Favorite Reads in 2010
Here's my list of the top 15 reads for 2010, broken up into age-range categories this year, mostly because I decided it's unfair to compare books for middle graders like Boyce's Cosmic with adult door-stoppers like Cronin's The Passage. I'm including super short, quick and dirty comments on each about why they top my list, unless I have a review posted already, in which case I put a link to the review, either here or on Goodreads.
Not all of these books were published in 2010, and this list also doesn't count books I re-read (because then Megan Whalen Turner's books would be on it every year, for example). These are all books I read for the first time in 2010, listed in alphabetical order by author, not by how impressed I was.
Top 5 Kids Books
Cosmic, by Frank Boyce. Juv Fiction/Humor. (2010). Cosmic is laugh-out-loud funny and poignant all at once. Boyce has a gift for taking an extremely quirky, original premise, one that you think would just be played just for laughs, and sneaking in weighty themes and just enough heartfelt drama and character growth that you are surprisingly moved by the end of it.
All the Broken Pieces, by Ann Burg. Juv Fiction/Poetry. (2010). This contemporary novel, written in spare verse, about a Vietnamese kid living with adopted parents in the US after being airlifted out of Vietnam as a small child, is a lovely tearjerker, one where you eventually smile through your tears.
The Boneshaker, by Kate Milford. Juv Historical Fantasy/Steampunk. (2010). Review here (Goodreads link).
Meanwhile, by Jason Shiga. Juv Graphic Novel. (2010). I had great fun poring over this choose-your-own-adventure style graphic novel for the couple hours it took me to reach every permutation of the story (and there are thousands and thousands of different stories to discover). The art and the storytelling is kooky but smart, and I've managed to successfully booktalk the hell out of this one, especially to middle-schoolers.
It’s A Book, by Lane Smith. Picture Book. (2010). I've loved Lane Smith since way back when I was in college taking my first into to children's literature class. Despite being made of incredibly simple lines and shapes, his characters speak volumes with every facial expression (not unlike Mo Willem's Pigeon series, in fact), and this is a really timely look at the push-pull nature of paper books and technological innovations (like e-readers). Also, it has a super funny last line. It's really more of a picture book for older audiences.
Top 5 Young Adult Books
White Cat, by Holly Black. YA Paranormal. (2010). I love heist stories and con artists. I love unreliable narrators. I love dark tales. I love secrets and twisty narratives where you're never sure what's going on until after it's all been revealed (and even then, you're not sure). Honestly, I think this one is my TOP top read of 2010. Review here.
The Demon’s Lexicon, by Sarah Rees Brennan. YA Paranormal. (2009). I also read the second book in this series (The Demon's Covenant) in 2010, but this one is still my favorite because I loved the narrator, Nick, and his dark, antisocial personality. This series is a great mix of original world-building, twisty plotting, and intriguing characters who are all super witty (perhaps unrealistically so, but who cares when it's so fun to read?).
I Shall Wear Midnight, by Terry Pratchett. YA Fantasy. (2010). I am sad to think there will probably not be another Tiffany Aching book, but as for series enders, this is a great one, encompassing everything that made the other three memorable: lots of British humor (both of the understated and loopy kinds), circuitous plotting, surprisingly serious undertones, and believable growth for the major characters, particularly Tiffany. I think this is my favorite one after the first, The Wee Free Men.
A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner. YA Fantasy. (2010). Turner does something different with the narrative in every Queen's Thief book, and though I did miss Eugenidies in this fourth book, she made Sophos as interesting and complex a character, one who goes through similarly difficult trials on the road to kingdom. I've never written reviews of these books, because I don't think I can do them justice, but I don't think you can find anything better for subtle but brilliant political intrigue, fantasy world-building, and characters you absolutely fall in love with.
The Curse of the Wendigo, by Richard Yancey. YA Horror. (2010). I just don't see enough horror of this caliber, particularly for teens. The Monstrumologist, the first in the series, was a top read last year, and this one may be even better, because it raises the stakes for poor, doomed apprentice Will Henry and his recalcitrant master of monstrumology, Dr. Warthrop. I don't love the series just because it's gory, atmospheric, and frightening; I also love it because the characters, and their relationships with each other, have such depth, and because of the serious, literate tone to the storytelling (which fits perfectly within the setting and time frame of late 1800s New England).
Top 5 Adult Books
The Sweetness and the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley. Mystery. (2009). I also read the sequel to this, The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag, but I found this the better of the two (not that I didn't enjoy the second one as well). Review here (Goodreads link).
The Passage, by Justin Cronin. Horror. (2010). Review here (Goodreads link).
Feed, by Mira Grant. Horror. (2010). Review here.
Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest. Steampunk/SF/Horror. (2009). There is some truly inventive world-building and loads of atmosphere in this alternate history/steampunk zombie novel. I generally don't like the kind of stories where you follow two characters as they are split up and search desperately for each other (I find it frustrating to get into one narrative only to rudely shift to the second, and vice versa) but I thought she used the technique well here, creating a lot of suspense without making me pull my hair out. Plus, it takes place in Seattle, my favorite city.
Blackout and All Clear, by Connie Willis. SF. (2010). Review of Blackout here.
Not all of these books were published in 2010, and this list also doesn't count books I re-read (because then Megan Whalen Turner's books would be on it every year, for example). These are all books I read for the first time in 2010, listed in alphabetical order by author, not by how impressed I was.
Top 5 Kids Books
Cosmic, by Frank Boyce. Juv Fiction/Humor. (2010). Cosmic is laugh-out-loud funny and poignant all at once. Boyce has a gift for taking an extremely quirky, original premise, one that you think would just be played just for laughs, and sneaking in weighty themes and just enough heartfelt drama and character growth that you are surprisingly moved by the end of it.
All the Broken Pieces, by Ann Burg. Juv Fiction/Poetry. (2010). This contemporary novel, written in spare verse, about a Vietnamese kid living with adopted parents in the US after being airlifted out of Vietnam as a small child, is a lovely tearjerker, one where you eventually smile through your tears.
The Boneshaker, by Kate Milford. Juv Historical Fantasy/Steampunk. (2010). Review here (Goodreads link).
Meanwhile, by Jason Shiga. Juv Graphic Novel. (2010). I had great fun poring over this choose-your-own-adventure style graphic novel for the couple hours it took me to reach every permutation of the story (and there are thousands and thousands of different stories to discover). The art and the storytelling is kooky but smart, and I've managed to successfully booktalk the hell out of this one, especially to middle-schoolers.
It’s A Book, by Lane Smith. Picture Book. (2010). I've loved Lane Smith since way back when I was in college taking my first into to children's literature class. Despite being made of incredibly simple lines and shapes, his characters speak volumes with every facial expression (not unlike Mo Willem's Pigeon series, in fact), and this is a really timely look at the push-pull nature of paper books and technological innovations (like e-readers). Also, it has a super funny last line. It's really more of a picture book for older audiences.
Top 5 Young Adult Books
White Cat, by Holly Black. YA Paranormal. (2010). I love heist stories and con artists. I love unreliable narrators. I love dark tales. I love secrets and twisty narratives where you're never sure what's going on until after it's all been revealed (and even then, you're not sure). Honestly, I think this one is my TOP top read of 2010. Review here.
The Demon’s Lexicon, by Sarah Rees Brennan. YA Paranormal. (2009). I also read the second book in this series (The Demon's Covenant) in 2010, but this one is still my favorite because I loved the narrator, Nick, and his dark, antisocial personality. This series is a great mix of original world-building, twisty plotting, and intriguing characters who are all super witty (perhaps unrealistically so, but who cares when it's so fun to read?).
I Shall Wear Midnight, by Terry Pratchett. YA Fantasy. (2010). I am sad to think there will probably not be another Tiffany Aching book, but as for series enders, this is a great one, encompassing everything that made the other three memorable: lots of British humor (both of the understated and loopy kinds), circuitous plotting, surprisingly serious undertones, and believable growth for the major characters, particularly Tiffany. I think this is my favorite one after the first, The Wee Free Men.
A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner. YA Fantasy. (2010). Turner does something different with the narrative in every Queen's Thief book, and though I did miss Eugenidies in this fourth book, she made Sophos as interesting and complex a character, one who goes through similarly difficult trials on the road to kingdom. I've never written reviews of these books, because I don't think I can do them justice, but I don't think you can find anything better for subtle but brilliant political intrigue, fantasy world-building, and characters you absolutely fall in love with.
The Curse of the Wendigo, by Richard Yancey. YA Horror. (2010). I just don't see enough horror of this caliber, particularly for teens. The Monstrumologist, the first in the series, was a top read last year, and this one may be even better, because it raises the stakes for poor, doomed apprentice Will Henry and his recalcitrant master of monstrumology, Dr. Warthrop. I don't love the series just because it's gory, atmospheric, and frightening; I also love it because the characters, and their relationships with each other, have such depth, and because of the serious, literate tone to the storytelling (which fits perfectly within the setting and time frame of late 1800s New England).
Top 5 Adult Books
The Sweetness and the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley. Mystery. (2009). I also read the sequel to this, The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag, but I found this the better of the two (not that I didn't enjoy the second one as well). Review here (Goodreads link).
The Passage, by Justin Cronin. Horror. (2010). Review here (Goodreads link).
Feed, by Mira Grant. Horror. (2010). Review here.
Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest. Steampunk/SF/Horror. (2009). There is some truly inventive world-building and loads of atmosphere in this alternate history/steampunk zombie novel. I generally don't like the kind of stories where you follow two characters as they are split up and search desperately for each other (I find it frustrating to get into one narrative only to rudely shift to the second, and vice versa) but I thought she used the technique well here, creating a lot of suspense without making me pull my hair out. Plus, it takes place in Seattle, my favorite city.
Blackout and All Clear, by Connie Willis. SF. (2010). Review of Blackout here.