I found many great books that I wouldn't normally encounter because of book club recommendations. And I started many books I uncharacteristically didn't finish because of the same thing. It's incredible how different opinions can be on the very same book. (Alternate hypothesis: it's incredible that so many people can enjoy an awful book.)
I also tried to read more award-winning books, leading me to the conclusion that an award doesn't mean it's a good or balanced book, but it certainly means you made people feel something (possibly just annoyed.)
Here are my favourite books of 2010, arranged by useful category:
Best mix of depressing and uplifting:
A man keeps his son alive in a post-apocalyptic world. And the book is very much like a road: you join it where it has already been going for some time, and leave it even though it keeps going, away in the distance. Poetic and unsettling and a little hypnotizing, I read it in a day and enjoyed it a lot. It's haunting.
Best mix of despicable and fascinating:
The main character was called Munna by his father (meaning "boy") and given no other name. Using a series of letters to the Chinese Premier--speaking as an equal, maybe even a friend--he tells the story of rising from a poor servant to a rich entrepreneur in modern India. The voice is compelling, the story absorbing, and even as he does terrible things you can't help but understand... a little. Both playful and deadly serious, he illuminates injustice in India, how it can change, and why it won't change. It's entertaining and enlightening.
Best mix of mystery and literary:
Several apparently unconnected cases (a missing child, a murdered daughter, a housewife gone psychotic) are brought to the attention of private investigator Jackson Brodie. Of course the cases aren't really unrelated. The author weaves them together using the characters themselves, giving us a glimpse of each life as it touches the others. Sometimes information is kept back from us, the reader, to the point that it's excruciating, but we're satisfied when it's finished. And I loved a few of the characters. Jackson wasn't one I loved and I was still excited to read his next book.
Best mix of bizarre and awesome:
A sex-abuse scandal upsets a high school and we witness its effects on students, friends, teachers, and a theatre production by a nearby acting institute. This book is extremely literary but very readable. Its subject is serious but the author presents it with cutting honesty that's clever and often humourous. This is not a dreary account of a ruined young girl. It's the aftershocks of the event and the characters it reveals that make this story, totally confused (on purpose) about who is a character and who is "real," and whether we are always acting, always playing a role. Read the first few pages to see if you'll enjoy the style.
Best mix of throwaway-paperback and I'll-remember-this-forever:
Sex therapist Morgan Snow becomes involved in an apparent series of serial killings when a secret society of empowered women come forward for help dealing with their grief. This was a zippy read and I can hardly believe I finished so quickly. The characters feel real and even the trope of the divorced woman with one teenaged daughter didn't bother me as it usually does. In fact, I really like Morgan Snow. References to sexuality are respectful and interesting. I don't know much about real therapy but details were presented with such confidence that I was happy to believe it all. There were plenty of red herrings and the final twist had me speechless.
Best mix of character and plot:
The latest in the Will Trent series of thrillers set in Atlanta. Explaining the plot will give away spoilers, but as far as plots go, it's as compelling as they get. There's a great and twisted murder mystery combined with further revelations about each character and further interactions between them. It seems like every scene Will Trent walks into becomes suddenly more interesting and complicated, and with Lena finally trying to redeem herself and Sara acting uncharacteristically unforgiving, this becomes one of the best of the series. I just wish that for once certain characters could have a happy ending. But that's not the kind of book this is. If you enjoy character-driven thrillers and you haven't tried this series, you're missing out.
Best surprise from a known author:
A seemingly benign experiment on the ISS transforms into a nightmare as it grows beyond the expected and threatens to kill all the astronauts, and maybe make it back to earth. There's no reason to be dubious of Gerritsen's earlier books. While I love the Rizzoli/Isles thrillers, I think I liked this one even more. There's tension on every page, it's easy to root for the characters, and there's so much detail about the medical aspects as well as the NASA & astronaut aspects that it feels like it must be real. Great thriller, great science fiction. Write more science fiction, Tess!
Best classic-I'd-read-again:
A young man joins an elite group of people studying Greek at an American university. As he gets to know his new friends and their world he admires them more and more, and then he learns what's really been going on--deception and murder--and it changes all their lives. This book is more suspense than mystery. It is long and thick with fascinating ideas, but easy to read, and very compelling. Halfway through I realized I was reading a five star book and tried to slow down, to savour the pages. Nothing within is revolutionary or shocking but it's all so well described, human and realistic, a little surreal, and totally gripping. A brilliant story with bigger-than-life characters, extremely well written.
Read any of these and have an opinion? Have any recommendations for my reading list next year?
I'm putting all these titles on my 2011 to-read list (admittedly, a few were already on it).
ReplyDeleteHave you heard of YOU by Charles Benoit? I hear it's fantastic.
I second White Tiger as a worthwhile read. I don't think Adiga does a good job of expressing how conditions can change - he's too interested in his own satire to fix anything, jumping the gap between "it sucks" and "it won't change." But the voice he establishes excuses it by virtue of voice and amusing anecdotes.
ReplyDeleteYou might pop these titles into the #bestreads2010 hashtag on Twitter, and/or link to this post.
Ev, I hadn't heard of "You." It's YA--let me know if you read it and find it's a good read!
ReplyDeleteJohn, that's an interesting comment on White Tiger. I agree with the criticism. There was certainly no indication of what could be done better. But yes, it's a great read anyway.
Good idea--I'll use the hashtag now.
Nice list, Jen ... I found myself at times putting down THE ROAD because it was so effective -- even though it was gorgeously written. I have a little boy and reading the book disturbed me too much...
ReplyDeleteI understand, Anthony. In my book club some of the people who read The Road didn't even want to finish for the same reasons. I don't have kids but there were some scenes I just wasn't sure I could ever forget. I'm still not sure I want to see the film.
ReplyDelete