‘Tis the season for ‘best of’ lists! Over the past couple of years, I have discovered in myself a tendency to shy away from picking 10 books as my favorites. Part of this, I’m sure, is that 10 seems to be such an arbitrary number, particularly when you read from a variety of genres as I do. A bigger part, though, is that I have read over 230 books this year, and I hate thinking at the end of the year that only 4% of what I read is worth mentioning.
That being said, you also don’t want to look at a list of 100+ books because I want all my books to feel equally loved or don’t want to feel I’ve wasted my time. To solve this conundrum, here are the books I gushed about this year. These are the books I got effusive about in reviews, pushed on people in real life, and couldn’t stop tweeting about. Most, but not all, of these were published in 2010, and they are here in the order I read them:
In audio:
Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan, narrated by Erik Davies – Gritty, self-referencing crime drama, with a narrator who sounded like he was born to voice this role.
Feed by Mira Grant, narrated by Paula Christensen and Jesse Bernstein -Zombies, bloggers, and political sabotage, what more could you ask for in a book? This was a smart book with fantastic world building, and the narrators brought Grant’s story to life. I can’t wait for the second book in this trilogy, out in 2011.
The City and The City by China Mieville, narrated by John Lee – Crime drama? Fantasty? A little of both, actually, and spectacularly done both by Mieville and by Lee. Another one with absolutely amazing world building.
In print:
The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar – Gorgeous, gorgeous, GORGEOUS writing. Someone remind me to read everything that Thrity Umrigar has ever written in 2011, okay?
The House of Tomorrow by Peter Borgnanni – Punk rock and geodesic domes, who would think the two belong together? This is an amazing coming-of-age story, Borgnanni’s empathy for his characters was so great that he made me care about what they cared about, even though what they cared about was not something I tend to care about.
Bad Marie by Marcy Dermansky – Marie is just the most lovable damn kidnapper ever. I have no idea how Dermansky kept her from being obnoxious and ridiculous, but somehow she made me love her.
The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurt – A novelist writing about a novelist, whose story is told through excerpts from the books she has written. A novel concept, and one beautifully executed. Plus there’s the whole thing with her son being suspected of killing his girlfriend to keep the plot moving.
Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman – Absolutely beautiful writing, and a plot that was heartbreaking without being maudlin and just realistic enough to be somewhat hopeful. As an aside, Waldmman’s book of essays, “Bad Mother,” made my list in 2009 as well.
The Report by Jessica Francis Kane – A fictionalization of the investigation into the worst civilian disaster of WWII-era Britain may not sound fascinating, but this was. I was particularly impressed by the depth Kane managed to impart to her large cast of characters.
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon – I have been hearing recommendations for this series for years but have been intimidated by the thought of adding seven or more very hefty books to my TBR. Now I wish I had listened earlier. Getting to at least the next three books is a high priority for me for 2011.
The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley – In addition to beautiful prose, Sunley wove Icelandic lore and tradition into this book masterfully, and without ever making the reader that she was subjecting them to an info dump. Most of all, though, Freya’s voice so absolutely authentic and amazing.
Skating Around the Law by Joelle Charbonneau – So. Much. Fun. A murder in a skating rink, a a frisky grandfather, and a camel make for an enjoyable and well-written romp that I couldn’t stop recommending.
The World in Half by Cristina Henriquez – Henriquez has beautiful prose, every word of which supports the fascinating story of discovery of self and family.
The Heroine’s Bookshelf by Erin Blakemore – A testament to the power of the written word to work on our lives, every reader needs this book. If nobody gave it to you for Christmas, go buy it yourself right now.
A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein – Grodstein wrote a book I just didn’t want to put down. The story of doctor Pete Dinzinoff, what he lost, and how he lost it was absolutely gripping without feeling manufactured.
Harry Potter Film Wizardry by Brian Sibley – If you had told me a year ago that an entertainment books like this would be on my ‘best of’ list, I would have scoffed, but this one is so well done and so well put together that all Harry Potter addicts need it.
The Sherlockian by Graham Moore – Full disclosure: Graham and I had lunch together after I wrote my review, so if you think that unduly influenced me, feel free to ignore this recommendation, but I did really enjoy this book – never have I raved so much about pacing! It is worth noting that quite a few people I recommended this book to have read it and really enjoyed it even without having lunch with Graham. So there.
Some of the above books were provided to me for review.
Do you remember D.E.A.R? At my elementary school that meant “Drop Everything And Read,” something we typically did for 10 or 15 minutes every day. Best part of my day, really. As my TBR and Library piles are battling for supremacy and trying to sneak in around the review copies who have staked out places on my calendar, I’m thinking back to the simpler days of D.E.A.R., when I believed I had time to get to any book I wanted. And that, of course, got me fantasizing about a world where I really could just Drop Everything And Read for more than just 15 minutes a day.
Yes, there are 
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice
Guess what my husband will be doing this week? He teaches high school, so he’ll be home during the day. I think we may stick with just a tree and lights.
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Sourcebooks, a favorite publisher of mine, is celebrating Jane Austen’s 235th birthday in a big way: free books!
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Mr. Toppit by Charles Elton – Audiobook Review
Published in audio by Blackstone Audio, Published in print by Other Press
Synopsis:
When Laurie Clow travels to London, distracted as she is by her mother’s dementia and an odd incident with a friend, she finds herself witnessing a horrible traffic accident and spending with Arthur Hayman’s last few moments with him. After his death, she meets his family, including his son, Luke, who is the title character in Arthur’s series, “The Hayseed Chronicles.” Staying with the family through the funeral, Laurie has the opportunity to read all the books and is immediately charmed. When she returns to California, her trumpeting of the books begins to elevate media awareness of both the books and Laurie herself, changing irrevocably the lives of all involved.
Thoughts on the story:
I really enjoyed this book for what it had to say about fame, and the culture of fame: the difficulties, the way people think they own the things they love, how easy it is to suddenly find yourself going off the tracks. Luke narrated the majority of the book, and was a very insightful narrator. My biggest issue with him is that he often felt more like the narrator than like the main character. Part of this is because he was telling this story from his vantage point at the end of the novel, but it still didn’t quite work for me as well as it could have. One reason for this may be that none of the characters were easy to empathize with. Laurie was a great character at the outset, but she was much changed by fame, and that change seemed so sudden, from Luke’s point of view in not having seen her for some time, that it was hard to understand where she was coming from at that point.
My other minor qualm with “Mr. Toppit” was that there seemed to be an awful lot of setup to get to the point where Elton could offer the reader a view of how fame changes people and their lives. That really is the main thrust of the book, but the “Hayseed Chronicles” did not take off until approximately the midpoint of “Mr. Toppit,” and I found that first part somewhat hard to get into, although ultimately worth the wait.
I do want to mention, Arthur died at a point when his series was ultimately unfinished, and I got the cold sweats ‘what if’ing J.K. Rowling dying somewhere in the middle of Harry Potter. Imagine what would have happened! Of course, in “Mr. Toppit” Arthur does not find fame until after his death, but the comparison still nearly gave me nightmares.
Thoughts on the audio production:
Simon Vance was narrating, what else really needs to be said? It was Vance’s usual fabulous narration. Really the audio production was strong overall, there was a complete absence of any noticeable variations in sound quality or problematic moments of narration.
Overall:
A good book, one I can recommend for those interested in a commentary on fame, but not one that will intrigue all readers. I can definitely recommend the audiobook, because Simon Vance helps greatly at moving the reader through the slower portions of the book at the beginning.
Need another opinion? Jennifer from Literate Housewife and I read it together, and her review is up too!
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