Top 2010 Reads

It's been a wonderful year for reading. I've read a total of 208 books. This is the first year I've ever blogged about reading and though I've found out it's a lot of work, it's also incredibly rewarding. I find myself doing in-depth analyses of what I’m reading and thinking critically about why I am reacting the way I am to the material.

Here’s my complete list of 2010 books and my ratings.

For the record, I don't count children's book. I don't count individual short stories, but I do count short story collections. I definitely count plays, because I've found that a book like August: Osage County can pack more meaning in a single line, than a 600 page novel can in three chapters. They’re also provided some of the most powerful stories I read all year. I read classics, histories, new releases, dystopias, mysteries, YA series, literary fiction, graphic novels, nonfiction, and more. If this year taught me one thing it was that a brilliant story can come in any package.

I don't read to hit a number or complete a single list (though I do love lists). I read voraciously because I can't wait to find the next author or character that makes me fall in love. I want to find books that stay with me, adventures or struggles that resonate for years to come and 2010 was a treasure chest for all of those things.

So here's to 2010, a year rich with reading, and to 2011, hoping it’s just as full.

Top Five Nonfiction Reads

Columbine by Dave Cullen
The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Top Ten Fiction Reads

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman
O Pioneers! By Willa Cather
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Honorable Mentions:
City of Thieves by David Benioff
The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley
Briar Rose by Janne Yolen
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Room by Emma Donoghue