Jeffxandra's Book Awards for 2010
Okay, so I give awards based upon books I read in 2010, not on when they were actually released. I read 149 books (including children's & manga) last year. Feel free to pipe up on the ones you've read. I don't have a paid account so no polls. :)
Best Fiction Book I Read This Year: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Best Non-Fiction Book IRTY: The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge
Best Book IRTY that (I hope) Doesn't Make Me Sound Like a Pretentious Twit: Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron - by Jasper Fforde
Best Anthology IRTY: Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Best Book (Not From My Childhood) IRTY to Matt: The Runaway Mummy: A Petrifying Parody by Michael Rex
Best Manga/Graphic Novel: Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba
Harry Turtledove Award for "Why Am I Still Reading This?: The Full Metal Panic series by Shouji Gatou. I gave up on this one after the end of the first series. A mess of poor artwork and storytelling.
Everyone Else Loved it But I Didn't: American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham. Wasn't really bad, just ordinary.
Everyone Else Loved it But I Didn't (Sci-Fi/Fantasy): Boneshaker by Cherie Priest - I'm not actually sure everyone loved it, but it does get mentioned on popular steampunk book lists so I guess it's true. Summer action movie quality; that's not an endorsement. Try the Leviathan (admittedly more kerosene than steampunk) series instead
Author Everyone Loves Who Didn't Impress Me: China Mieville. This is a bit disingenuous because I do want to read more of his stuff, but The City & The City took a great concept and failed on the execution.
Worst Book: The Coming Economic Armageddon by David Jeremiah- Poor grasp of economics plus bad biblical scholarship equals a recipe for disaster
Fantasy & Sci-Fi
My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon author Elrod, P.N.
Heavy Metal Pulp: Pleasure Model (Netherworld, #1) author Rowley, Christopher
Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry for Your...Brains author Mecum, Ryan
Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1) author Butcher, Jim
Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3) author Butcher, Jim
Death Masks (The Dresden Files, #5) author Butcher, Jim
Turn Coat (The Dresden Files, #11) author Butcher, Jim
Changes (The Dresden Files, #12) author Butcher, Jim
Sir Apropos of Nothing (Sir Apropos of Nothing, #1) author David, Peter
Spice and Wolf (novel), Vol. 1 author Hasekura, Isuna
Generosity: An Enhancement author Powers, Richard
Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century, #1) author Priest, Cherie
Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files author Butcher, Jim
Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron (Shades of Grey, #1) author Fforde, Jasper
The Woad to Wuin (Sir Apropos of Nothing, #2) author David, Peter
The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya (Haruhi Suzumiya, #2) author Tanigawa, Nagaru
The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya (Haruhi Suzumiya, #3) author Tanigawa, Nagaru
Non-Fiction
The Partly Cloudy Patriot author Vowell, Sarah
Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End author Plait, Philip C. Root and Branch: Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, and the Struggle to End Segregation author Jr., Rawn James
Taking on the System: Rules for Change in a Digital Era author Zuniga, Markos Moulitsas
Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan author Mortenson, Greg
The Future Church: How Ten Trends are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church author Jr., John L. Allen
The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land author Asbridge, Thomas
Residential Construction Management author Griffin, Joseph A.
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House author Meacham, Jon
Red November: Inside the Secret U.S.-Soviet Submarine War author Reed, W. Craig
Harness the Business Writing Process author Lima, Paul
Columbine author Cullen, Dave
Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't author Pfeffer, Jeffrey
Manga
Dazzle Volume 1 author Endou, Minari
Full Metal Panic! Volume 1-9 author Gatou, Shouji
Death Note Volume 1- 13 author Ohba, Tsugumi
Buso Renkin, Vol. 2-10 author Watsuki, Nobuhiro
Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 22-23 author Arakawa, Hiromu
Skip Beat!, Vol. 20-22 author Nakamura, Yoshiki
Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, Volume 1-28 author Akamatsu,Ken
The Record of a Fallen Vampire, Volume 1-9 author Shirodaira, Kyo
Bleach, Vol. 1-20 author Kubo, Tite
Children's Books
Ask Kermit Do Flies Have Eyes? author Ewers, Joe
X-Men: The Last Stand: Beast Chooses Sides author Hapka, Catherine
School Play Surprise author Herman, Gail
Hulk vs. Hulk author Shulman, Mark
Superman Doom in a Box author Sudduth, Brent
The Runaway Mummy: A Petrifying Parody
Mystery & Suspense
Eye of the Red Tsar: A Novel of Suspense (Pekkala, #1) author Eastland, Sam
The Vesuvius Club (Lucifer Box,#1) author Gatiss, Mark
General Fiction
Bel Canto author Patchett, Ann
The Prayer Amendment: A Satire of Southern Politics and Religion author Hale, S. Dennis
New World Monkeys: A Novel author Mauro, Nancy
Inherent Vice author Pynchon, Thomas
The City & The City author Miéville, China
Chronic City author Lethem, Jonathan
Beirut 39: New Writing from the Arab World author Shimon, Samuel isbn
Await Your Reply author Chaon, Dan
Young Adult(?)
Odd and the Frost Giants author Gaiman, Neil
Leviathan (Leviathan, #1) author Westerfeld, Scott
Behemoth (Leviathan, #2) author Westerfeld, Scott
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) author Riordan, Rick
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #2) author Riordan, Rick
Other
Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game author Hensley, Shane Lacy
The Strait Path to Real Estate Wealth author Krohn, Kris
The Coming Economic Armageddon author Jeremiah, David
Miles Away... Worlds Apart author Sakowitz, Alan
Best Fiction Book I Read This Year: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Best Non-Fiction Book IRTY: The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge
Best Book IRTY that (I hope) Doesn't Make Me Sound Like a Pretentious Twit: Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron - by Jasper Fforde
Best Anthology IRTY: Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Best Book (Not From My Childhood) IRTY to Matt: The Runaway Mummy: A Petrifying Parody by Michael Rex
Best Manga/Graphic Novel: Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba
Harry Turtledove Award for "Why Am I Still Reading This?: The Full Metal Panic series by Shouji Gatou. I gave up on this one after the end of the first series. A mess of poor artwork and storytelling.
Everyone Else Loved it But I Didn't: American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham. Wasn't really bad, just ordinary.
Everyone Else Loved it But I Didn't (Sci-Fi/Fantasy): Boneshaker by Cherie Priest - I'm not actually sure everyone loved it, but it does get mentioned on popular steampunk book lists so I guess it's true. Summer action movie quality; that's not an endorsement. Try the Leviathan (admittedly more kerosene than steampunk) series instead
Author Everyone Loves Who Didn't Impress Me: China Mieville. This is a bit disingenuous because I do want to read more of his stuff, but The City & The City took a great concept and failed on the execution.
Worst Book: The Coming Economic Armageddon by David Jeremiah- Poor grasp of economics plus bad biblical scholarship equals a recipe for disaster
Fantasy & Sci-Fi
My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon author Elrod, P.N.
Heavy Metal Pulp: Pleasure Model (Netherworld, #1) author Rowley, Christopher
Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry for Your...Brains author Mecum, Ryan
Storm Front (The Dresden Files, #1) author Butcher, Jim
Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3) author Butcher, Jim
Death Masks (The Dresden Files, #5) author Butcher, Jim
Turn Coat (The Dresden Files, #11) author Butcher, Jim
Changes (The Dresden Files, #12) author Butcher, Jim
Sir Apropos of Nothing (Sir Apropos of Nothing, #1) author David, Peter
Spice and Wolf (novel), Vol. 1 author Hasekura, Isuna
Generosity: An Enhancement author Powers, Richard
Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century, #1) author Priest, Cherie
Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files author Butcher, Jim
Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron (Shades of Grey, #1) author Fforde, Jasper
The Woad to Wuin (Sir Apropos of Nothing, #2) author David, Peter
The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya (Haruhi Suzumiya, #2) author Tanigawa, Nagaru
The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya (Haruhi Suzumiya, #3) author Tanigawa, Nagaru
Non-Fiction
The Partly Cloudy Patriot author Vowell, Sarah
Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End author Plait, Philip C. Root and Branch: Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, and the Struggle to End Segregation author Jr., Rawn James
Taking on the System: Rules for Change in a Digital Era author Zuniga, Markos Moulitsas
Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan author Mortenson, Greg
The Future Church: How Ten Trends are Revolutionizing the Catholic Church author Jr., John L. Allen
The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land author Asbridge, Thomas
Residential Construction Management author Griffin, Joseph A.
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House author Meacham, Jon
Red November: Inside the Secret U.S.-Soviet Submarine War author Reed, W. Craig
Harness the Business Writing Process author Lima, Paul
Columbine author Cullen, Dave
Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't author Pfeffer, Jeffrey
Manga
Dazzle Volume 1 author Endou, Minari
Full Metal Panic! Volume 1-9 author Gatou, Shouji
Death Note Volume 1- 13 author Ohba, Tsugumi
Buso Renkin, Vol. 2-10 author Watsuki, Nobuhiro
Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 22-23 author Arakawa, Hiromu
Skip Beat!, Vol. 20-22 author Nakamura, Yoshiki
Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, Volume 1-28 author Akamatsu,Ken
The Record of a Fallen Vampire, Volume 1-9 author Shirodaira, Kyo
Bleach, Vol. 1-20 author Kubo, Tite
Children's Books
Ask Kermit Do Flies Have Eyes? author Ewers, Joe
X-Men: The Last Stand: Beast Chooses Sides author Hapka, Catherine
School Play Surprise author Herman, Gail
Hulk vs. Hulk author Shulman, Mark
Superman Doom in a Box author Sudduth, Brent
The Runaway Mummy: A Petrifying Parody
Mystery & Suspense
Eye of the Red Tsar: A Novel of Suspense (Pekkala, #1) author Eastland, Sam
The Vesuvius Club (Lucifer Box,#1) author Gatiss, Mark
General Fiction
Bel Canto author Patchett, Ann
The Prayer Amendment: A Satire of Southern Politics and Religion author Hale, S. Dennis
New World Monkeys: A Novel author Mauro, Nancy
Inherent Vice author Pynchon, Thomas
The City & The City author Miéville, China
Chronic City author Lethem, Jonathan
Beirut 39: New Writing from the Arab World author Shimon, Samuel isbn
Await Your Reply author Chaon, Dan
Young Adult(?)
Odd and the Frost Giants author Gaiman, Neil
Leviathan (Leviathan, #1) author Westerfeld, Scott
Behemoth (Leviathan, #2) author Westerfeld, Scott
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) author Riordan, Rick
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #2) author Riordan, Rick
Other
Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game author Hensley, Shane Lacy
The Strait Path to Real Estate Wealth author Krohn, Kris
The Coming Economic Armageddon author Jeremiah, David
Miles Away... Worlds Apart author Sakowitz, Alan