Annie was comfortably dug in to her burrow of books.
Cathleen Schine, The Three Weissmanns of Westport
I read fewer books in 2010 (87) than in 2009 (120). The move, the addition of two new dogs to the family, and the dubious joys of home ownership (mowing the lawn! interviewing contractors!) ate away at my reading time.
Unlike 2009, there doesn't seem to be any common theme to my 2010 favorites, although many of the quotes that I jotted down in my reading journal seem to be about parenting (2010 was a difficult year for me as a mother) or accepting (in my case, at 56, perhaps belatedly) one's true self.
Parents are the mystified criminals, blinking in the docks, making it all the worse for themselves with every word they utter.
Michael Cunningham, By Nightfall
In the order in which I finished them, here are my favorite reads from last year; I make no apologies for the two doorstops (451 pages* and 766 pages**) of novels that were guilty pleasures.
Dreaming in Hindi (Kathleen Russell Rich)
Where the God of Love Hangs Out (Amy Bloom)
The Happiness Project (Gretchen Rubin)
Committed (Elizabeth Gilbert)
The Season of Second Chances (Diane Meier)
Angelology* (Danielle Trussoni)
The Lonely Polygamist (Brady Udall)
The Passage** (Justin Cronin)
The Cookbook Collector (Allegra Goodman)
Slow Love (Dominique Browning)
The Blind Contessa's New Machine (Carey Wallace)
Cutting for Stone (Abraham Verghese)
Let's Take the Long Way Home (Gail Caldwell)
This Must Be the Place (Kate Racculia)
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating (Elisabeth Tova Bailey)
The Widower's Tale (Julia Glass)
"Hammock or chaise lounge?" Randeane said.
Ray said that he was more a chair kind of person, that hammocks were unpredictable.
"Oh, life's a hammock," Randeane said.
"Exactly my point. I'll take the chair."
Amy Bloom, Where the God of Love Hangs Out
2 comments:
OK...which would you recommend for a bookclub that sometimes "goes stubborn" on a book that is too long or too literary...
BTW, my favorite read from 2010 was The Lacuna (Barbara Kingsolver)
Even after leading a library book group for years, it was often impossible to predict which books would make for a good discussion. In all that time, the title that generated the most engaged and fascinating conversation was Martha Beck's "Expecting Adam."
From my 2010 favorites, "Cutting for Stone" seems like a natural book club fit, but a couple of friends told me that half the people in their book groups hated it and/or never finished it.
Most of the novels on my list are character-driven, so they might not generate much discussion. So I guess that I'd end up recommending "The Happiness Project," which, despite its cutesy title and premise, had some pretty interesting things to say about what really makes people happy. It might lead to a good conversation, especially after a glass of wine or two. Then again, it might not...
You're the second person to tell me that "The Lacuna" was their favorite book last year, so I'll add it to my to-read list, even though I've always found Frida Kahlo a bit intimidating.
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