It was a banner year for books in 2010. Between the Audible account I shared with my sister, to borrowing from my local library, to my lovely Amazon Kindle, I got in a lot of reading in 2010. There’s one more week left, and I may get another book in before January 1, but I thought I’d go ahead and post my complete list now.
1. Thomas Mullen – The Last Town on Earth
2. John Foxe – Fox’s Book of Martyrs
3. Leslie Haskin – Between Heaven and Ground Zero
4. Nick Hornby – Juliet, Naked
5. Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith – Pride & Prejudice & Zombies
6. Kathryn Stockett – The Help
7. C.S. Lewis – The Magician’s Nephew (Bk 1)
8. John Burnham Schwartz – Reservation Road
9. Joseph Finder – Company Man
10. Francine Rivers – Redeeming Love
11. John Updike – Rabbit, Run
12. Robert Hundley – Will the World End in 2012?
13. Ted Dekker – Black
14. Ted Dekker – Red
15. Charlaine Harris – Dead Until Dark
16. Richard Paul Evans – The Walk
17. Ted Dekker – White
18. C.S. Lewis – The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe
19. David Gregory – The Last Christian
20. Rebecca Skloot – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
21. Diane Gabaldon – Voyager
22. Hilary Spurling – Pearl Buck in China
23. Dan Simmons – The Terror
24. Elizabeth Kostova – The Historian
25. Stieg Larsson – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
26. Jillian Hart – Homespun Bride
27. Richard Stearns – The Hole in the Gospel
28. Ron Hall/Denver Moore – Same Kind of Different As Me
29. Nancy Warren – Speed Dating
30. Philippa Gregory – The Red Queen
31. Darcia Helle – Enemies and Playmates
32. Jennifer Colgan – The Matchmakers
33. Diana Gabaldon – Drums of Autumn
It’s hard to believe that I read “The Help” this year. It was hands down the best book I read in 2010, but it feels like I read that so long ago. Worst book of the year was “The Walk” by Richard Paul Evans, but that’s mainly because I’m not a fan of his books at all. I only read it as part of my neighborhood book club. Most inspirational book goes to “Hole in The Gospel” which is what has inspired me to have my own personal Giving Campaign in 2011.
As for books in 2011, I know my list will be MUCH shorter next year. I am hosting book club in February and we’re reading “The Postmistress.” After that I’ll be launching into the biggest book endeavor I can possibly imagine: Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged.” It’s even longer than Ken Follett’s “Pillars of the Earth,” which is incredibly long.
Edited 12/31/2010 to add: I did manage to read one more book in 2010. I finished “The Screwtape Letters” on 12/31/10, for a total of 34 books read in 2010. Nice!
Can I make two suggestions? First, I don’t know if you’ve decided on format for Atlas Shrugged, but it’s a lot less daunting to listen to than to read. So I’d suggest either of the Audible.com versions…I’ve listened to both and they’re both good. Second, if you like The Help that much, please listen to (and NOT read) Some Sing, Some Cry. I’m in awe of this book (I’m still listening).
Happy reading…and I’ll be anxious to hear what you think about Atlas. John got me the 2CD set of the Atlas Shrugged Companion for Christmas and I’ve just put it on my iTunes so I can listen on the way to north Texas this afternoon!
(Remind yourself often how OLD that book is and yet how closely it mirrors much of what’s going on these days…)
Also, what did you think of The Red Queen? I’ve already bought that one on Audible but haven’t listened to it yet.
Cathi – I do plan on doing the audiobook for Atlas – in fact, we bought it a few months ago. I’ll look into Some Sing, Some Cry.
As for Red Queen, I’m a big Philippa Gregory fan, so I enjoyed it although it was slightly different than her other books. Lots of INTERNAL dialogue versus dialogue between characters. And I didn’t realize that it was the “sequel” to White Queen, which is about the other Rose in the epic War. But while I wouldn’t put it in the top 5 of Gregory books, it was still reasonably enjoyable.
CS Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is still my favorite. It brings out my childish imagination. I love how it can take me to Narnia and all the cool places.