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‘Reads of 2010’ Category

Favorite Reads of 2010

December 31, 2010 by sassenach

I read 20 books in 2010. That’s not as many as I read in 2009, but it’s still not bad considering how little free time I had for the first half of this year (work, school, knitting, and trying to find time to breathe)! I’m so relieved that I’m finished with school because now I have more free time for knitting and reading, of course.

I read a lot of duds this year, but I have three favorites that I can recommend:

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy this because it seemed that everyone did, and I’m always skeptical of well-loved books because I’m a pessimist and weird like that. Suffice it to say that this is a thoroughly enjoyable book, and one that I would read again. (That’s usually my standard of measurement…whether I would buy the book (which I would, in this case) and whether I would read it multiple times (again, which I would). The narrator/protagonist is very likable, so that helps a lot. I’m really excited about the forthcoming movie and hoping it doesn’t ruin my fondness for the story too much.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I was so surprised by The Road. For a long time, I hesitated to read it because I wasn’t sure if I could handle it emotionally. I knew the story was bleak and raw, but my curiosity got the better of me since it’s a bestseller, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, etc. I’m so glad that I read this because I loved everything about it and it’s now one of my favorite books ever. After I read it, I watched the film adaptation and loved that as well. It was a rare instance where the film actually captures the spirit of the source material without compromising the story. (That gives me hope for the WfE film.) But if I had to choose between the two, of course I would say that the book is better.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games trilogy as a whole is amazing, so I had to include the final book on my list. I bought Mockingjay on the day it was released and read it almost non-stop, staying awake into the late hours of the night to finish. It isn’t perfect–there are some plot points that I didn’t like or agree with, but as an individual book, this one is a true page-turner for me. I was satisfied with the conclusion of the story (although, the greedy part of me wishes there could be more books in the series). As with WfE, there will be a film version of The Hunger Games trilogy, which is both exciting and unnerving because these books are so loved. But if you haven’t read the trilogy, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

For 2011, I’d like to read more books than I read this year, so I’m taking up Books on the Nightstand’s +11 in ’11 Challenge. This means that my goal will be to read 11 more books than I read this year, making 31 my target number. That’s totally doable.

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The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

December 16, 2010 by sassenach

When I started reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth, I didn’t realize that I was about to read a zombie book. I’m not really into zombies, so once I realized that’s what the book was about, I felt skeptical but figured I’d give it a shot. Having read the book, I still don’t think I’m very “into” zombies, but then again, I claim not to be “into” vampires either, and well, I’ve read quite a few vampire books, haven’t I?

A couple chapters in, I thought the book was going to be some big metaphor about religion, which (thankfully!) it wound up not being. Not in my interpretation, anyway. There are references to religion, but that’s not the overarching theme.

I think it’s fair to say that this is a book for the Twilight crowd that happens to involve zombies. However, I say that hesitantly, because Carrie Ryan is a much better writer than Stephenie Meyer. I’m going to try to give you an idea about this book without posting any real spoilers, which I’m sure will prove difficult.

There’s a love triangle that’s really more like a love rectangle, and it’s just frustrating for everyone involved. It was even more frustrating for me as a reader because some of the characters’ actions are just plain STUPID. The main character, Mary, is not an admirable character. She’s selfish to the point where she consistently puts herself and others in danger–REAL danger, as in life-or-death scenarios. I sympathized with her sense of loss and grief, but I didn’t find that to be a viable excuse to put so many others’ lives at risk. And then there’s the old “I have two guys in love with me, what do I dooooooo” plot device, which is really just played out, isn’t it? Isn’t it? (See: Twilight, The Hunger Games. Although, at least Katniss was a useful and–at times–likable character.)

From the perspective of someone who doesn’t love zombies and isn’t into gore either, the zombie content didn’t bother me very much. I think I do much better reading violence or gore than I do seeing it in movies, though. NOTE: On a whim, I just looked this title up on IMDB, and sure enough, a movie is in the works. OH GREAT. While the zombies work in the book, I have a feeling they’ll come across as cheesy and comical onscreen. But as lukewarm as I feel about the book, I’ll probably see the movie anyway, just you wait.

There’s a point in the middle of the story where things become Very Interesting Indeed. So much that I didn’t put the book down until I had finished it. There’s a very significant plot point that made me cry–totally unexpected! I didn’t think I cared enough about these characters to react that way, but I did. And then when the book ended, I felt really unsatisfied because I feel as though the author has manipulated my emotions into reading the sequel. Suffice it to say that the ending is rather ambiguous and I didn’t get the closure I wanted. I will read the sequel, but I’ve since started a book that’s not in this series in order to clear my head. I’ll pick up the sequel once my initial rage over the ending of this book wanes a bit.

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy

October 19, 2010 by sassenach

As with other highly lauded books, I had high expectations for The Road. This is the first novel I’ve read by Cormac McCarthy, so I wasn’t sure quite what to expect. I knew it would be a dark story; I haven’t read No Country for Old Men, but I saw the movie, so I had an idea about the kind of story McCarthy creates. I’d heard rave reviews for The Road, but I wanted to experience it for myself. I’m so glad I decided to read this because it’s amazing and is now one of my favorite books.

On the surface, it seems there is very little happening, as far as plot goes. A man and his son travel through a barren wasteland that was once America. Throughout their travels, they encounter various people and situations that test their endurance, survival skills, and humanity. Ultimately, this story is a haunting one about the strength of the human spirit and the sustaining power of love. I’d say more, but I don’t want to spoil the plot in case you haven’t read it. It’s an emotionally exhausting story, to be sure; but it’s well worth it in the end. I highly, highly recommend this book. I think this is one of those stories with characters who will stay with me for a very long time.

The only gripe I have with the book is McCarthy’s unconventional writing style. He uses a lot of sentence fragments, which took me several pages to get used to. Also, sometimes he uses apostrophes and other times he doesn’t, so I wasn’t sure if there was a method to his madness in that regard. But these are very small complaints in the grand scheme of the novel. I quickly overlooked these little things because the book, as a whole, really is brilliant.

(Sidenote: I watched the film adaptation a few days after I finished the book. I didn’t think it was possible, but the movie captures the spirit of the story beautifully. This adaptation is a rare instance where the movie is almost as good as the book. I definitely recommend the movie, once you’ve read the book. Most of the beauty in this story comes from McCarthy’s prose; while the film incorporates it through voiceovers, it’s not quite the same experience as reading his words. Nevertheless, it’s still a very well-done adaptation.)

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The Exile by Diana Gabaldon

October 3, 2010 by sassenach

The Exile is the first graphic novel I’ve ever read and surprisingly, I liked it a lot. Of course, it helped that it’s based on Outlander, a story that I’m very familiar with and a big fan of.

The graphic novel is illustrated by Hoang Nguyen, who is clearly talented and whose artwork truly brings the characters from Outlander to life. However, some of the illustrations were off base for me. I think Claire and Jamie look amazing, but at times they look a little too anime. Claire, in particular, has this problem; her proportions are wacky in some panels, with the focus on making her boobalicious rather than holding true to her depiction from the original story. I also thought that Jamie was a little TOO buff, if that’s possible; in her endnotes, Gabaldon mentions that her vision of Jamie is built more like a basketball player than a football player, and Nguyen’s interpretation of him comes across as slightly too…hmm…bodybuilder? to me. But it’s a small nitpick, since overall I think the essence of the characters has been captured.

The Exile only covers the first third of the narrative from Outlander, which makes sense since the story is quite long. I hope there will be more graphic novels, though, since I liked this one a lot. When I first heard they were making one, I had mixed feelings and wasn’t sure if I’d like it. I’m glad to say that I did and this one has sparked my interest in reading other graphic novels in the future.

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Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

September 26, 2010 by sassenach

Warning: this post contains spoilers! Danger, danger if you have not read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire!

I think I’ve had sufficient time to mull over my feelings about this book, so…keep reading to get on with the post already.

(more…)

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The Giver by Lois Lowry

September 7, 2010 by sassenach

This is the first time I’ve read The Giver–yet another classic that most people read when they’re younger, but which I am only now reading as an adult.

The Giver is incredibly moving. I didn’t know very much about the plot beforehand. The protagonist, Jonas, lives in a dystopian society in which its residents suffer from “Sameness,” a way of life so streamlined and seemingly perfect that it’s just a matter of time before Jonas begins to question the world in which he lives. I won’t say anything further in case you haven’t read the book, but I found the second half quite exciting, especially the final chapters, which were riveting. However, I felt that the book ended somewhat abruptly; it was over too soon, and I didn’t quite get the closure that I expected I would about certain characters. That being said, there is an ambiguous quality to the ending that I rather like.

Footnote: Having read the book, I think it’s really strange that The Giver has been on so many challenged and banned book lists. There are plenty of opportunities for worthwhile discussion to be found in this book.

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Columbine by Dave Cullen

August 18, 2010 by sassenach

I finished reading this over a week ago, but hesitated writing a review. There’s so much contained in this book–so many questions and even fewer answers–but I think it’s a book that needed to be written. Dave Cullen is a journalist who covered the Columbine tragedy as it occurred, and spent the next ten years researching it and ultimately writing this book.

I was 18 when the Columbine massacre happened in April 1999. I remember seeing the images on the news: high school kids running out of the school, falling out of windows, milling around outside in grief. And of course, the photos of the two boys who were identified as the killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Then came the media onslaught: theories, rumors, erroneous reports, and speculation. Everyone wanted someone to blame. It wouldn’t do to blame only the killers, who had committed suicide at the end of their gun-fueled rampage. For months after, and even now–years later–it’s still not quite clear what turned the two boys into killers.

There are plenty of theories, to be sure, and Cullen’s book attempts to narrow them down. It almost seems like a pointless exercise, after the fact–to examine the boys’ childhoods and journal entries and attempt to read between the lines, to try to understand more, beyond their violent tirades and (at times) nonsensical words. But in an age of media oversaturation, and the fact that Columbine had been probably the most widely televised school shooting to date, it seems reasonable for us to seek answers, to try to placate the most nagging of questions–”Why?”

I don’t think this book glorifies the killers in any way. Rather, it seeks to set the record straight, to dispel myths surrounding the tragedy, to clarify who the victims were (and who they were not), and also, to try to understand how two teenage boys could lash out at their classmates and teachers in such a violent, irreversible way.

It’s been 11 years since the Columbine tragedy. Although it permeated the media when it happened, over time, news stories faded and eventually diminished. There are exceptions, such as the anniversary of the shootings (April 20), when perhaps a news blurb flashes across the TV screen, reminding us what happened years ago. But I think of the families and friends of those who died that day–all of them, the victims and even the killers–and I can’t imagine what they have to live with every day. For them, more than for any of us, the unanswered questions will always be there. Unlike us, they cannot simply close the book, ponder it for a while, and then move on. The memories and impact of that day will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

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