Books I loved in 2010

Ten books that I read and loved in 2010, not in any particular order, not necessarily published this year (some not even published yet).

The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver

Ghostwritten – David Mitchell

White Cat – Holly Black

The Passage – Justin Cronin

American Wife – Curtis Sittenfeld

The Silent Land – Graham Joyce

Sisters Red – Jackson Pearce

The Gate at the Stairs – Lorrie Moore

Daughter of Smoke and Bone – Laini Taylor

Room – Emma Donaghue

This has been the year that I have “discovered” (or learnt to appreciate) YA and crossover fiction.  Having said that, I’ve been reading a lot of books for younger readers as research for my new role, and I’m now itching to get back to something that challenges me a bit more.  I’ve read some fantastic books by amazing YA authors, such as Lauren Oliver and Laini Taylor, but I can’t pretend that they’ve not been a bit of a brain-holiday.  I’ve had a lot going in the latter half of this year and I think that my reading has reflected that.

I’ve become a more accepting reader this year.  At university, I used to dismiss certain genres out of hand, but I’ve since learnt that I can enjoy books from genres that I wouldn’t have thought that I would as long as they’re fantastically written.  I just can’t forgive bad writing.  I think that’s why I don’t read a lot of crime or any chick lit – the readers of that genre want different things from a book than I do (namely, plot driven pace that often sacrifices characterisation, sense, and good prose), so the majority of the books deliver what the fans want, which makes sense.  People often think that I won’t read crime, which isn’t true, I’m just wary of it because the mass of the genre doesn’t appeal.  Erin Kelly’s The Poison Tree is a crime novel that absolutely blew me away with the quality of the prose and the zeitgeist that it captured.  Similarly, I don’t think that I’ve ever read a sci-fi novel, but that’s not to say that I never will – I’m just waiting for one that might meet my exacting standards…  I’m less of a literary snob than I was at the start of the year, but I still demand quality from the novels that I read.

What have you read and loved this year?