Sunday, January 2, 2011

Books in 2010

I read 45 books in 2010.  Just a bit shy of my 50 book goal.

My favorite fiction books of the year were:


Ship of Magic: I read this series a long time ago, but reread it this year, and it is one of my favorites. The heroine fights to maintain a traditionally male role against fierce opposition, plus some pirates, dragons, and magic thrown in.


The Art of Racing in the Rain:  A heartwarming story told in a dog's point of view.  I liked it
for a few funny reasons:  1) It takes place in Seattle.  2)  The mother in the story had a home birth and the story made a small plug for midwives and home birth.  3) There was a scene where the dog talks about crows and what they are up to.  I am always trying to figure out crows, so I enjoyed that bit.


Pock's World:  Dave Duncan is my favorite author and he ventured into sci-fi with this story.  It had an exciting end and a twist as always.


The Tea Rose: This book is historical fiction with a bit of romance, and was one of those books that you can't put down, but you feel like you are falling victim to cliche writing techniques to keep you on the edge of your seat. But the book did seem well researched in the historical aspect and I did enjoy it.


Bulletproof Mascara: This book was written by a friend of mine who I used to work with. It is light and funny and had a good twist at the end. I have to admit I think it is really cool that a friend of mine is a published author. :)


My favorite non-fiction books for the year were:


Born to Run
: This book had a great story and changed my perception in running in that it isn't something I do because I'm weird, but that humans are meant to be long distance runners. It advocates barefoot running and is pretty convincing, but I do think it loses some of its sway in that it also advocates veganism. While I'm not opposed to veganism, per se, the author hypothesizes that early humans practiced persistence hunting and their ability to run for long periods of time gave them an evolutionary advantage, but in the same breath says that they would have only done it occasionally and probably ate plants most of the time. It is contradictory to say hunting provided them an evolutionary advantage, but animals are an inferior food source. But other than that the book was good and I enjoyed it.


Unconditional Parenting: While this book was more philosophical than practical it clarified my overall feelings about parenting.



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