2010 in books
Last year I think I only posted this on Facebook. Going to do it both places this year, just for kicks.
Total book count in 2010: 76, not counting re-reads (77 if I manage to finish my current read before midnight, but that probably won't happen). More than I expected, actually, given that I barely had any energy at all to read during the first trimester.
January:
Favorite book: The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Read for our faculty book club and wow, was it amazing. The way Stockett captured the individual voices of each POV character was impressive.
Least favorite book: Children of Dune, by Frank Herbert (3rd in the Dune series - I'd read the first one several times but never went on until now). I liked it, but the Dune books just seem to get more and more bizarre after the first and I couldn't quite motivate myself to pick up the next one. I will one of these days. Anyway, the book was good, not great, but I didn't read anything truly bad in January so it makes the list...
February:
Favorite book: Scales of Gold by Dorothy Dunnett, book 4 in her Niccolo series. OMG the ending of this one! I usually need to space out my Dunnett reads because as wonderful as they are, they require a lot of brainpower and I need a break afterwards, but I just HAD to go on to book 5 as soon as I finished this one. It's been my favorite of the series so far (I'm in the middle of the last book right now) - of course, they're all amazing. Runner-up: the Young Miles anthology by Lois Bujold.
Least favorite book: How High the Moon, by Sandra Kring. This was a FirstReads win on Goodreads. A cute YA story - nothing earth-shattering, but cute.
March:
Favorite book: Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem anthology by Bujold. I can't believe I had never read any of the Miles Vorkosigan books until now. They're such fun!
Least favorite book: none, really; all my March reads were 4- or 5-star ratings.
April:
Favorite book: Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I knew it wasn't a good idea to get involved in yet another unfinished epic fantasy series, but it was just too tempting, and it was SO good...anyway book 2 is coming out in a few months, can't wait!
Least favorite book: Chef, by Jaspreet Singh. Another Goodreads win, that I really was hoping to love - takes place in the Kashmir region, around the story of an apprentice chef in a military camp. I just couldn't get into it. It's rare that I don't finish a book, especially one that I got for free on the condition that I post a review, but I just couldn't do it.
May:
Favorite book: tie between Nation by Terry Pratchett (not Discworld, but with Pratchett's masterful ability to explore serious topics in hilariously funny ways) and Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee (Arctic-inspired fantasy - here's hoping the sequel gets published!).
Least favorite book: Sure of You by Armistead Maupin (book 6 of Tales from the City). I blew through the entire series in about a week, and I really enjoyed reading them, but this last one made me really sad because of the way that one particular character developed - a character that I loved in the earlier books who turned into someone I just didn't like at all.
June:
Favorite book: To Lie with Lions, Dorothy Dunnett. More Niccolo. Runner-up: Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip. Love her writing.
Least favorite book: none.
July:
Favorite book: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. Wow was I blown away by this one.
Least favorite book: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. This one was disappointing, since I'd loved The Time Traveler's Wife. I loved the first half of the book and hated the way the plot developed in the second half.
August:
Favorite book: I only read two (very different) books in August, loved both of them - The Tower, The Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart (shenanigans in the Tower of London) and Caprice and Rondo by Dorothy Dunnett (yet more Niccolo).
Least favorite book: N/A
September:
Favorite book: I only read ONE book in September (unheard of for me! That's what morning sickness will do to a gal...). Luckily it was a good one - Ships of Merior by Janny Wurts (second book in her Wars of Light & Shadow series)
Least favorite book: N/A
October:
Favorite book: Warhost of Vastmark by Janny Wurts - third book in the series
Least favorite book: nothing that was bad, but I read the Stories anthology edited by Neil Gaiman and it had a few stories in it that I disliked (especially the Michael Moorcock one - which was surprising to me).
November:
Favorite book: tie between Fugitive Prince by Janny Wurts (book 4) and Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Least favorite book: Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy, her pregnancy memoir that a friend lent to me. Meh. I didn't find it all that entertaining.
December:
Favorite book: Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. LOVED IT.
Least favorite book: The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature by Daniel Levitin. I loved his first book (This is your Brain on Music) but this one was a little too speculative and all over the place, though he did have some interesting ideas.
Ta-da!
Total book count in 2010: 76, not counting re-reads (77 if I manage to finish my current read before midnight, but that probably won't happen). More than I expected, actually, given that I barely had any energy at all to read during the first trimester.
January:
Favorite book: The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Read for our faculty book club and wow, was it amazing. The way Stockett captured the individual voices of each POV character was impressive.
Least favorite book: Children of Dune, by Frank Herbert (3rd in the Dune series - I'd read the first one several times but never went on until now). I liked it, but the Dune books just seem to get more and more bizarre after the first and I couldn't quite motivate myself to pick up the next one. I will one of these days. Anyway, the book was good, not great, but I didn't read anything truly bad in January so it makes the list...
February:
Favorite book: Scales of Gold by Dorothy Dunnett, book 4 in her Niccolo series. OMG the ending of this one! I usually need to space out my Dunnett reads because as wonderful as they are, they require a lot of brainpower and I need a break afterwards, but I just HAD to go on to book 5 as soon as I finished this one. It's been my favorite of the series so far (I'm in the middle of the last book right now) - of course, they're all amazing. Runner-up: the Young Miles anthology by Lois Bujold.
Least favorite book: How High the Moon, by Sandra Kring. This was a FirstReads win on Goodreads. A cute YA story - nothing earth-shattering, but cute.
March:
Favorite book: Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem anthology by Bujold. I can't believe I had never read any of the Miles Vorkosigan books until now. They're such fun!
Least favorite book: none, really; all my March reads were 4- or 5-star ratings.
April:
Favorite book: Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I knew it wasn't a good idea to get involved in yet another unfinished epic fantasy series, but it was just too tempting, and it was SO good...anyway book 2 is coming out in a few months, can't wait!
Least favorite book: Chef, by Jaspreet Singh. Another Goodreads win, that I really was hoping to love - takes place in the Kashmir region, around the story of an apprentice chef in a military camp. I just couldn't get into it. It's rare that I don't finish a book, especially one that I got for free on the condition that I post a review, but I just couldn't do it.
May:
Favorite book: tie between Nation by Terry Pratchett (not Discworld, but with Pratchett's masterful ability to explore serious topics in hilariously funny ways) and Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee (Arctic-inspired fantasy - here's hoping the sequel gets published!).
Least favorite book: Sure of You by Armistead Maupin (book 6 of Tales from the City). I blew through the entire series in about a week, and I really enjoyed reading them, but this last one made me really sad because of the way that one particular character developed - a character that I loved in the earlier books who turned into someone I just didn't like at all.
June:
Favorite book: To Lie with Lions, Dorothy Dunnett. More Niccolo. Runner-up: Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip. Love her writing.
Least favorite book: none.
July:
Favorite book: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. Wow was I blown away by this one.
Least favorite book: Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. This one was disappointing, since I'd loved The Time Traveler's Wife. I loved the first half of the book and hated the way the plot developed in the second half.
August:
Favorite book: I only read two (very different) books in August, loved both of them - The Tower, The Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart (shenanigans in the Tower of London) and Caprice and Rondo by Dorothy Dunnett (yet more Niccolo).
Least favorite book: N/A
September:
Favorite book: I only read ONE book in September (unheard of for me! That's what morning sickness will do to a gal...). Luckily it was a good one - Ships of Merior by Janny Wurts (second book in her Wars of Light & Shadow series)
Least favorite book: N/A
October:
Favorite book: Warhost of Vastmark by Janny Wurts - third book in the series
Least favorite book: nothing that was bad, but I read the Stories anthology edited by Neil Gaiman and it had a few stories in it that I disliked (especially the Michael Moorcock one - which was surprising to me).
November:
Favorite book: tie between Fugitive Prince by Janny Wurts (book 4) and Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Least favorite book: Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy, her pregnancy memoir that a friend lent to me. Meh. I didn't find it all that entertaining.
December:
Favorite book: Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. LOVED IT.
Least favorite book: The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature by Daniel Levitin. I loved his first book (This is your Brain on Music) but this one was a little too speculative and all over the place, though he did have some interesting ideas.
Ta-da!