Seems like everyone’s making lists this time of the year, doesn’t it? I was starting to feel left out and then I remembered, “Wait, I have a blog!”
Here’s my list of the novels I’ve read in 2010, undoubtedly incomplete, but I’ll do my best. (As soon as I post this, I’ll remember more.) Some I read as research for my novels, others for pleasure, most I liked, some I did not. I also read several non-fiction books, most on writing, but I’ll save that list for another day. There are also a handful of books I started but couldn’t/didn’t finish, most significantly Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao. Too much Spanglish for me at a time when I couldn’t take the time to decipher the true meaning of the story. I’ll get back to it another year, perhaps after another extended vacation in Costa Rica when my Spanish is better. Another good list would be to name all the books I’ve purchased but have not read yet. That list would probably be longer than this one… I no longer buy & hide clothes from my husband, just books!
And, without further ado:
Return to the Hundred Acre Woods (Winnie the Pooh), by David Benedictus & Mark Burgess
The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett
The Price of Salt, by Patricia Highsmith (of the Talented Mr. Ripley fame)
The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, by Stieg Larsson
Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane
The Invisible Bridge, by Julie Orringer (the longest book with the fewest adverbs ~ amazing)
Close Range, by Annie Proulx
The Imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman
Exit Ghost, by Philip Roth
Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger (for the third time)
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, by Helen Simonson
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
Brooklyn, by Colm Tóbín
This Is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Topper
I’ll Never Be French No Matter What I Do, by Mark Greenside
Union Atlantic, by Adam Haslett
Heat Lightning, by John Sandford
Dark Place, by Gillian Flynn
Bad Things Happen, by Harry Dolan
The Unnamed, by Joshua Ferris
The Postmistress, by Sarah Blake
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold
The Three Weissmanns of Westport, by Cathleen Schine
Dream House, by Valerie Laken
The Heights, by Peter Hedges
Top Producer, by Norb Vonnegut
In a Perfect World, by Laura Kasischke
The Odds, by Kathleen George
The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen (in progress)
Too Much Happiness, by Alice Munro (in progress)
And there you have it, for the moment. My son, Elliott, read 52 books this year and he maintained a 4.0 GPA his senior year at KU. He sets the bar pretty high! Maybe 2011 I can do better.
For now, happy holidays to all. And remember: READ BOOKS.