Top Ten Books I’ve Read this Year

I’ve been meaning to get back into Top Ten Tuesday, run by The Broke and the Bookish, and this week’s an easy one: the top ten books I’ve read this year.  You may have noticed I keep a running list on the right side of this blog.  Here are ten.  I’ll just go in reverse order of what I’ve read:

1)      Eleanor & Park: There’s nothing not to love about this book, unless you’re my husband who was put off by two teenagers having a discussion about whether 80’s Marvel comics were sexist.  In fairness, he didn’t read the book.  This is an amazing read about two teenagers who fall in love.  Sounds simple but isn’t.

2)      Where’d You Go Bernadette: possibly my favorite of the year, this book was a combination of couldn’t put it down and smashingly brilliant by the time it was over.  A lot of books are one or the other, but not both.  Loved Bernadette despite all her problems.

3)      The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: One of those books that’s impossible to characterize and so complex you never know where it’s going.  The breadth of what Murakami pulls off in this book impressed the hell out of me.

4)      Life After Life: I’ll admit this wasn’t always the most enjoyable read, but as historical fiction meets science fiction it was pretty amazing.  Atkinson is an incredible writer and she really sets you down right in the middle of World War II.

5)      The Silver Linings Playbook:  This was a fluffy read, but really well done, and in my opinion better than the movie, which kind of boiled everything complicated down to a dance contest.

6)      The Hero and the Crown: This is classic children’s fantasy by Robin McKinley, and has one of the best female heroines I’ve read about in the world of children’s fantasy.  Plus it’s written like poetry.

7)      How Angels Die: This book was sent to me by its author, David-Michael Harding.  This is a thrilling, heartbreaking work of historical fiction about two sisters in France who spy on the Germans during the Nazi occupation.  I was skeptical but a believer by the end.

8)      What is the What: I wouldn’t have read this except for the Around the World Challenge.  David Eggers co-wrote this memoir with Valentino Achak Deng about one of the Lost Boys of Sudan.  Definitely a mind-opening book, about Sudan and the U.S. as well.

9)      Please Look After Mom:  This book really sneaks up on you, and will definitely make you think about parent-child relationships in your own family.  Mom is an older woman in Korea who gets lost on the subway.  Her children learn a lot about her after she disappears, but maybe Mom didn’t really let them in while she was around.

10)   A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: This is a classic novel about a girl growing up in poverty in the early 1900’s.  It’s a vivid depiction of one girl’s life, and Francie Nolan is so real (because she’s basically the author) it’s like you’re watching her grow up and cheering her on.

So that’s ten.  A bit of a rush job but hope you find something you like.  Happy Tuesday!