2010 Readings

Thanks to an 11-book surge in December, I read 92 books this year by 60 different authors/groups of authors.

Of those 92, 45 were rereads. Some books are just so good and comforting, I have to keep going back to them. Some of the books that refreshed my soul this year were Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island and Anne of Windy Poplars by L. M. Montgomery. Lucy Maud Montgomery's books were some of the most formative of my early reading life. She was the author who not only introduced me to great natural beauty in books (I have been to Prince Edward Island, and it is as beautiful as she describes!), but also made me aware of the beauty of my own surroundings. Other favorite comfort books this year were The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. These books combine great stories (um, I want my own secret garden, and I'd love to have warm food and comfy blankets appear in my attic room) with enduring wisdom and lovely illustrations (I have the Tasha Tudor-illustrated books).

I also reread a couple of classics that I hadn't really looked at since high school, including Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I love this book. I even incorporated it into my chastity lesson for the YW last month. After finishing it, I stayed on the moors for a while, reading The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell and then rereading Wuthering Heights. At Christmas, I read (and enjoyed) the new modern adaptation Jane by April Lindner.

There were a couple of books whose releases I awaited with great anticipation. The first was, of course, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, the final book in Collins's Hunger Games series. I got to see Collins at the National Book Festival in September. She explained the series' focus on war, telling us about her father's military background and family vacations to battlefields (if I remember correctly - September was a long time ago). The second was Pegasus by Robin McKinley. It was a lovely book, but it's only the first part of the story - Pegasus II is coming in 2012!

I discovered some new authors this year, one of them Australian Melina Marchetta, whose books Jellicoe Road (the 2009 Printz Award winner), Saving Francesca and Looking for Alibrandi I raced through. She writes characters that just suck me into their stories and hold me captive until the end.

A couple of books I read this year could possibly change my life, if I let them. The first was Fat Cat by Robin Brande, which is about a girl whose science project is to live as much as possible like the early hominims (I forget the technical term). This means walking a lot and changing her diet drastically. What she said about food made me want to change my diet drastically too. I did start eating more vegetables but haven't made any real permanent changes yet. This book did make me more aware, though, and now maybe I'll pick up books like Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle in 2011.

The other life-changing book was The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone. Michelangelo is now one of my heroes. His dedication to his art and to the integrity of his art, his ability to create great works out of unfortunate situations (e.g., the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel), his sheer volume of talent, are all inspiring. I want to go to Florence and Rome now and see his work in person.

Some other good reads this year included These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner, a fantastic, grown-up Little House-type novel featuring a strong woman not afraid to use a gun; Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, a retelling of East O' the Sun, West O' the Moon; The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, a fictional look at a real event during the seige of Sarajevo in the 1990s; Plain Kate by Erin Bow, a dark fantasy that had me sobbing at the end; Heist Society by Ally Carter, a fun Italian Job story with teens.

Happy Reading in 2011!