also challenged my opinions of censorship for kids.  I enjoyed the challenge and the opportunity, if only within my own mind, to use the book to examine my opinions.  These are pretty powerful books.

So there it is, my top 10...although I cheated a little and included series and trilogies.  It was hard to narrow down a whole year's worth of reading to just 10 books.  Are any of these on your Top 10?  Are any of these decidedly NOT on your Top 10?  I'd love to hear your opinions as well as your favorite books of the year!
Happy Reading!

2 comments:

  1. I got a book reader for Christmas and can't wait to start the Stieg Larssen trilogy. I have heard about The Hunger Games so many times...I actually may want to just read your whole list!

    Right now, I am reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini, one of the best I've ever read. I loved the Kite Runner, but this book is so much more rlevant to my life as a woman and mother.

    And if you love epics and haven't read Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier or Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, they are my two all-time favorite books.

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from my readers...please leave a comment!