Favorite Reads of 2010

I've decided that a recap of my favorite books of the year on the last day of the year shall be a new tradition. It all began last year. This year I read 57 books (and maybe I could finish one more, but probably not because I'm spending my limited free time writing this blog instead). It's not as many as last year, but it's still a lot. 23 of them were audio books, and that is how I was able to read so many. I'm sure the number will go down when Beckett starts insisting that we listen to his music, which will probably be soon, so, for now, I will resolve to appreciate my audio books that much more.

Favorite Book Club Book: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Is it cheating if my favorite book club book is one that I picked? Maybe, but I still think everyone should read this book. I read it for the second time this year, and the second time through was just as lovely as the first. Cassandra is such a dynamic narrator, and the writing is absolutely lovely. Set in the 1930s in a derelict castle in the English countryside, the setting is just as lovely as the quirky characters.



Favorite Series: Lady Julia Grey Mysteries by Deanna Raybourn

I read all four of the Lady Julia novels this year. Set in the late-Victorian era in England, Lady Julia becomes acquainted with detective Nicholas Brisbane. Julia begins to think of herself as an amateur detective as well and gets entangled in several of Brisbane's cases, often creating not a little trouble while uncovering crucial clues.

Reading Order: Silent in the Grave, Silent in the Sanctuary, Silent on the Moor, Dark Road to Darjeeling

Favorite Audio Books: Tamora Pierce Fantasies

OK. So I'm kind of cheating with this one. I'm working my way through Tamora Pierce's oeuvre. Every night I listen to her books when I go to bed. The Song of the Lioness Quartet, the chronicles of the first Tortallan female knight in over 100 years, is much beloved for good reason. The reader, Trini Alvarado, adds much to the story. The other Tamora Pierce novels I listened to this year, The Immortals Quartet and Circle of Magic, are read by the author, who had a career in radio, and a full cast. Always fun.

 

Favorite Pool Side Read: A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson

Really, this was my only pool side read, but, set in the Amazon, it's the perfect book to take on a tropical vacation (we were in Mexico). A Company of Swans is officially my second favorite Eva Ibbotson book, and it is a close second indeed. The time period (1912) is one of my favorites. And the dancing! I loved this book. I loved Harriet. I loved Rom. I loved their delicate romance.






Favorite New Release from a Beloved Author: Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

 How I love Jasper Fforde and his crazy imagination! Get a load of this premise: The world of Shades of Grey is a Colortocracy. One's social status is determined by what color one can see and how well one perceives it. The beauty of all of Fforde's books are all the little details. In Shades of Grey we have (to mention a few) swan attacks, marriage negotiations, healing with colors, a spoon shortage, Apocryphals. The language is utterly beguiling. Please read all of Jasper Fforde's novels (I highly recommend his Thursday Next Series as well). And, if you don't like them, I'd appreciate it if you'd pretend that you do.

Favorite Fairytale Retelling and book by a Local Author: A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce

 Elizabeth Bunce's A Curse Dark as Gold Elizabeth Bunce's A Curse Dark as Gold is a retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin story. Charlotte Miller becomes of the dubious owner of Stirwaters Mill when her father dies unexpectedly. Charlotte and her sister Rose struggle to keep the mill, and by extension the small town that relies on it, going. But the mill is cursed, or so the locals whisper. Time and again just when Charlotte and Rose think they are going to get ahead something horrific happens making it absolutely necessary that they m...moreis a retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin story. Bunce's story is beautifully told. The setting that she creates is just perfect. I really could visualize the mill and its surroundings hovering right on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution where the past and the future collide. This pretty fabulous retelling became all the sweeter for me when I realized that Bunce is also a Kansas City resident.

 
 Favorite Historical Novel: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary and Shaffer and Annie Barrows

It was actually a little difficult for me to pick a winner for this category this year. I read a lot of good historical fiction including some of the aforementioned books and The Help. Told in a series of letters, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is populated with a group of endearing characters. Juliet Ashton, popular newspaper columnist, begins corresponding with the people of the society when Dawsey Adams realizes he owns one of her old books. Juliet eventually travels to Guernsey. We get a glimpse into the life of the island's inhabitants during the German occupation.

A good, heartwarming book. I love the quirky characters. One of my favo..Told in a series of letters, the novel is populated with a group of endearing characters. We get a glimpse into the life of the island's inhabitants during the German occupation. A good, heartwarming book. I loved the quirky characters. One of my favorite parts was when Isola decided she wanted to be like Miss Marple.

Favorite Smackdown ... I mean Anthology: Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

Overall in the epic battle of zombies vs unicorns, I have to admit that the zombies decimated their opponents. I went into this fight a slight unicorn supporter, and I'm sure the zombie hordes will be ever so pleased that they converted me to their masses. But, here's where team unicorn takes the cake, the unicorn stories were all very different. The zombie stories, more or less, all deal with the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse and the mostly mute brain-hungry undead. Maybe the unicorn is the more timeless and versatile of the two creatures whereas the zombie is the more horrifying and creepy.

Favorite Nonfiction Read: The Perfect Mile by Neil Bascomb 

This is a book about the three runners contending to break the 4 minute mile barrier in the mid-1950s. Even though I already knew who would be the first I found myself cheering them all on. I really enjoyed learning about these three runners, and, not only that, but I really liked them as people. Roger Bannister is our amateur British runner. John Landy is from Australia, and Wes Santee is the hometown Jayhawk. The book raises lots of questions about amateur vs. professional athletes, training, goals, the limits of the human body, etc.


Favorite First Book in a New Series: White Cat by Holly Black 

White Cat completely sucked me in. Holly Black created an awesome world where magic is illegal forcing the worker families become mobsters. Magic is transmitted through touch so everyone in the society, fearful of what the magicians hidden in their midst could do to them, wear gloves. It's a dark world with the curse workers forced into the underbelly of society. Cassel is the only non-worker from a family entirely of workers. He's trying to fit in to the non-magical world, but he loves the con too much to stop. He's also having weird dreams about a white cat.Runner-up: Mistwood by Leah Cypess and it's a close call.

Favorite Series Finale: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins I just finished Mockingjay, and I am feeling a little raw. My word, what a feat by Suzanne Collins.

In Mockingjay we join Katniss in District 13, beaten, angry, confused, and fragile without Peeta who is a prisoner in the capital. And that is just the beginning. Katniss is really put through the ringer in this book. Everyone wants something from Katniss, and she has to figure out what she wants. On her own.

I think the real beauty of this book for me was how scarred Co...more 
I felt raw and worked over when I finished Mockingjay. I think the real beauty of this book for me was how scarred Collins let her characters, especially Katniss who is telling us her story, become. And she would be too. To be put through the games not once, but twice, to be used and remade by so many groups of people, to be the face of a rebellion that clearly has its own flaws. The anger, the insecurity, the inability to trust, the fragility. Katniss is tough, but she is only human. I loved the ending. It was so heartrending and yet healing at the same time. And I'm with Collins heart and soul on who was right for Katniss in the end.

Favorite Cover: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater I have high expectations for Maggie Stiefvater, who I deemed my favorite new author in 2009. Gratefully, Linger did not disappoint.

First of all, this book is gorgeous. And I do mean the book itself. From the cover with the splash of red over the i, to the leaf-strewn frontispiece, and the green text, the book is just so dang pretty in all the right ways.

Secondly, Stiefvater has a gift for prose. Reading one of her books is kind of like sinking into a fluffy down pillo...more 

I have high expectations for Maggie Stiefvater, who I deemed my favorite new author in 2009. Linger is gorgeous. And I do mean the book itself. From the cover with the splash of red over the i, to the leaf-strewn frontispiece, and the green text, the book is just so dang pretty in all the right ways. Secondly, Stiefvater has a gift for prose. Reading one of her books is kind of like sinking into a fluffy down pillow. You feel engulfed by the feathery lightness of her language. With her language she creates atmosphere. And the story? Well, I'm eagerly awaiting book 3.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!