2011: A Literary Mission (Should You Choose to Accept It)
It’s now Day 2 of Snowmageddon 2011, and no one seems to know when the madness will end. I’ve come down with a case of cabin fever, and have been driving everyone around me just a little bit nuts. So, in keeping with my goal of being more productive and less idle, I decided to put some of my pent-up crazy to work (the rest I’ll save for more nefarious schemes).
A Little Background
This post originated as an e-mail I sent to a group of like-minded bibliophile friends at the beginning of this month. As you may have guessed, I love books. A lot. I’m always looking for new books to read and find myself frequently swapping recommendations with many of my friends over coffee. The problem is, I forget most of them later because note-taking isn’t a habit of mine, at least not during coffee dates with friends.
How neat would it be, I asked myself, to get all these recommendations in writing, in one place? After getting a warm reception from my kindred-spirit bookish friends, I decided to throw this out on the Internet in case anyone else wants to participate.
Your Mission
It’s this simple: Keep track of the books you read this year in whatever way you choose. For you OCD types, that might involve a spreadsheet; for others, it may be a matter of simply reviewing your Amazon.com purchase history in December.
The details:
- The books don’t have to be released this year.
- Fiction or non-fiction, anything goes.
- Don’t stress; this is a pretty informal exercise.
Near the end of the year, I’ll post another entry asking you to submit the best five books you read in 2011, along with two or three sentences about each one and why you recommend it. I’ll compile the responses and post the list here. Hopefully everyone will discover some great books to read in 2012. It’s like a more personal version of the New York Times‘ annual “100 Notable Books” list!
A Jump Start: My Top 5 from 2010
To get you started on your 2011 lists, here are my five favorite books from 2010:
The Millennium Trilogy, by Stieg Larsson: Maybe it’s cheating to list the three books together, but I didn’t want to have 60% of my list knocked out in one fell swoop. The books combine intriguing characters, intelligent writing and plots that hook you in and don’t let you go until you’ve finished the last one. After reading them, I briefly considered moving to Stockholm. Bonus: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is being made into a movie with Daniel Craig playing main character Mikael Blomkvist.
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, by Barbara Demick: This book made such an impact on me; I’m sure I chattered incessantly about it to the people I see frequently. It provides an in-depth look at life in North Korea, as told to the author by six defectors. The reality of everyday life in post-war North Korea is bizarre and fascinating and sad, and keeps you turning the page just to see what strange, desperate antics Kim Jong-il & Co. will come up with next in order to hold on to power.
Faithful Place, by Tana French: A police procedural mystery, set in working-class Dublin. Main character Detective Frank Mackey has to go back to his old neighborhood and face his estranged, dysfunctional family in order to solve a very personal cold-case murder. The dialog is sharp and makes you feel like you’re in Ireland, without sounding cheesy or leprechaun-ish. The downside: It’s not set to come out in paperback until mid-2011, so scour the used bookstores or download it on your e-reader if you can.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Admittedly, I had never read any of the Sherlock Holmes stories until this past year. I got my e-reader for Christmas in 2009, and promptly began downloading free(!) books from Google Books‘ collection of public domain material. The stories are quick and fun, and often surprising. I read so many of them that I found myself trying to out-Holmes Holmes!
Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl: An intriguing book written from the first-person point of view of an unusual girl, Blue, who has a keen intellect and a huge cultural lexicon that help her to solve two murders (one of the victims is a mysterious and beguiling teacher at Blue’s school). It keeps you on your toes, and though you often wonder where the story is going, it picks up quickly in the second half of the book and doesn’t stop until the end. I am looking forward to the highly-recommended audiobook narrated by Emily Janice Card.
BONUS (aka, I couldn’t just keep it at 5):
Freedom: A Novel, by Jonathan Franzen: I didn’t put this in my top 5 because – though many will disagree with me – I felt this much-anticipated follow-up to The Corrections (which is an excellent, excellent book) didn’t quite live up to the hype. Franzen has a knack for creating novels that capture the cultural zeitgeist and Freedom is no exception. Maybe precisely because of that, the overarching themes (extended war, economic depression, corruption, etc.) were a bit too depressing and close to home. I think that if I re-read it in a couple of years after hindsight has a chance to kick in, I’ll enjoy it better.
So, there you have it: my top five books from 2010. I hope you find something you enjoy in this list, and I look forward to reading and compiling your lists in December!
Happy New Year, and Happy Reading!
Gosh, I read so many books in 2010! I’ve really enjoyed getting back into reading all the time. My recommendations would be –
1. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins. This is a juvenile fiction trilogy published by Scholastic that is truly amazing. Collins creates an alternate universe that is believable in a way that transports you and engages your emotions for the characters. The setting and characters are excellent, but the main draw for me was that it was pure story. Everything added to the story, and the story was one of the best I’ve read in a long time.
2. The Ballad of West Tenth Street – Marjorie Kernan – this was a sweet, endearing novel about finding your real family outside of your natural family. It made me happy.
3. Land of Laughs – Jonathan Carroll. This novel is bizarre, but should hit home for anyone who has ever fallen in love with a writer for the imaginary place they create in their novels. Quirky, surprising, and refreshing, I think this author is underrated.
4. One Day – David Nichols. This book is being made into a movie as we speak, and you should read it before the movie comes out. The story follows two people who initally hook up the night of graduation, and their life together and apart is examined every year on the same day – June 15th. I loved the presentation of this story, it was unique and effective.
5. The Lace Reader – Brunonia Barry. I also read The Map of True Places by this author, and I enjoyed both of them. They have a Pat Conroyish feel of coming back to the place of your childhood and examining what and why you left and how much there is still to learn. They are both set in Salem, Mass – which sounds like a lovely place that I would now like to visit.
I have more, but I should probably do some work! Haha. Love!
Thanks for the recommendations, CKP! I have The Hunger Games in my pile, on loan from a friend. I have been hesitant to start it because I’m not so much a fan of plots that revolve around a dystopian future. But, based on your review, I will definitely give it a try!
My top 5 for 2010? There were some fabulous picks last year, but here goes (not in any particular order):
1. The Cracker Queen: A Memoir of a Joyful, Jagged Life – by Lauretta Hannon. She has a quirky sense of humor and uses it to illustrate her often difficult upbringing. Rather than wallow in self-pity for the hardships she endured growing up, she celebrates them, knowing that they made her what she is today.
2. Bloodroot – by Amy Greene. Greene’s debut novel is so incredibly rich in detail that it is captivating from the very first page. She weaves the story from three separate points of view, in three very distinct sections, capturing the essence of poverty in the foothills of Tennessee while celebrating human spirit. Loved this book!
3. Her Fearful Symmetry – by Audrey Niffenegger. The story of twins who inherit their aunt’s flat in London, unaware that their aunt’s spirit still occupies the home. As she did in The Time Traveler’s Wife, Niffenegger creates a believable world of unexplainable phenomena. Stayed up late reading this one – and she had me guessing till the end.
4. Ape House – by Sara Gruen. Completely different setting and style from her first novel, Water for Elephants. Gruen is a phenomenal researcher, which made this story believable and engaging. It’s the story of a family of bonobos (great apes) kidnapped from a research facility and exploited for reality tv, making the reader question who is more “human”. Excellent work by a talented author.
5. On Folly Beach – by Karen White. (Tie between this and White’s other 2010 novel, Falling Home). White shares the story of a contemporary woman who has lost her husband to war and a family in this South Carolina beachfront community (Folly Beach) in the 1940s during WWII. Her research of historic events makes for a surprising twist in this novel. Enjoyed it immensely! (I liked this book so much I bought additional signed copies for my mother and mother-in-law for Mother’s Day!)
Side note: met all of the authors but Niffenegger. I think that having the opportunity to hear them discuss their research and why they wrote the stories they did made them even that much more enjoyable – but it’s certainly not a requirement!
Wow, that is an awesome list! I’m so excited to dive into some of these. I love having lots of literary friends!
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[...] exactly a year ago, I posted a list of the five best books I read in 2010. In that same post – and in an accompanying e-mail that went out to my bibliophile friends – I [...]