2010: A year in books

Well here we are at the tail end of 2010. It's been a momentous year! I returned home from France in February and since then have been studying my brain off to become a teacher (success!), in between many interstate trips and local adventures.

So far this year I've read 54 books (but who's counting?!) and have a few more on the go so I thought I'd give you my view on the hits and misses of my bookshelf for 2010.


Popular titles that I gave a chance (and sometimes regretted): New Moon, Stephanie Meyer; One Day, David Nicholls; The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak; Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk; The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin; The Nanny Diaries, Emma McLaughlin.




Read the book, then watched the movie: The Golden Compass, Phillip Pullman; Atonement, Ian McEwan; He Died with a Felafel in His Hand, John Birmingham; The Devil Wears Prada; Lauren Weisberger; Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson (superb book, disappointing film); Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote.




Finally got around to reading: Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe; Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne; Perfume, Patrick Suskind (wonderful!); Franny and Zooey, J. D. Salinger; The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler; Great Expectations, Charles Dickens; The Day of the Triffids, John Wyndham; The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien.




Loved: Amongst a year of mediocre - good reading, there weren't many standouts. I did, however, majorly heart Perfume, Patrick Suskind.




Did my usual Frenchy thing: Les Cartes-exercices du guerrier pacifique, Dan Millman; How Proust can Change your Life, Alain de Botton; French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France, Tim Moore; French Trysts: Secrets of a Courtesan, Kirsten Lobe; Robert des Noms Propres, Amélie Nothomb.




and.... some fashion books, biographies, non-fiction, contemporary classics, general fiction, short stories.

I'm looking forward to whatever reading adventures 2011 brings. Hope it's as good as 2009!

Happy holiday reading, everyone.