Best Books of 2010

The Best Books of 2010 survey is being sponsored by The Perpetual Page-Turner.

1. Best book of 2010?
Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year by Anne Lamott
I read a lot of great books this year, but this is the one that helped me the most, so I'm choosing it as my best book of 2010.

2. Worst book of 2010?
A Fistful of Sky by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
I read a lot of bad books in 2010, but this was the one that was bad all through and had the most disappointing ending. I stuck with it because I was trying to read some local authors. I chose the wrong one.

3. Most disappointing book of 2010?
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffinegger
After reading The Time Traveler's Wife, I had high expectations from Niffinegger. But this one was just two weird for me. It actually made me uncomfortable to read it.

4. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2010?
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
I wasn't surprised that Alexie was a good author, but I had never expected to relate much to his books. This was the first book I read in 2010 and it got me out of a bad reading funk.

5. Book you recommended to people most in 2010?

6. Best series you discovered in 2010?
It's not an original answer, but The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

7. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2010?
Alice Munro and Kirby Larson

8. Most hilarious read of 2010?
Fool by Christopher Moore
It was crude, but I always love a good satire.

9. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2010?
The Hunger Games trilogy.

10. Book you most anticipated in 2010?
The Autobiography of Mark Twain. I got it for Christmas, and it will be well into 2011 before I finish it, but I anticipated it in 2010.

11. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2010?

I really liked the original covers of Shannon Hale's Bayern books. I felt the exact opposite about the newer covers, but the originals were beautifully done.

12. Most memorable character in 2010?

Anne Lamott was a very memorable character in her own book.

13. Most beautifully written book in 2010?
The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
Her books are always beautifully written.

14. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2010?
The Gateway We Call Death by Russell M. Nelson
I read this after my dad died this summer.

15. Book you can't believe you waited until 2010 to finally read?
I can't believe that it took me until 2010 to finish reading all the Newbery Medal books.
What's the best book you read in 2010?

Ivy's Books

I finally finished organizing my books after our move. My To Be Read list includes 109 books--which judging by the number of books I've read this year will take me at least 2 years. I'm supplementing this reading with books by mail from the library.

My daughter has 190 books in her room. That makes me happy. If I do nothing else right, I know I'm doing one good thing for her. And it amazes me that among all these books, she can still find her favorites like The Best Mouse Cookie and any book with pictures of babies in them.

New Books

As wished, I got the first volume of the Autobiography of Mark Twain for Christmas. I've started the 57 page introduction. The text doesn't even start till after page 200! I'm excited to jump into it.

I also got a bookstore gift card (one of my favorite gifts). With it I got The Hunger Games and 20 Under 40, a collection of stories by the best new writers today. I'm excited to be introduced to some new writing and new authors.

What books did you get for Christmas?

Reread: The Midwife's Apprentice

After taking weeks to finish one book, I need something short and quick to get me back into the swing of things. While organizing my hundreds of books in our new house, I'm setting aside all the books I've meant to read but haven't yet. I'm also occasionally coming across a book that I leave out because I feel the urge to reread it.

The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman was on my reread shelf. I think my sister told me that she read it recently so I wanted to read it again.

I don't have anything remarkable to say about it, but I enjoyed it. And I'm looking forward to some Christmas break reading.

Review: Barrel Fever

I have long enjoyed David Sedaris's sense of humor. An essay he wrote about an unflushable poo has stayed with me longer than any story about poo should. So on my last airplane ride I picked up Barrel Fever, a collection of stories and essays.

Flying with a toddler did not afford me much time for reading, so it's taken me much longer to get through it. And it only took a few of his short stories for me to realize that I'm actually not a fan of Sedaris's fiction. He seemed more crude than I remember his nonfiction stories being. Or maybe it's harder for me to swallow crudeness when it's made up than when I believe it to have really happened.

Whatever the case, I skipped the rest of the short stories and dove into the essays. Which I enjoyed as much as I remembered enjoying Sedaris. So I recommend his nonfiction, if you get his sense of humor. But save your time by not reading his fiction.

900+

Here's most of the boxes filled with books that I'm going through after our move.



Years ago, when I started buying books I already owned, I made a list of all the books my family has. Unfortunately, I've never been the best at keeping it completely updated. So with each move, I go through my books once again and make sure they're all accounted for.

In finding books that weren't catalogued yet, the book count has now crossed the 900 mark. And I seriously have been trying to get rid of books I'll never read again and I buy very few books now that I'm married. Except for kids' books. I buy a lot more of those now that I'm a mom. That certainly helped bump the number up and over 900. As did the sweet little collection of Beatrix Potter books that my mom gave to my daughter for her first birthday.

900 is a lot of books to own. It's a lot of books to move (come to think of it, I'm now curious what the total weight of my books is--not curious enough to find out). But there are certainly worse things to own 900 of.

Bookmobile and TBR

I had two requests for moving to the middle of nowhere: 1) we had to have high speed Internet, and 2) we needed to be in a reasonable distance of a library.

Well, I got one out of two. The closest library is an hour away--on a long, windy road that is hazardous at any time, but especially dangerous in wintertime.

Since we live too far to go to the library, the library comes to us via the Fort Vancouver Regional Library Bookmobile! It comes every two weeks (except when weather or road conditions make it too risky). We also qualify for books by mail because of how remote we are. Which I'm sure I'll take advantage of when it's too cold to walk down to the Post Office (where the bookmobile parks) with my toddler.

When we got inside, Ivy walked right up to the bin of board books and picked some out. This made me happy to have the bookmobile. But I'll be honest, there really wasn't anything there that I would normally choose to read. I grabbed a couple of books anyway, because I didn't want to leave empty-handed. I can request books that I'm interested in, so hopefully I'll be getting some stuff I've been wanting to read soon. It's definitely nice to have a library card again.

With my limited library options, I've decided to attack my To Be Read list of books that I own but have never read. We have tons of space for my 800+ books, but I only have one bookcase, so I have to be choosy about what goes on it and what stays in boxes. I can never fit my lists of favorites or all the books that make me look smart on the one bookcase, so instead of agonizing over what to allow on my shelf, I am putting up all the books I've meant to read but have never gotten around to.

I'm excited about some of the books. (I have a confession--I've never read a Jane Austen book. But I own them, so I'm going to read them now.) Other books terrify me: Why exactly did I ever think I'd read Don Quixote? or The Poems of Virgil? Desperate times call for desperate reading.