2010 Booklog
This is a list of the books I have read this year. Some of them are gems. Not all of them, of course, are appropriate for children. If I have written a post about a book, I’ll link to it after the title. For a far-from-complete list of books I adore with all my heart, click here.
Book Log 2010 (going backwards)
October-December
CYBILS READING! As a member of the first-round panel for YA realistic fiction, I read over seventy books in three months—some of them twice. A grueling, exhilarating, edifying, discussion-provoking ride! The complete list of 2010 nominees can be found here. This year’s shortlists will be announced on the CYBILs blog later this week.
Non-CYBILs books read in December:
Room by Emma Donaghue
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
September
Freedom
by Jonathan Franzen
Kristin Lavransdatter
by Sigrid Unset (Nunnally translation)
Memento Mori
by Muriel Spark
The Water Secret
by Howard Murad
August
Mockingjay
by Suzanne Collins
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
by Kate DiCamillo
(audiobook)
Because of Winn-Dixie
by Kate DiCamillo
(audiobook)
A Year Down Yonder
by Richard Peck
(audiobook)
July
The Lightning Thief
by Rick Riordan
A Long Walk to Water
by Linda Sue Park
Great Expectations (in progress)
by Charles Dickens
Amelia Rules! Vol. 3: Superheroes
by Jimmy Gownley (middle-grade graphic novel)
Mouse Guard Vol. 2: Winter 1152
by David Petersen
Mouse Guard Vol. 1: Fall 1152
by David Peterson (reread)
GI Joe: Cobra
by Christos Gage & Mike Costa, art by Antonio Fuso
The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag
by Alan Bradley
Feed
by M. T. Anderson
Bamboo People
by Mitali Perkins
Calamity Jack
by Shannon & Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale (graphic novel)
June
To Serve Them All My Days
by R. F. Delderfield (a reread, only half finished at the end of June)
The Children’s Book
by A.S. Byatt (some discussion here, but not a proper post)
Mindblind
by Jennifer Roy (brief note)
The Whisper of Glocken
by Carol Kendall (brief note)
A God Somewhere
by John Arcudi, illustrated by Peter Snejbjerg
(graphic novel)
Caw of the Wild
by Barb Kirpluk
May
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams (a reread, unfinished)
Crow Planet
by Lyanda Lynn Haupt
(in progress)
Chiggers
by Hope Larson
(YA graphic novel)
The Phantom Tollbooth
by Norton Juster
Betsy in Spite of Herself
by Maud Hart Lovelace
Smile
by Raina Telgemeier
(middle-grade graphic novel)
Lunch Lady and the Author Vendetta
by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
(young graphic novel)
Favorite Medieval Tales
by Mary Pope Osborne
Prairie Tale: A Memoir
by Melissa Gilbert
Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson & Learned to Love Being Hated
by Alison Arngrim
Sarah and Katie
by Dori White (mentioned here, not in depth)
I Capture the Castle
by Dodie Smith (post)
Blubber
by Judy Blume
The Perilous Gard
by Elizabeth Marie Pope (every bit as wonderful as The Sherwood Ring)
Lessons from a Dead Girl
by Jo Knowles
April
American Born Chinese
by Gene Luen Yang (excellent middle-grade graphic novel)
The Year of Plenty
Rebecca LeeAnne Brammer
Babymouse: Rock Star
by Jennifer L. Holm
& Matthew Holm
(young graphic novel)
The Children of Green Knowe
by L. M. Boston
The Gammage Cup (post)
by Carol Kendall (almost as good as Kendall’s The Firelings)
The Dangerous World of Butterflies
by Peter Laufer (post)
March
Skating Shoes
by Noel Streatfeild
Otherwise
by Sarah Halliwell
(gorgeous)
The Big Book of Unschooling
by Sandra Dodd
Artisan Bread in
Five Minutes a Day
by Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg
(I may be a teeny tiny bit enthusiastic about this book…)
If I Stay
by Gayle Forman
Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith
by Deborah Heiligman
(shows up in posts here and here)
February
Mare’s War
by Tanita Davis
Betsy and Joe
by Maud Hart Lovelace (related post)
Mockingbird
by Kathryn Erskine
(notes)
Liar
by Justine Larbalestier
Winona’s Pony Cart
by Maud Hart Lovelace
January
Essays of E. B. White
(selections)
Carney’s House Party
by Maud Hart Lovelace
How to Say Goodbye in Robot
by Natalie Standiford
Kendra
by Coe Booth
Secret Keeper
by Mitali Perkins
The Prince of Fenway Park
by Julianna Baggott
(I interviewed her here)
The Kitchen Madonna
by Rumer Godden (post here; pass the tissues)
Asterios Polyp
by David Mazzucchelli
