Books

January

• One Good Turn
Kate Atkinson is a seriously good author. But it doesn't bode well for the year when I can't remember if this was the first book I finished in 2010....
• When will there be good news?
Oi. Kate Atkinson, again. (way too intense. geeeeez. But so very good) Jackson Brodie is one awesome dude.
• Extreme Vinyl Cafe
I love Stuart Mclean. I'm a bit shocked it took me this long to get around to reading this! But I really enjoyed it. Maybe it's because I read it over a long period, but it felt shorter than others. Highlight? Dave asking to be buried with a cellphone and flashlight, "Just in case"....
• I love you Beth Cooper
Took me forever to get to this one too! It was fun. Pretty much completely ridiculous, actually... But so funny! Oh man, it was really a fun, well-written book. I liked it. Not enough to watch the movie, though, I don't think.
• When Autumn Leaves
I totally chose this book because it had a pretty cover. It was an okay book. Nothing too deep or meaningful, but interesting. Yeah, that's really all I have to say.
• Jar City
Another of those hideously depressing Scandinavian mysteries, but this one wasn't just hideously depressing, it was really interesting too! I will try to read one or two more books by this author. Very interesting look at modern issues.
• Borkmann's Point
Ooooooh! What a tricksy book! I never saw that ending coming, oh no I didn't.... Wow! Another Scandinavian author with the skillllz.
• The Return
Wow. I am so shocked by this book. I really am! So disturbing, but so... Well-done. I'm not sure what to say, my mind is slightly blown. This time around, I figured out who the murderer was, but.... Oh, to end it like that! Wow.

February

• The Guards
So, wow. I'm blown away again. I think the combination of "The Return" and "The Guards" was just a bit much for my wee brain to handle. Holy man, this book.... It was really good, but it was so so brutal. I think I need to tone down my book choices a bit or I'm liable to have my head explode. Geez.
• Calibre
Also by Ken Bruen, who wrote The Guards. This was a much easier read. It was shorter, lighter, and just... Less devastating. I enjoyed it, and would read more in this series of books. Inspector Brant is pretty awesome.
• The Book Thief
Well, I totally rushed through this, although it still took weeks! Such a departure from my norm... But so devastatingly good. I really enjoyed this, but it was just so so sad. So hard to read, ack.
• Bewitching Season
I liked this book. It was a fun read. Not much substance or anything, but fun and easy.
• Graceling
Man. I waited like a year to read this book. Everything else just kept coming first. How wrong I was. This book was le awesome! Oh, I loved it.
• The Girl Who Played With Fire
Wow. Can I just say wow? Really, can I? What a brutal, amazing book.
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
This was so very different from the others. It was still really great, and totally a one-day book. (so funny. Hideously depressing Swedish crime novels replace my Harry Potter love? Bizarre) But I don't know if I liked it as much as the second. It was still fascinating and great, but very very different.
• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
I liked this book! I was recently reminded of Persephone Books and decided to get this through interlibrary loan. It was a really sweet, funny book. A nice change from all the macabre....... I'll have to look into more.
• Mind's Eye
Another one of those Swedish mysteries... Again, darkly funny and interesting and gruesome. (though not so gruesome as others I've read!)
• Fire
Some more teen fantasy, by the same author as Graceling. Also excellent, but I found it had a similar feel. I like it, and I think it's a great book for teenage girls. But as an old person reading it, the two books felt too similar, and maybe, in the end, a bit too preachy. But still. Good fantasy, interesting premise, and yeah. One day read. Doesn't that say it all, really?

March

• Eating
I really enjoyed this! It was a memoir about all the nicest meals, and talked about people like Julia Child and Alice Waters, etc. It also had lots of nice recipes that made me hungry.
• Let the Great World Spin
Considered by many to be one of the best books of last year. But... It took me 2 months to finally finish. In the end, it was totally worth it, but... It took a lot to get into it. Once I actually understood the narrative structure, I was able to continue reading much more productively, but I had to try! I liked it though, I really did.
• Woman with Birthmark
Of all the mysteries I read, I think van Vetereen is one of my favourite. He's grumpy and miserable and solves things based on intuition. He likes smoking and drinking and.... Why do I like him so much? Not sure. But I really enjoy Nesser's books, even if they are getting progressively more depressing.
• Blue Bloods
I'm not sure if I want to keep reading this series. It might get scary, and I don't liiiiiiiike scary. Waaaah. But that said, this first book was just fine. Quick read, nothing challenging. Slightly interesting....
• Masquerade
Okay, so it didn't get too much scarier. But. Dunno. I should have done some knitting instead. I bet it was just scary enough to keep me awake tonight, a night that I realllllllly need my sleep.
• Nemesis
Despite the fact that we have all the other famous Scandinavian authors, we don't have Jo Nesbo. So when someone else requested one through interlibrary loan, I snapped it up and read it like zoom! And wow. I'm impressed! This was a surprisingly complex read, and I so badly want to know what happens to some of the other characters now.... Wishing we had some of his books....
• Weed that strings the hangman's bag
Well, I didn't like this as much as the first book, to be honest. I have no idea how he'll pull off a six or seven book series.... But it was still a pleasant read. Complex enough to be interesting, but still sort of cute.
• The Devil's Star
More Jo Nesbo, and booooooooy. Such complex books! I really do love Harry Hole, despite his terrible unfortunate name. This was kind of weird and gross and I don't know how I keep reading these books, but aaaagh.
• The Redeemer
Whoaaaaaa. More Nesbo craziness. This took me a while to read because there were so many points of view. I found it a bit hard to keep track of which story was whose, and all the Salvation Army stuff made it that much harder. (I've known people who didn't know that the Salvation Army was a religion. It is, just so you know.)
• Revelations
Yet another ridiculous teen book! But it's an interesting series. I like it. This one was interesting, and I'm anxious to read the next! Stupid series that are addicitve. Hmmpf.

April

• Van Alen Legacy
This series is kind of like crack. It's sort of stupid and weird, and totally not actually about vampires, but I seriously can't wait to read the rest of the series. But the next book isn't for so long still!!!!
• The Redbreast
Jo Nesbo is so awesome. I really really wish I'd been able to read the Harry Hole books in order, but it didn't work out that way.... They're still excellent though, no matter the order. Now I must wait with bated breath to read the next one. Who knows when that will be!!
• Christine Falls
Irish mystery/suspense set in Dublin in the... 50s, I think? All about smuggling babies and a pathologist and yeah. It was a good read, but a bit of a slow one. I think it might be because Benjamin Black is actually John Banville, and we all know that literary writers can be hard to read, right? Or whatever. I liked it, I did!
• Thirteen Reasons Why
This was basically teen fiction about a girl who committed suicide. Terribly depressing and a bad choice at the time. She sent tapes to each person that she felt played a role in her decision and her life. It really had an effect on me.
• The Lightning Thief
I read this to see what all the hype was about. And because it sounded interesting and like something I might enjoy. It was pretty good, fast and easy to read. But I'm not sure that I really like the writing style all that much.
• Blue Moon
A stupid sequel to a stupid book I read last year. It was like the fastest read ever, but I didn't actually enjoy it.
• Arctic Chill
I enjoy Arnaldur Indridasen's books. They are bleak and depressing, but so thoughtful at the same time. I plan to read more of his work, when I have a chance.
• Carpe Diem
I thought this sounded like it would be a fun read, and it was, I guess. Silly and predictable, but amusing. I greatly enjoyed laughing at the main character, and I think?? that was the point? But I'm not sure.

May

• Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
This was a nice book. Reminded me of Alexander McCall Smith, but with the blessed knowledge that it wouldn't continue on for years, getting more and more tedious!
• Double Comfort Safari Club
Oh hey! Speak of the devil! Alexander McCall Smith! And not even as tiresome as I'd expected!
• The Reckoning
A nice ending to the trilogy. To be honest, I barely remember what happened. But I remember enjoying it!
• Snapped
I once had a teacher who liked to talk about the "fascination of the abomination". He used it in more meaningful context, but this book? Was so fascination of the abomination. Blerg.
• A Spy in the House
This was not the best book I've ever read, but it was fun and good. A Victorian English mystery for teens/older children! I enjoyed it.
• The Sea of Monsters
Percy Jackson books are not well-written books, but they are fun, catchy, interesting books.

June

• The Alchemyst
I always thought this book sounded interesting. Mostly because Nicholas Flamel was mentioned in Harry Potter. And I was right, it was interesting!
• Silverfin
Silverfin is part of the "Young Bond" series. It was a really good read! Most definitely written for boys, but I think I enjoyed it more than the classic James Bond novels I've read...
• The Titan's Curse
The Percy Jackson series definitely gets better as it goes along. I like how each book focusses on a well-known myth. This one dealt mostly with Atlas. Yup.
• Battle of the Labyrinth
Yes. I'm working through the series as quickly as possible. Is that a problem??
• Elsewhere
I found the narrator/main character to be annoying. But after a while, it got better. Nothing much to say, really....
• The Game
This, I thought, was reminiscent of the Alchemyst series by Michael Scott, and the Percy Jackson series. But so much better than either. Diana Wynne Jones has a way with words. And that made this small novel so very enjoyable!
• The Magician
I'm enjoying this series. It's fun to see how many of the references I know about.
• The Sorceress
Still not done with this series, still enjoying it! Amused by all the random stuff.
• The City and The City
This was an interesting book. I enjoyed it, eventually, when I understood what was going on.... But it took me a while to get to that point. I guess that's what happens when a sci-fi writer does mystery. Must make it unique.
• Blood Fever
Another Young Bond novel. I have to admit, I'm enjoying this series. It's interesting and fun, and a bit surprising too. (whole lotta dying for such a young-kid series) But good.
• The Snowman
And now I've read all of Jo Nesbo's books that are available in English. I'm sad - I love his writing! I love Harry, I love the other characters too. I hope there are more soon! Or maybe I could just start re-reading them all....

July

• Rumspringa
This was a really interesting look at the year Amish teens can take before committing to the church for life. Interesting....
• The Last Olympian
The last Percy Jackson book.... And now it's over. Not too shabby!
• The News Where you Are
This was a really interesting book. Not quite as depressing as her first book, but still really interesting and well written.
• The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
This reminded me of Sarah Addison Allen. But darker and more serious.
• Revenge of the Spellmans
Last book in the series, I think, and it was awesome. Tied up all the important loose ends, and was funny.
• Spellmans Strike Again
Maybe this was actually the last? Anyways, I like this series!
• Necromancer
I might be getting tired of this series.

August

• Corduroy Mansions
I wonder how Alexander McCall Smith can be so prolific. I don't mind this series, so far.
• Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
I really loved this book. Am I never going to grow up?
• Dead Until Dawn
Started because Sookie seems to be so universally loved... Yeah I read the first book and blegh, no more!

September

• Dogs of Riga
I decided to give Henning Mankell another try. I really enjoyed this. It took place in Latvia, ooooh foreign! So it was all Mankell, allllll month...
• The White Lioness
• The Man Who Smiled
• Sidetracked
This one, particularly, was fascinating. Wow.

October

• St. Lucy's School for Girls Raised by Wolves
• This was such an uncomfortably weird set of short stories. Weird and odd and awkward... I finished because I thought I should....
• The Girl Who Chased the Moon
Some sappy magical romance stuff. Fun stupidly easy read.

November

• Wife of the Gods
This was marketed to No. 1 Ladies Det Agency readers. Ha ha ha ha ha. No. It was awesome, but the main character smokes pot! And ogles women! And gets in fights! No.
• The Charming Quirks of Others
I liked this. Isabel Dalhousie is annoying, but I do enjoy the books about her!
• The Colorado Kid
A Stephen King book that didn't scare me! I enjoyed this. Craziness, huh?
• Best Laid Plans
I enjoyed this! A novel about Canadian politics! Funny! But I felt it could have used a nice tough edit. It was a bit much by the end.

December

• Apples I have Eaten
I really liked this. It was just pictures of apples, which the author then ate.
• Beauty of Humanity Movement
I also really liked this. I heard the author do a reading, and thought I would love to read a book that has food as such a prominent theme.
• Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Serial Killer kills other serial killers. This was funny and disturbing.
• Dearly Devoted Dexter
More serial killer killering. Not quite as funny.
• Dexter in the Dark
Huh? Moloch worship? Etc etc. Not as bad as reviews made it sound.
• Dexter By Design
Pretty good. A bit of commentary on 'modern art'. Ha.