2010: The year in books
Now that 2010 is over, it's time for my annual summary of what I've read during the past year. This was the first year in quite a while that all of these books were my own choice--I had no assigned reading in my last semester of grad school, and certainly none since!
Here's the list (links go to my reviews of the books, or whatever I posted that most closely resembled a review):
1. Run by Ann Patchett
2. The Adirondacks: A History of America's First Wilderness by Paul Schneider
3. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
4. Potiki by Patricia Grace
5. At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien
6. Owls Do Cry by Janet Frame
7. Letter to a Child Never Born by Oriana Fallaci
8. Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima
9. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
10. Maurice by E.M. Forster
11. Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
12. Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
13. The All of It by Jeanette Haien
14. Rock Crystal by Adalbert Stifter
15. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
16. Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
17. The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott
18. The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
19. Islanders by Ammiel Alcalay
20. Fort Da: a Report by Elisabeth Sheffield
21. In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
I'm a bit disappointed by how short the list is this year! I was reading a lot in the first half of the year, but got utterly bogged down once fall and winter arrived. Another surprise: this list is almost 100% novels! There's one non-fiction (the Paul Schneider), and that's it. No short story collections, no poetry.... I did read two novels-in-stories (Strout, Danticat), but those are close enough to novels that I don't think they add much variety.
These were my favorites:
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout: A collection of linked stories revolving around a complicated and sometimes unpleasant main character, this book is a resonant, carefully structured exploration of aging and change. Strout does an excellent job of writing from within Olive's anger and inarticulacy. Some of these stories really put me through the wringer.
Owls Do Cry by Janet Frame: This book is powerful and deeply personal, full of intense images that linger long after reading. At moments it feels almost as though Frame is allowing us to read something written in her own private language. A heartbreaking book.
Maurice by E.M Forster: Of all the books I read this year, this was the one that stole my heart. Oh, I loved this book! I can't remember the last time I was as emotionally invested in a book as I was in Maurice; I actually leapt up off the couch at a certain climactic moment!
Surfacing by Margaret Atwood: I read this book about being in an isolated cabin in the woods while I was in an isolated cabin in the woods, and I'm sure that synchronicity helped me enjoy the book, but I think it would be very good no matter where you read it. It begins as a conventional literary-thriller, but towards the end it changes into something darker, stranger, and denser. An interesting book for sure.
Here's the list (links go to my reviews of the books, or whatever I posted that most closely resembled a review):
1. Run by Ann Patchett
2. The Adirondacks: A History of America's First Wilderness by Paul Schneider
3. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
4. Potiki by Patricia Grace
5. At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien
6. Owls Do Cry by Janet Frame
7. Letter to a Child Never Born by Oriana Fallaci
8. Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima
9. The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
10. Maurice by E.M. Forster
11. Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
12. Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
13. The All of It by Jeanette Haien
14. Rock Crystal by Adalbert Stifter
15. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
16. Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
17. The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott
18. The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
19. Islanders by Ammiel Alcalay
20. Fort Da: a Report by Elisabeth Sheffield
21. In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
I'm a bit disappointed by how short the list is this year! I was reading a lot in the first half of the year, but got utterly bogged down once fall and winter arrived. Another surprise: this list is almost 100% novels! There's one non-fiction (the Paul Schneider), and that's it. No short story collections, no poetry.... I did read two novels-in-stories (Strout, Danticat), but those are close enough to novels that I don't think they add much variety.
These were my favorites:
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout: A collection of linked stories revolving around a complicated and sometimes unpleasant main character, this book is a resonant, carefully structured exploration of aging and change. Strout does an excellent job of writing from within Olive's anger and inarticulacy. Some of these stories really put me through the wringer.
Owls Do Cry by Janet Frame: This book is powerful and deeply personal, full of intense images that linger long after reading. At moments it feels almost as though Frame is allowing us to read something written in her own private language. A heartbreaking book.
Maurice by E.M Forster: Of all the books I read this year, this was the one that stole my heart. Oh, I loved this book! I can't remember the last time I was as emotionally invested in a book as I was in Maurice; I actually leapt up off the couch at a certain climactic moment!
Surfacing by Margaret Atwood: I read this book about being in an isolated cabin in the woods while I was in an isolated cabin in the woods, and I'm sure that synchronicity helped me enjoy the book, but I think it would be very good no matter where you read it. It begins as a conventional literary-thriller, but towards the end it changes into something darker, stranger, and denser. An interesting book for sure.