Books Read in 2010

The last half of December was vacation time for me. I took a few weeks off work, a week off writing, and checked out of pretty much everything but fun for a while. It was wonderful!


What did I do with all my free time? See friends, family, and an delightful amount of Metroid: Other M. I also spent an inordinate amount of time playing with my Excel chart of the books I read last year.



Here's the list of books I read strictly for pleasure:

1. Swallowing Darkness by Laurell K. Hamilton
2. Eleven Big Ones by Janet Evanovich
3. Soulless by Gail Carriger*
4. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
5. Secret Lives of the First Ladies by Cormac O'Brien
6. Mona Lisa Awakening by Sunny
7. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
8. A Year Without "Made in China" by Sara Bongiorni
9. Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich
10. White Cat by Holly Black
11. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
12. My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor
13. Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance
14. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
15. Heart Fate by Robin D. Owens
16. Steamed by Katie MacAlister
17. Heart Quest by Robin D. Owens
18. Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews
19. Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton
20. Heart Thief by Robin D. Owens
21. Bride on the Loose by Debbie Macomber
22. Same Time, Next Year by Debbie Macomber
23. Heart Duel by Robin D. Owens
24. Heart Change by Robin D. Owens
25. The Fidelity Files by Jessica Brody*
26. The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
27. Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning
28. Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey
29. Lean, Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich
30. Eighteen Acres by Nicolle Wallace
31. Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAlister
32. Rescue Me by Christy Reece*
33. The Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind
34. Changeless by Gail Carriger
35. Obsidian Prey by Jayne Ann Krentz
36. Lion's Heat by Lora Leigh
37. The Trouble with Harry by Katie MacAlister
38. Divine Misdemeanors by Laurell K. Hamilton
39. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin*
40. The Native Star by M. K. Hobson*
41. Must Love Mistletoe by Christie Ridgway
42. Styx's Storm by Lora Leigh
43. Steering by Starlight by Martha Beck
44. Wither by Lauren DeStefano
45. The Atlas of Love by Laurie Frankel*

 * Number One Novels interviewed debut authors

The books I would most highly recommend are:

1. Soulless by Gail Carriger
2. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
3. A Year Without "Made in China" by Sara Bongiorni
4. White Cat by Holly Black
5. My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor
6. Heart Fate by Robin D. Owens
7. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin
8. The Native Star by M. K. Hobson
9. Steering by Starlight by Martha Beck

In messing with my chart a thousand different ways and tracking random patterns, I was surprised to learn that my fantasy numbers went down 6 books compared to 2009, but my paranormal romance went up 6, so that evened out. My most-read author this year was Robin D. Owens (last year it was Janet Evanovich). The most books I read in a month was August (10), but the number of authors that I read in both 2009 and 2010 is only 12. Part of that low number is due to Number One Novels: I'm finding more debut authors, which means my must-read author list is getting longer. This means my current (fiction) TBR pile is 44 books deep. (I've promised Cody I won't buy any more books until that stack goes down, then rather unexpectedly, I've had several friends offer to let me borrow their books. The Universe is clearly on my side.)

Only one book is on the chart so far this year: Christie Ridgway's Crush on You. I'm looking forward to adding a lot more titles to that list!