Today we are going to begin a three week countdown to my favorite books of the year. In a change from the regular Monday Discussion format, I will NOT share my opinions right now. You will have to wait for them until the end of the month.
But now it is your chance. Each week the question will be a bit different. Today, I want to know what was the best book you read this year with a 2010 copyright?
I will give you a clue on my choice. Here are three words that describe the book: terrifying, character-centered, apocalyptic.
Share your favorites with me and the RA for ALL readers over the next three weeks.
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Halloween Hangover Meet Election Anxiety via Emily Hughes in Slate
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I know the blog-a-thon ended yesterday but ending on a Thursday didn't sit
right with me, so I have one final post to round out the week.
With the electi...
3 days ago
7 comments:
My absolute favorite book of 2010 is Billie Girl by Vickie Weaver, a first novel by a very talented writer. This book captured my heart on the first page and still hasn't let go. Billie is an abandoned child cared for and passed on to strangers who became her created family and ends her life alone save for the love of one person whose compassion spares the end she fears most. Billie became a real person to me, a dear friend whom I miss already.
~verna
Room by Emma Donaghue was such an amazing book. It is one that I am still thinking about months after I read it and was the first thing to pop into my mind at your question.
Even though I read way more fiction than anything else, my favorite 2010 book was non-fiction. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot was an amazing true story that combined science and social history into a very readable story. I am not kidding when I say that I still think about this book ALL the time. Just ask my friends, I am sure they are tired of me badgering them to read it.
Feed by Mira Grant! There have been tons of zombie stories recently but this is the best. It is so refreshing to read a horror story that doesn't seem like it has been edited for a younger audience or adapted for possible use as a TV script.
I loved "The Lady Matador's Hotel" by Cristina Garcia, "The Passage" by Justin Cronin (which I'm guessing may be your pick, too!), and "Bone and Jewel Creatures" by Elizabeth Bear.
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. Alas, the Berwyn Library copy is now MISSING!!
I love the character of Major Pettigrew, very stiff upper lipped British ex-military, but willing to go out on a limb to follow his heart. His character is all one piece in that his upbringing beautifully forms his lifestyle, but his recognition of quality in another person makes him able to transcend that upbringing.
Beautifully delineated characters and setting make this an involving reading--I think about this book now and then even though I read it about 8 months ago.
Saying "my favorite book" seems different from saying "the best book" but I think both might hold true for So Much for That by Lionel Shriver. The first book by her that I read was We Need to Talk About Kevin and it kind of irritated me by holding back the actual main event of the story for that many pages (400). I'm glad I went on to try The Post-Birthday World, anyway, because it was really good, and then I HAD to read So Much for That, which came out this year, because now Lionel Shriver is one of my favorite authors.
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