Books Read in 2010

My review of books in 2010 ...

• 37. Destination Unknown - Agatha Christie
• 36. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
• 35. Brown Eyes - ed Nicole Moore
• 34. When She Was White - Judith Stone
• 33. Father Brown Stories - GK Chesterton
• 32. Looking for JJ - Anne Cassidy
• 31. The Last Gospel - David Gibbons
• 30. Magic: New Stories - ed JK Rowling
• 29. The Hours - Michael Cunningham
• 28. City of the Beasts - Isabelle Allende
• 27. BogChild - Siobhan Dowd
• 26. A Swift Pure Cry - Siobhan Dowd
• 25. The Shoe Queen - Anna Davis
• 24. Girl Meets Cake - Susie Day
• 23. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
• 22. The London Eye Mystery - Siobhan Dowd
• 21. Daughter of Fortune - Isabel Allende
• 20. The Amnesia Clinic - James Scudamore
• 19. Inkdeath - Cornelia Funke
• 18. The Queen and I - Sue Townsend
• 17. Semi-Detached - Paul Heathorn
• 16. The Stuff of Nightmares - Malorie Blackman
• 15. City of Stars - Mary Hoffman
• 14. The Water Bearer - Dianne Hofmeyr
• 13. August Heat - Andrea Camilleri
• 12. Escape Velocity - Mark Walden
• 11. The Overlord Protocol - Mark Walden
• 10. Completely Unexpected Tales - Roald Dahl
• 9. The Great Automatic Grammatizator and Other Stories - Roald Dahl
• 8. The Constant Gardener - John Le Carre
• 7. That Thing Around Your Neck - Chimamanda Ndozi Adichi
• 6. The Cypriot - Andreas Koumi
• 5. Inkspell - Cornelia Funke
• 4. We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver
• 3. Flying with Icarus and Other Stories - Curdella Forbes
• 2. The Shakespeare Secret - JL Carrell
• 1. Flood Child - Emily Diamand

So. What have I read this year?

Children's books - 17
Poetry - 1
Short stories - 6
Non-fiction - 1
International - 6
Crime/mystery/suspense - 8 (I think, debateable I suppose!)
Men - 15
Women - 22

Three books by Siobhan Dowd, two anthologies by Roald Dahl, two more in the HIVE series by Mark Walden, two more by Isabel Allende.

Think what is particularly interesting is that I've had quite a tough working year; whilst I'm still travelling on public transport, I've been spending more time marking and less time reading. Also, there have been many times I've been to see the school librarian and simply said, I need something easy that will transport me quickly but not need too much thought, hence lots of children's books and more short stories than normal. I haven't read too many biographies this year; in fact it appears I have only read one non fiction book this year, about Sandra Laing in South Africa.

Next year I hope to read a bit more non-fiction, and some longer novels. I got a couple of great books for Christmas - I hope to read them now and write reviews soon; I also have a couple of good non-fiction books that I need to finish! So, this time next year then for our review of 2011?

Review of 2009

Review of 2008

Review of 2007

Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd

I read this one in a day! Another good book by Siobhan Dowd, who sadly died of cancer after writing this one. Such a shame - she is a very talented writer, and this is another moving story set in the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland during the Troubles. An Iron Age body is found in a bog, like the Tollund Man, and this sets the scene.

A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd

What an intensely sad and moving book. Very well written. I highly recommend. About a poor Irish family, in particular, Shell, just turned 16, and her relationship with her father, the local priest, and a worldly wise boy.

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

Quite a change from the historical fiction of my last novel! This story centres on Ted and Kat's missing cousin, Salim, who went up in the London Eye but didn't come down. The narrator, Ted, has a "syndrome" (on the autistic spectrum, perhaps?) which means his brain is "wired differently" from other people. He really likes the weather. This helps him to try and solve the problem. I read this book quickly. Very good.