All The Books I Read In 2010

I took a few off this list before posting (gotta have some secrets!), but I believe there were 146 total.

January

Tobias Wolff, OLD SCHOOL

Jonathan Dee, THE PRIVILEGES

Michael Greenberg, BEG, BORROW, STEAL

Katie Arnoldi, POINT DUME

Joshua Ferris, THE UNNAMED

Rebecca Goldstein, 36 ARGUMENTS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

Matthew Crawford, SHOP CLASS AS SOULCRAFT

Amy Sohn, PROSPECT PARK WEST

Liz Robbins, A RACE LIKE NO OTHER

Julie Klausner, I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR BAND

Noah Tsika, GODS AND MONSTERS

Jose Quiroga, LAW OF DESIRE

Sheila Weller, GIRLS LIKE US

Zachary Mason, THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY

February

“The Uptight Seattleite,” A SENSITIVE LIBERAL’S GUIDE TO LIFE

Dan Brown, THE LOST SYMBOL

David R. Dow, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN EXECUTION

Stewart Copeland, STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN

Lynn Barber, AN EDUCATION

Julie Powell, CLEAVING

Kate Rockland, FALLING IS LIKE THIS

Elizabeth Gilbert, COMMITTED

John Banville, THE INFINITIES

David Shields, REALITY HUNGER

Patrick O’Brian, MASTER AND COMMANDER

Peter Hedges, THE HEIGHTS

March

Chang-Rae Lee, THE SURRENDERED

Sandman #3: DREAM COUNTRY

Peter Bognanni, THE HOUSE OF TOMORROW

Francis Wheeler, STRANGE DAYS INDEED

Stephen Dobyns, THE WRESTLER’S CRUEL STUDY

Piper Kerman, ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

Matt Kepnes, NOMADIC MATT’S GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL WORLD TRAVEL

April

Christopher MacDougall, BORN TO RUN

IT’S A BEAUTIFUL LIE: 26 TRUTHS ABOUT LIFE IN YOUR 20S

Mark Kurlansky, THE EASTERN STARS

David Plante, THE PURE LOVER

Cornelia Read, INVISIBLE BOY

Peter Carey, PARROTT AND OLIVIER IN AMERICA

Russell Hoban, RIDDLEY WALKER

Jen Lancaster, MY FAIR LAZY

Meghan Daum, LIFE WOULD BE PERFECT IF I LIVED IN THAT HOUSE

May

Lorrie Moore, A GATE AT THE STAIRS

Christos Tsiolkos, THE SLAP

Conor Bowman, THE LAST ESTATE

Louis Menand, THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS

Emily Gould, AND THE HEART SAYS WHATEVER

Christine Wunnicke, MISSOURI

Brady Udall, THE LONELY POLYGAMIST

Frederick Reiken, DAY FOR NIGHT

Stieg Larsson, THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST

Marguerite Duras, DESTROY, SHE SAID

Dean Karnazes, 50/50

Nicholas Carr, THE SHALLOWS

Leo Tolstoy and Ben H. Winters, ANDROID KARENINA

Simon Rich, ELLIOTT ALLAGASH

Michael Idov, GROUND UP

Joe Queenan, CLOSING TIME

June

Gretchen Rubin, THE HAPPINESS PROJECT

Bret Easton Ellis, LESS THAN ZERO

Bret Easton Ellis, IMPERIAL BEDROOMS

Sam Lipsyte, THE ASK

Bret Easton Ellis, THE RULES OF ATTRACTION

Bret Easton Ellis, LUNAR PARK

Bret Easton Ellis, THE INFORMERS

Sloane Crosley, HOW DID YOU GET THIS NUMBER

Henning Mankell, FACELESS KILLERS

Laurence Cosse, A NOVEL BOOKSTORE

D.H. Lawrence, WOMEN IN LOVE

David Mitchell, THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET

Philip K. Dick, A SCANNER DARKLY

David Foster Wallace, A SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING I’LL NEVER DO AGAIN

July

Matt Stewart, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

Gary Vaynerchuk, CRUSH IT!

Allegra Goodman, THE COOKBOOK COLLECTOR

Carolyn Parkhurst, THE NOBODIES ALBUM

Sharon Pomerantz, RICH BOY

Susan Fletcher, CORRAG

(reread) David Mitchell, CLOUD ATLAS

David Foster Wallace, EVERYTHING AND MORE

Eliot Asinof, EIGHT MEN OUT

Avis Cardella, SPENT

August

Philip Roth, THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL

Jonathan Mahler, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE BRONX IS BURNING

(reread) Colson Whitehead, THE INTUITIONIST

Jim Bouton, BALL FOUR

Rosecrans Baldwin, YOU LOST ME THERE

Jerry della Femina, FROM THOSE WONDERFUL FOLKS WHO GAVE YOU PEARL HARBOR

Scarlett Thomas, OUR TRAGIC UNIVERSE

Tom McCarthy, C

September

Ralph Sassone, THE INTIMATES

Julia Glass, THE WIDOWER’S TALE

Daniel Kehlmann, FAME: A NOVEL IN NINE EPISODES

William Powers, HAMLET’S BLACKBERRY

Steven Milhauser, MARTIN DRESSLER

Norman Maclean, A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT

Sara Marcus, GIRLS TO THE FRONT

David Foster Wallace, CONSIDER THE LOBSTER

October

Gish Jen, WORLD AND TOWN

Bernhard Schlink, THE WEEKEND

Mike Birbiglia, SLEEPWALK WITH ME

Jennifer Belle, THE SEVEN-YEAR BITCH

Adam Levin, THE INSTRUCTIONS

Ian Frazier, TRAVELS IN SIBERIA

John L Parker, ONCE A RUNNER

Haruki Murakami, AFTER DARK

Rachel Shukert, EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE GREAT

Colson Whitehead, APEX HIDES THE HURT

Colson Whitehead, THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK

Colson Whitehead, SAG HARBOR

Colson Whitehead, JOHN HENRY DAYS

Jane Smiley, THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE COMPUTER

Don DeLillo, MAO II

Patti Smith, JUST KIDS

Dinaw Mengestu, HOW TO READ THE AIR

November

Josh Karlen, LOST LUSTRE

Deborah McKinlay, THE VIEW FROM HERE

Bill Carter, THE WAR FOR LATE NIGHT

Joanna Smith Rakoff, A FORTUNATE AGE

Randy Frost and Gail Sketeree, STUFF: COMPULSIVE HOARDING AND THE MEANING OF THINGS

Douglas Coupland, MARSHALL MCLUHAN: YOU KNOW NOTHING OF MY WORK!           

Rachel Toor, PERSONAL RECORD

Laura Hillenbrand, UNBROKEN

Beryl Bainbridge, WATSON’S APOLOGY

December

Steve Martin, AN OBJECT OF BEAUTY

Darren Dochuk, FROM BIBLE BELT TO SUNBELT

David Nicholls, ONE DAY

(reread) Dodie Smith, I CAPTURE THE CASTLE

Siddhartha Muhkerjee, THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES

Matthew Gallaway, THE METROPOLIS CASE

Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett and Amanda Pressner, THE LOST GIRLS

David Lipsky, ALTHOUGH OF COURSE YOU END UP BECOMING YOURSELF

Haruki Murakami, A WILD SHEEP CHASE

Best Books of 2010

Best Fiction

Joanna Smith Rakoff, A FORTUNATE AGE

Jonathan Franzen, FREEDOM

Bernhard Schlink, THE WEEKEND

Joshua Ferris, THE UNNAMED

Brady Udall, THE LONELY POLYGAMIST

David Mitchell, THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET

Philip Roth, THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL

Dinaw Mengestu, HOW TO READ THE AIR

Best Nonfiction

David Foster Wallace, A SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING I'LL NEVER DO AGAIN

Siddhartha Mukherjee, THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES

Colson Whitehead, COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK

Nicholas Carr, THE SHADOWS

Best Memoirs

Julie Klausner, I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR BAND

Meghan Daum, LIFE WOULD BE PERFECT IF I LIVED IN THAT HOUSE

Patti Smith, JUST KIDS

Biggest Page-Turner: The Stieg Larsson "Failed To Finish GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST" Memorial Category

Laura Hillenbrand, UNBROKEN

Best Fiction Based On Other Fiction

Zachary Mason, THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY

Modern Library of Awesome

Just one: D.H. Lawrence, WOMEN IN LOVE

Best Books With Not-The-Best Endings

Jen Baggett, Holly Corbett and Amanda Pressner, THE LOST GIRLS

Stephen Dobyns, THE WRESTLER’S CRUEL STUDY

Not-So-Great Book With a Great Ending

Douglas Coupland, MARSHALL MCLUHAN: YOU KNOW NOTHING OF MY WORK!

Most Disappointing

David Nicholls, ONE DAY

Tom McCarthy, C

Most Surprising

Jim Bouton, BALL FOUR

Jerry Della Femina, FROM THOSE WONDERFUL FOLKS WHO GAVE YOU PEARL HARBOR

Don DeLillo, MAO II

Scarlett Thomas, OUR TRAGIC UNIVERSE

Most Quoted

Haruki Murakami. Bad habit. 

(Don't like my picks? Check out the AV Club best books of the year post for opinions more closely aligned to your liking. Also see from this blog, my post from July of the best books so far.)

Reading Regrets of 2010

I didn't finish all the David Foster Wallace books -- not during the summer, not during the rest of the year. I'd attribute this to my hesitation about the short stories (about which, I could write another entire post) and my preference for novels, refusal to get to THE BROOM OF THE SYSTEM until I had gotten through those. But I did finish ALTHOUGH YOU END UP BECOMING YOURSELF (review... this weekend? stay tuned), and all the nonfiction, and I still have till April 14 before THE PALE KING comes out.

I didn't really make any progress on the Modern Library list, the ostensible reason for starting this blog. I know I've said I wouldn't do this but maybe I do need a deadline. I know I could probably finish them in a year if I really cracked down on myself, but the truth is I don't want to. There's just too much out there I'd like to read otherwise. Maybe by the time I'm 30? (It'll go great with my Obligatory Recapturing Youth Road Trip.) But I am hacking through LORD JIM, which I liked more about 30 installments ago, to be perfectly honest. My Joseph Conrad history on this blog is pretty deplorable.

I didn't finish the Sandman series, but I did get up to A GAME OF YOU which was the first volume I ever read -- so I have five left. (Puzzlingly, one isn't available through the NY Public Library -- vol. 7 or 8 I think? How did this happen?)

I think what these regrets demonstrate is my vacillation between having a reading Plan and Sticking To The Plan Forever, and haphazardly picking books from all around. This pattern repeats in my larger life and there's a lot to be said for the serendipity method, but I'm just type A enough that I can't give into it fully. But I would like to do all these things in 2011, at least get a running start.

Literary News Stories Of Note, 2010 Edition

Surprising author death of the year: J.D. Salinger. Thought he would outlive us all, frankly.
Unsurprising author non-death of the year: Philip Roth. Still think he will.
"What, that was a book?" of the year: "The Social Network" née THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES. Ben Mezrich is crying into his bathtub of cash that they didn't keep his title, which sounds like the name of an epic caper movie a la "The Great Race" or "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." (We've got 'em on VHS!)
Driest topic I yet will read everything I can on: E-book pricing. Then again, as more people get e-readers, this will only continue producing six-paragraph stories out of "You know how this was $9.99 before? Well it's $12.99 now."
Best comeback: Nick Hornby to The Believer. (Here's an excerpt from the latest.) I knew if I just clapped hard enough it would happen!
Biggest nothing of all: The revelation, per a New York Magazine cover story, that James Frey's new venture is rife with unscrupulousness and slime. (In effect, he pays writers a small amount of money to write YA books, with a promise on a share of the film and secondary rights should they ever pan out, goal being to create some kind of media empire for bad-looking thrillers.) I mean, he may have good taste in brunch venues but what, was he going to be knitting sweaters for orphans for the rest of his life?
Most overblogged... AND YET: Jonathan Franzen everything. I couldn't help myself, I know, but in no other story can you cover the doings of both high and low literature, encompassing topics like sexism in book coverage (yes also I KNOW) and Oprah. Speaking of...
Potential overblogs of 2011: Oprah's new channel: what will it mean for the book club given her latest installment?; the U.S. adaptation of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" is set for release (whose reach is longer than I expected given my dad made a Lisbeth Salander joke about Troy Aikman's outfit while commenting on the Packers-Giants game -- he hasn't even read the books!); the rise of a million competitors for the Kindle.

Best Books I Read In 2010 So Far

Joshua Ferris, THE UNNAMED

Julie Klausner, I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR BAND

Meghan Daum, LIFE WOULD BE PERFECT IF I LIVED IN THAT HOUSE

Brady Udall, THE LONELY POLYGAMIST

David Mitchell, THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET

David Foster Wallace, A SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING I'LL NEVER DO AGAIN

Notes

1. I think it's inevitable that I will reach the midpoint of the year and effectively say, "Is that all?" I do the same thing for movies (would struggle, in fact, to put together a comparable list of 2010 films of note, there's been so much dreck). That's why I only chose the six superlative ones and left off half a dozen more that were very good, but not great.

2. Biggest disappointments so far, proportionately, have been all the books I've read this year that weren't published in 2010. Stupid free reading, be more engaging!

New Year's Reading Resolutions

Here were my resolutions for the past year:

1. Read Richard Yates' other novels, since I loved REVOLUTIONARY ROAD so much in 2008. Whoops. I read one of his novels, COLD SPRING HARBOR, but didn't like it.

2. Continue the Unbookening: going through the books I already own and haven't read, reading them, and trying to get rid of some before I buy more. Hooray, I did this. Except for March and April I was either even or gave away more than I got, which is better than last year.

3. Read one Modern Library list book a month. Oops. I read three -- HOWARDS END, OF HUMAN BONDAGE and APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA -- and started WOMEN IN LOVE.

Oh well. New year, new raised expectations:

1. Finish the SANDMAN series. I've read two of the volumes, which means I have eight left, but they're quick reads.

2. Keep Unbookening. I thought about this a lot when I was at home over the holiday but I'll save the proselytizing for later.

3. Summer project: Read some more David Foster Wallace (first novel, three story collections, two essay collections) before THE PALE KING comes out. My best intel right now is that THE PALE KING will be out not this year, but in April '11; still, I think this would be fun. This is just a placeholder till I figure out what I actually want to do.

4. Read all the Modern Library books I currently own -- I haven't counted, but I believe there are 8.

Do you make resolutions about what you want to read in the coming year? Have one you want to share?

Does your favorite author have a new book coming out in 2010?

I haven't seen too many lists focused on next year yet, but several books on D.G. Myers' list, despite its dour title, made me delighted. Lot of big names on there, even if you leave off the two at the top.