I am ending 2010 having finished 81 books (and the year is not over yet!). The full list can be found here. This is more than last year for me, but also far less than some of you readers out there! I always set myself the challenge of reading 50 books in a year, part of me secretly because I know I can achieve this and I like some goals in life that I know I will achieve!
Looking back on all the books I have read, under no particular rigid titles but as I think of them.
My best book of the year was probably Kathryn Stockett – The Help and this held the spot for me in some ways until Dawn French – A Tiny Bit Marvellous.
I discovered some new authors and have devoured many of their books already; Debbie Macomber and Sinead Moriarty come to mind as they are what I call ‘easy reads’. Another author I have discovered and look forward to Subsequent books; Belinda Bauer – Blacklands. Sarah Rayner – One Moment, One Morning was also a page turner.
I was disappointed in Sadie Jones – Small Wars and Sarah Waters – The Little Stranger; sometimes subsequent books are not as good as the ‘hype’ that can surround them. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert was another over hyped book for me. I still have not seen the film. Although I know people who loved the book immensely.
Crime was definitely a feature in 2010, I am now up to date bar one with Simon Brett’s Fethering Mysteries; The Poisoning at the Pub, which I will wait until I see it in a Charity Shop or library before I buy. Brian McGilloway was introduced to me through the Amazon Vine programme; The Rising and I sought out the first book in the Inspector Devlin series; Borderlands. Nicola Upson, James Anderson, Kate Atkinson ‘ Jackson Brodie’ novels and Rhys Bowen were all ‘criminal’ discoveries and books that are now on my ever-growing to-be-read pile.
Surprising book for me was Alan Carr – Look Who it is! My Story it really exceed expectations. Funniest titled has to be Julia Stuart – Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo, having read Stuart’s previous novel The Matchmaker of Perigord I knew what I was expecting but this her second book far exceeds her first.
Just a small review of the books that I have read without trying to review every single book again. I am sure I have probably missed some gems to tell you about, and I will think of them after this post has been published but what I have mentioned, stands out for me as I write this post.
Amazon Vine has allowed me to discover books I would not normally have picked up but also only two books which I could not finish – they were just not my cup of tea and I have learnt not to punish myself by reading books I am not enjoying. That was for school. Getting into book blogging has also allowed me to discover some other books that I perhaps would not have read and I start 2011 with a few more than I would normally have.
The Book Jotter 