2010 Reading List

1. East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Yeah, yeah, I read most of it in ’09 but I FINISHED it New Year’s Day. I’m counting it. Because of my checkered past with Steinbeck (liked Of Mice and Men, HATED The Red Pony, couldn’t stand Farrah’s class) I wasn’t expecting much and I certainly wasn’t expecting to love it. It’s shockingly timely, given the economy and the changes in technology and social norms. While ‘good vs. evil’ is a vast oversimplification, the book does an amazing job of picking apart ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ into various shades of gray. Of course the novel is studded with Steinbeck’s (barely ghosted) own narration and 2 cents but that’s part of what makes the novel great now. It also does a better job of looking at the sibling relationship and shows that the kids in a family often grow up with different sets of parents – even if they are the same people. I’m actually looking forward to REreading it.

2. Dead and Gone, Charlaine Harris

Right. Because after the seriousness of EoE, I clearly needed brain candy. I really enjoy this series and appreciate that Harris hasn’t gotten monotonous and/or repetitive. She wrapped up some loose threads in this book but still left plenty of interesting ground to cover down the road. Not great literature but consistently fun, funny and enjoyable.

3. Finch, Jeff VanderMeer

Okay. Not entirely my cuppa. Interesting world, fascinating politics, good STORY, too many. goddamn fragments. I wanted to scream the entire time I was reading it. The format was SO distracting that I kept putting it down. It’s what took me forever to finish the damned thing. I’m all for style and tone but all the fragments literally got in the way of the story. I won’t be looking for more of his work.

4. Middlemarch, George Eliot

Surprisingly relevant. After getting through the first several painful chapters, Eliot’s characterization kicks in and the action actually begins. A wide range of characters with the full complement of human foibles, errors in judgment and uncomfortable consequences makes it a sprawling but engaging work.

5. The City and The City, China Mieville

LOVED this. One of the best books I’ve read in a while. Fantasy elements which are totally accessible because of the hardboiled thriller it’s wrapped in and a brainbender of a twist in sorting it out. Incredible.

6. Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood

A reread in preparation for The Year of the Flood. I loved this when I read it – dystopian dream/nightmare where all our ambition, technology and lack of hubris catch up with us to make us more… human. Still excellent on a reread, which says something.

7. The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood

The story of Oryx and Crake, but without Oryx and Crake. This is the story of the world and the end of the world and then what happens next, and how Oryx and Crake aren’t even most of the story. Fantastic. Couldn’t have hoped for more. Not so much a sequel as an elaboration, and really interesting commentary not just on tech but on ‘beliefs’ and tolerance.

8. Silver Borne, Patricia Briggs

Much better than I was expecting. Not because I don’t like Briggs’ work – I do – but there have been SO MANY loose ends with this particular series that I was beginning to think of Mercy like Dawn Summers – It’s Tuesday, she must be in trouble. Nice tight story which wrapped things up so well it makes me more interested in where events go next.